«In the northern region, as I said, many factors have forced parents or families to do so. Really, they don`t want to do it,» Nunnaree told Prachatai. But there are beliefs and a mindset that it could be a good thing if the child is married to a good man, or to a rich man who is older, or the child would then be able to improve the family`s situation. There are such ideas. An election this year brought four openly LGBT+ lawmakers to parliament, and they`re pushing for more rights — from changing dress codes to marriage equality. Suraporn Prommul, governor of Narathiwat province, said he had recently met with the Islamic Council on the issue. The only change Ayu`s case triggered, however, was an agreement that in the future – in cases involving a bride and a foreigner – the couple was first to go to the office of the province`s Islamic Council to get married so that the committee could closely investigate the case. how this should be applied. According to the Encyclopedia of Sexuality: Thailand: «One of the most consistent findings of sexual research in Thailand is that underage brides and commercial sex are common sexual outlets for men of all ages, social statuses, and marital status. This tolerance of sexual relations outside marriage by married men is only one part of the broader policy of double standards regarding sexual practices, which impose different rules on men and women. As confirmed by studies on children`s child-rearing practices, Thai parents train girls more rigorously than boys in gender-role behaviours. Girls are taught that a good wife remains a virgin until marriage and remains emotionally and sexually faithful to her husband after that.
As teenagers, Thai fathers are known to be very protective and possessive of their daughters and exert great control over their friendships with other teenagers. For boys, on the other hand, sexual renunciation is accepted, even encouraged. As Sukanya Hantrakul notes, «Culturally, Thai society flatters men for their promiscuity. Women`s magazines always advise women to tolerate the situation and adapt to it. [Source: «Encyclopedia of Sexuality: Thailand (Muang Thai)» by Kittiwut Jod Taywaditep, MD, MA, Eli Coleman, Ph.D. and Pacharin Dumronggittigule, M.Sc, late 1990s] Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys. This report examines child marriage laws in 37 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and provides country profiles for each of these countries. Muslim communities can apply Islamic law to family matters because of a loophole in the law. Accordingly, local mosques may marry girls and boys aged 17 and under with the permission of the Islamic court or parents and after review by a special subcommittee. Love marriages instead of arranged marriages and Western-style dating are the norm in urban Thailand. In rural areas, the custom of arranged marriages persists, but is not as strong as in other Asian countries. The young people who are under the most pressure according to their parents` wishes are members of wealthy and influential families.
Chitraporn said community leaders agreed with the centre`s attempt to challenge parental authority, but often kept their distance. She said they often have the attitude that they cannot interfere in a family`s affairs and that parents can do anything to their children, so they rarely exercise their legal authority as child protection officers. But across the Islamic world, there is a movement to ban child marriage. Algeria, Oman, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco and Turkey have set the minimum age of marriage at 18, and recently Indonesia prepared a presidential decree to close loopholes that allow child marriage. Divorce is usually initiated by mutual consent, whereby the joint property is divided equally. In Thailand, 12 grounds for divorce under Article 1516 of the Civil and Commercial Code or by the Amphur (municipal office). Divorces by mutual consent are initiated at the Amphur or Amphoe (administrative office of the district government) upon joint request and mutual agreement of husband and wife. District offices are responsible for registering marriages and have the power to dissolve a marriage in the event of divorce by mutual consent. Meanwhile, after meeting with the center team, the man Nu Na was forced to marry went to the district chief and complained to the chief about why they were «interfering in his affairs.» Thailand co-sponsored the 2013, 2014 and 2018 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.