Hello and Sawasdee ka friends of Thailand Musings,

Last week I talked about divorce between Thai women and western men, and even though I know it is a sad subject I think it is an important one so I did a little more research and I found out some interesting information.

Did you know that according to some recent statistics from the Bangkok district office the amount of marriages between Thai and Farang has been rising at about 10% per year over the past decade and with a very interesting 50% of marriages registered at this office being between Thai and Farang. Remember though that not all marriages between Thai people are registered because quite often marriages between Thai and Thai are either Buddhist ceremonies or just recognized between families.

It would seem about 6% of these registered marriages (approx 6500 marriages registered) end in divorce and that 10% of those are cross cultural marriages. Some more statistics are that USA, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia all finish in the Top 15 or 20 highest divorce rates with the USA taking top spot!!!…Thailand comes in at 22^nd behind Singapore and China.

This is why I want to give you the secret  what I have proved to be the tips of…

“How to save your marital life in a secure place of love forever”

With a Series of Tips called…  “ Look after love and love will look after you”

So how do you look after love, well…..Do you have love?…are you sure?…I am joking a little here but what I mean is that if you are not really serious to give your love to someone then to be honest you may not have a real interest in these tips.

“Because it’s not fun to play with LOVE when it can hurt people, be careful with that! “

My experience about love and relationships spans more than 20 years. I have learned and tested from good and bad, bitter and sweet, hope and hurt, happy and sad with many mistakes along the way and let me tell you the taste is not always delicious but it keeps me lively….ha ha ha

I really found out what love is and what really works for not only my self but my friends and many couples who took my advice to sort out their relationship issues and It really worked for them too.

“Wow!… Can you imagine how great?  Yes, well done!!…

I was so excited for them and happy to be someone who could help save their relationships.”

So if we think of ” Love as a Food ” then love is cooked by 2 people and when it comes to the recipes of love I want to share with you the many ingredients I have discovered so you can cook for yourself any taste you want to make you happy and enjoy life together.

It is very interesting right?  To follow this series,…..See you next week!

Angella Quote of the week

“Love can be a tonic or a poison, it depends on you”

With love, hope and solutions

Popularity: 1% [?]

Continue Reading

Photo by Timothy K. Hamilton on Flickr
Recently I received an email from one of my readers detailing his story of love found serendipitously in Thailand. He has kindly given me permission to post it, but I did edit to protect the names of the people involved at his request.

“I married her In November. I love her so much, the most beautiful person I have ever meet with a heart of gold. Did I meet her by chance or destiny? [...]

Popularity: 20% [?]

Continue Reading

I’m seeing a fad in Thailand for several decades. A craze of European and American men coming to Thailand and signing with dating agencies to find Thai brides. As American and European societies mutates and Western women become increasingly liberated and increasingly similar to blokes, conventional American and European guys are turning to Thailand to find a more conventional wife. Thai women are usually pretty, slim, take very good care of themselves and also take extremely good care of their spouses. They make dinner, they clean, they take care of the children and they make their guy feel as if he is a King. It’s no wonder American and European fellows desire a Thai bride.

For the girls, the men are perceived as a good catch. European and American guys, even less affluent ones, typically have more money than Thai men. American and European guys present a Thai woman a chance to leave Thailand and visit another country. American and European guys are viewed by some Thai women as being kinder than Thai men and Thai guys have a certain notoriety for not being monogamous. Lots of Thai blokes also don’t settle down after marriage, and keep a girlfriend even though they have a bride and kids at home. So for some Thai girls, an American or European guy afford things a Thai man does not.

As you might imagine, there will be some complications in marrying a Thai bride. Language differences, cultural dissimilarities and visa concerns come immediately to my mind when considering some of the issues that Thai-Western couples may come across. Overall though a Thai bride might be a great idea for many fellows that have become disillusioned with American and European ladies. If you begin the marriage with some planning and with discretion you have a great chance of having a outstanding marriage.

To the fellows who come to Thailand searching for love and a Thai bride, I say “Best of luck”. It can occur for you, especially in this day and age of web dating and personals. It certainly did happen for me and I couldn’t be happier. To the Thai women I say Get to know this bloke slowly. In any culture, there are good and evil. Look out for warning signs, and believe in your instincts. If you have questions, they are present for a reason. Remember that money isn’t everything.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Continue Reading

Question: Are there any distinct advantages to marrying in Thailand vs marriage in the USA?

This answer is only in reference to legal marriages which are carried out at the local Amphur’s in Thailand. This does not concern the traditional Thai wedding ceremony which you will also have back in your Thai fiancee’s hometown. The traditional Thai wedding is not legally recognized in Thailand or anywhere else.

Answer: Thai marriages are recognized as legal in the U.S. so there is not much difference between getting married in Thailand and getting married in the U.S. I can think of one advantage and two disadvantages to getting married in Thailand.

Advantage: If you end up getting divorced you’ll be going by Thai laws which require splitting of assets, but only those that have been gained since the marriage. Any assets you had prior to the marriage are not included. In addition, I have never heard nor read of any assets outside of Thailand being garnered. So, if you have your assets outside Thailand there is little chance they will be at risk if you get divorced.

Disadvantages: The process for getting married requires a bit of paperwork and probably about 2 days of running around Bangkok to get these documents, translations and approvals. I should probably write another post sometime detailing what is required for American citizens to get married in Thailand. The second disadvantage is if you want to get divorced you will have to return to Thailand to do so. Of course if you live in Thailand this isn’t a problem at all.

If any readers have additional insight to getting married in Thailand please let us know. I’d also like to hear if you can think of additional advantages/disadvantages to getting married in Thailand vs your home country.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Continue Reading

Question: Exactly how and when to get engaged is not clear to me. Is this simply between the man and woman, or is it customary for the bride’s parents to be involved?

Answer: It is definitely customary for the bride’s parents to be involved in the engagement, however a Thai engagement is much different from what we are used to in the west. Thai’s have a ceremony for the engagement which is called thong mun in Thai. This literally means “gold giving” and that is exactly what the ceremony is, the prospective groom gives gold to his fiancee.

Thai’s do not typically give diamond rings as a promise of engagement, but have historically given gold instead. Of course, almost every foreigner that I know how is engaged or married to a Thai girl has given her girl a diamond ring and the ladies really seem to like it. So, you may want to go with both.

The engagement ceremony is normally attended by friends and family and can be done in advance of the wedding ceremony or can even be done right before the marriage ceremony. When giving the gold it must be an even number of baht (a baht is the unit of measure for Thai gold. One baht = 1/2 troy ounce). The gold is usually in the form of necklace or bracelet.

I hope this was helpful and wish you all the best with your Thai girlfriend or fiancee.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Continue Reading