Polygamy in Thailand could be freely practiced before 1 October 1935. Polygamy was recognised under civil law.[1][2] The old family law assigned wives to three categories in accordance with how they became wives:
The first was called mia klang muang (เมียกลางเมือง), the 'official wife', whom the husband's parents had "acquired for him".
The second was known as mia klang nok (เมียกลางนอก), the 'minor wife', whom the man asked after his first marriage.
The third was mia klang thasi (เมียกลางทาสี), the title given to slave wives who were asked from the mother and father of their prior owners.[2]
Children of these unions were recognised as legitimate.
While polygamy has since been abolished, it is still alive in Thailand and, according to some, widely accepted.[3] The King of Thailand may, for example, still designate "consorts" other than the Queen.[4] Such unions are not recognised under Thai law, which states, "A man or a woman cannot marry each other while one of them has a spouse."[5]
Even after legally recognized polygamy was abolished, double standards relating to marital behaviors continued, both in law and in practice. For example, until 2007, only men could divorce based on adultery;[6] wives had to prove that the husband "supported and honored another woman as his wife."[7] The 2007 legal reforms gave women and men the same legal rights with regard to divorce grounds and were part of a legal overhaul, which also included enacting laws against domestic violence, criminalizing marital rape, and removing other discriminatory legal provisions. Thailand also withdrew its reservation to Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which guarantees the rights of women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations.[8]
^Jamnarnwej, Wimolsiri. "Family Law of Thailand; B. Marriage". Thailand Law Forum. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
^ abLaw of Husband and Wives B.E. 1904
^Chintana Yossoonthorn, "Women in Thailand", Proceedings of the Peace Corps Conference on Women and Development, Bangkok, 1979, p. 11.
^"Thai king strips consort of titles for 'disloyalty'". BBC News. October 21, 2019.
^Civil and Commercial Code, Article 1452[full citation needed]
^"Thailand withdraws its reservation to Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women | Royal Thai Embassy". www.thaiembassy.sg.
and 22 Related for: Polygamy in Thailand information
PolygamyinThailand could be freely practiced before 1 October 1935. Polygamy was recognised under civil law. The old family law assigned wives to three...
The legal status of polygamy varies widely around the world. Polygyny is legal in 58 out of nearly 200 sovereign states, the vast majority of them being...
Polygamy (from Late Greek πολυγαμία polygamía, "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married...
Taiwan: Illegal. Up to five years' imprisonment. Thailand: Prior to October 1, 1935, polygamyinThailand could be freely practised and recognised under...
Polygyny (/pəˈlɪdʒɪni/) is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία...
marriages that had been contracted in other countries. Under Russian law, de facto polygamy or multiple cohabitation in and of itself is not a crime. Due...
be serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polygamy or polyamory). More generally, the term is used to describe the behavioral...
to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Vientiane. Present-day...
Lao: ໄຕ; Thai: ไท; Shan: တႆး, [tai˥˩]; Tai Nuea: ᥖᥭᥰ, [tai˥]; Chinese: 傣族; pinyin: Dǎizú) are several Tai-speaking ethnic groups living in the Xishuangbanna...
symbols instead of Thai script. The coronation of the monarch of Thailand is a ceremony in which they are formally consecrated by anointment and crowning...
political, religious, and sexual purposes. In some areas of the world, arranged marriage, forced marriage, polygamy marriage, polyandry marriage, polygyny...
of Queen Consort of Siam after her husband's own coronation ceremony. Prajadhipok followed his brother's abandonment of polygamy and instead had one queen...
accepted on the condition that she would be his only wife as Siamese society tolerated polygamy for royals. This condition was accepted by Chakrabongse. The...
In 1932, after Siam became a constitutional monarchy, various amendments relating to succession were introduced. The 1997 Constitution of Thailand relied...
rate of polygamyin the world. In India, only Muslims are allowed to practice polygamy. Polygamy, taking the form of polygyny, is most common in a region...
many thousands of US dollars in some marriages inThailand, and as much as a $100,000 in exceptionally large bride dowry in parts of Papua New Guinea where...
because that would be polygamy which in countries with marital monogamy like the US is called bigamy. Polygamy is a form of marriage in which someone marries...
Vân Kiều; Lao: ບຣູ ; Thai: บรู; which literally means "people living in the woods") are an indigenous ethnic group living inThailand, Laos, and Vietnam...
ethnic group who live in small villages at higher elevations in the mountains of Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Yunnan Province in China. They made their...
marriage of girls under 18 was introduced on a federal level in 2008. There is rampant polygamyin Northern Nigeria. Domestic violence is common. Women have...
and betel, and abolition of slavery and polygamy, though he also criticized the economic domination of Thailand by European nations. He also argued for...
princess consort or empress consort. In monarchies where polygamy has been practised in the past (such as Morocco and Thailand), or is practised today (such...
Global Information