I read about a new law in Cambodia that became effective March 1 that makes it illegal for a foreign man over 50 to marry a Cambodian woman. That seems really weird to me.
The government is trying to stop fake marriages and cases where the women end up getting sent into some kind of brothel or sweat shop overseas. I guess it is only men over 50 who do that(?)
The idea is just so messed up. I bet a lot of Cambodian women are upset about it. To make it even more insulting it only applies to women – Cambodian men can marry anyone they want but not Cambodian women. That kind of discrimination is like something from ancient history.
I think what is really behind it is that a lot of the citizens just think it is very ugly to see an old foreign man with a young Cambodian girl. They know she is just selling herself out. I have discussed that subject about Thailand before and it always gets a big reaction. The truth is that many (most) Thai people have similar feelings when they see an old foreign man with a young Thai girl. I wonder if that idea to ban those marriages could catch on here. Lots of crazy ideas seem to be catching from one country to another now days.
Tags: Cambodia
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March 17th, 2011 at 2:26 am
It’s like calling foreigners to marry young.
March 17th, 2011 at 2:40 am
Worse, it also means a Cambodian woman is trapped too if she is over say 40. What it is is possibly the influence of Political Correctness and envy. Many know that a well to do Westerner has advantages in the mating game. And many countries near Cambodia (China)are experiencing a surplus of men.
In practice this means that many will be the GF of foreigner but not marry in Cambodia but if they do marry it will be in the home country. Foreign women on the other hand will have a happy hunting ground!
Personally young women older men makes for a good novel and many are just jealous as the pretties are cobbled up!!!
March 17th, 2011 at 2:53 am
P.S, I remembered this http://asiansweetheart.net/blog/2010/08/asian-men-forced-marry-foreign-brides/
many men are in Asia pressured into marriage due to the lack/absence of a retirement planning. This will beget social change as the failure of Western government to fully fund government backed social programs and retirement funding.
The governments who do not have such are forced into a quandry/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/14/china-wants-onechild-comp_n_835391.html
March 17th, 2011 at 8:11 am
“Lots of crazy ideas seem to be catching [on] now days.” Amen to that, Ms. AS.
The place I work has wasted lots of time trying to make rules to force people to behave; it only makes those of us who follow rules have to do more do to our jobs.
Sad.
March 17th, 2011 at 9:03 am
That is so funny and discriminatory, not that it makes any difference in SE Asia.
I would like to see this one go to court and how the judge would handle it. Would he grant an immediate divorce and give half of everything to the woman?????
Another scam in the making…
March 17th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Well, if Thailand had a child support/alimony system for all its hundreds of thousands of single mothers, perhaps these women would not be so motivated to find older foreign husbands.
And if Thailand invested more in the education of these women, many of whom are done with school at the end of 6th or 8th grade…..
And if Thailand had an adequate pension system for the parents of these women rather than relying on these under-educated women to provide their parents with a pension…..
And if Thailand had a way for these hundreds of thousands of uneducated women to earn far more than the 5 to 10 thousand baht (180 to 330 USD) per month which is standard for most ordinary unskilled jobs (and even less in the deep countryside) and way less than they need to support their children and parents in addition to themselves…..
If all of the above were to change for the better, then perhaps a certain class of smug, self-righteous and often hypocrtical Thais would no longer have to see the “ugly” spectacle of younger Thai woman seeking resources and financial help from older foreign men….
March 17th, 2011 at 9:15 am
Yeah, that raises a good question, what about the ones who are already married. Is there a problem with that?
March 17th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Perhaps Asiansweetheart yet again showing her strange propensity towards implied criticism of foreigners in Thailand. Last ‘politically correct’ topic was why English isn’t going to be the number one language in the world but Chinese is! Funny how all the reports and stats point towards the Chinese pushing for their children to learn English… Perhaps we should ban English lessons too…
March 24th, 2011 at 2:38 am
George, a lot of out in the country women would love to earn 5 to 10 thousand baht a month. many earn less than 1/2 that. but, I understand what your saying and agree.
March 24th, 2011 at 4:00 am
Hi I thought of another item Colonialism. I know that Laos has very discriminatory social laws too but not as ridiculous. But to power structure that is very sensitive to the colonial past then that too might have had a part. What about the men who are not ugly? There are many men and women who do not decline as much with age.
Then there is George who may not be male. He misses the prestige part and the wish for lighter skinned children. Who would have advantages in the future. That was part of what the “black power” of the 60’s was about in the US. So there could be many reasons for this. But for the Westerner there is tales of caution too.
Sweetheart have you seen this:http://thaisextalk.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/the_thai_women_matrix.gif
Very interesting !
March 24th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Yes, I saw that matrix. I did a post about that matrix and the blog it originally came from here.