Increasing mixed marriages in Phuket

One look around the Phuket’s schools and playgrounds and it is common to see mixed-race children happily playing with the 100% Thai kids- easily identifies with fairer skin, western features and non-black hair.

With an expansion of Phuket’s tourist trade, mixed marriages have risen in number. One thing noticeable here is that while there are many women visiting Thailand, only a small percentage of them decide to settle here. But the men are marrying Thai women and settling here in numbers that way exceed what is typical elsewhere. In fact, a lot of men come here with an intention to seek wives. These include men who are dissatisfied with their experiences of women in their home country and they believe that here they can find women who are beautiful, feminine and attentive to their husband’s needs.

It is dangerous to generalise too much about the men who marry Thai girls and settle in Phuket. They all have their own story. Just the same, there are common patterns. You can place a lot of these men into three broad groups:

First, there are people who come to Phuket for work or a break from work and in the due course, fall in love with some charming Thai beauty.

In the second category are those who fall in love with their bargirl. These generally include the new young men who come to Phuket for the first time, pick up a bar girl and then keeping her for the entire length of the holiday. They act as if they are boyfriend-girlfriend. The girl gets plenty of time to weave her magic and arouse sympathy with her unfair life history. She gives him lots of affection and by the end of his holiday, he is in love.

The last group includes those who come with the pre-planned intent of finding a wife. They have thought about it and come to the reasoned conclusion that a Thai wife would make their life better.

Whatever the reasons, the mixed Thai-Western marriage is now an established part of Phuket’s scenery. Not all of these marriages turn out to be a bliss. There can be extra problems related to marriages between people from different cultures. Still a lot of western men are very happy with their choice.