April Fool

September 29, 2011

When I received the e-mail and read the heading it was a matter of, “Here we go again,” as I mentally mused as to what cunning plan the Thais have come up with now to ruffle the feathers of foreigners.

“Law prohibiting marriage to foreigners over the age of 50 proposed to Thai Cabinet.”

Momentary disbelief caused me to read the rest of the article which was well written and contained references to the popular website thaivisa.com and a link to a website showing the existing marriage laws in Cambodia. I was already under the impression that both Cambodia and Laos have stricter laws regarding marriages of foreigners to nationals. But the date was 1st April, so I became very skeptical of the article’s authenticity. I forwarded it to two friends to get their opinions. Was it genuine or was it an April Fool’s joke? They didn’t know either.

I re-read the article carefully. Supposedly, the Thai “Ministry of Interior are bringing a new proposal before the Cabinet prohibiting foreigners over the age of 50 from marrying Thai nationals.” Then, in the wording of the article were subtle clues that all was not as it seemed.

For instance, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior referred to foreign men over the age of 50 by saying, “In many cases they are old enough to be their father. I am concerned that these people are attempting to circumvent the RULES by marrying innocent Thai women.” Note the use of the word “innocent”. Personally, I don’t believe even the most nationalistic, xenophobic Thai male would use that term in this context. My guess was it was written by a foreigner for dramatic effect.

The next clue was the date of the new law coming into effect. Supposedly sent to Cabinet on 1st April and written into law on 1st May? Not likely. No government or parliamentary system in the world works that fast.

Finally the article stated, “The new law is in line with similar laws in Cambodia and Laos as part of the upcoming ASEAN integration in 2015.” No, no, no. Whatever the laws in Cambodia and Laos, the chance of Thailand changing its laws to conform to those countries is remote. In case you don’t know, Thais don’t like Cambodians and they consider Laos a poor cousin. Over the last few months bombs have been flying backwards and forwards across one section of the Thai border with Cambodia. Even if they are fellow members of ASEAN, it would be a big loss of face for Thailand to ever take the legislative or political lead from Cambodia.

By the way, Cambodia’s Marriage Laws do not currently spell out any restrictions on the marriage of foreigners to nationals. Earlier this year, the Foreign Ministry sent a diplomatic note to foreign embassies placing financial and age restrictions on foreign men marrying Cambodian women. According to the note, only men making more than $2,550 a month and younger than 50 years old will be allowed to marry Cambodian women. However, it is debatable whether the Foreign Ministry can amend the law through a diplomatic note.

Strangely enough, perhaps age restrictions have already been covered by existing laws which state, in part, that marriage is prohibited to “a person whose penis is impotent” or to “a person who is insane, and a person who has mental defect.” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Laos Marriage Laws do not currently have any specific financial or age restrictions on the marriage of foreign men to Laotian women. The only obstacle is they must first obtain permission to marry from the government which involves a lot of paperwork and could take anywhere from a month to a year. Foreigners face severe penalties (heavy fines and/or imprisonment) if caught ‘being intimate’ with a Laotian woman outside of wedlock, but generally the laws pertaining to marriage apply equally regardless of the foreigner’s age.

Back to Thailand, there are some expats who believe there is a secret government building in Bangkok housing people whose only job is to dream up cunning laws and regulations to screw with foreigners. I, of course, don’t believe it and would never spread such malicious slander. Therefore, I concluded the thaivisa article contained in the e-mail was a hoax. As it turned out, it was an elaborate April Fool’s joke. The author receives top marks for stirring the expat pot but the fact remains that old foreign geezers are still free to marry in this country. But the article did beg questions about the implications such a law would have. Regardless of the reasons given, if such a marriage law was introduced, who would it benefit and who would it disadvantage?

In my opinion the law would benefit no-one, apart from perhaps saving a few bedazzled old men from making a big mistake. It would disadvantage the Thai spouse due to the fact that a Thai marriage registered with the foreigner’s embassy has legal implications regarding her inheritance rights. Let’s face it, we are talking about guys over the age of fifty here and it would take a brave gambler to bet he would outlive his (presumably) younger bride. Upon his demise, the marriage document means she could make a rightful claim to his assets. Without it, his remaining assets including bank accounts and investments could be frozen – for years – while the embassy locates and makes arrangements through his next of kin.

I am over 50, have been married once and am now divorced. I can see no point in ever remarrying so a law prohibiting me from doing so would not cause me one nanosecond of grief. My thoughts on the institution of marriage are no secret; I tend to agree with the Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) who wrote, “The horror of wedlock, the most appalling, the most loathsome of all the bonds humankind has devised for its own discomfort and degradation.” And he should know about pain and suffering.