elef Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 'MIA FARANG': When Harry weds Somsri, business blooms Published on Jun 14, 2004 Thai women who marry Westerners are now being looked up to, instead of down at KHON KAEN - To the many thousands of Isaan women who leave their villages and end up marrying a foreigner, being a mia farang has it burdens. Some have to tolerate insults, all have to bear a certain stigma. But the reality behind marrying outside their culture is the economic and social advantages it brings to the country, and this is finally being recognised by provincial authorities in a surprising and practical way. Some governors in the Northeast are planning to honour the Isaan mia farang by asking them to act as "commercial and tourism ambassadors" for the region, with their mission being to help sell more than 3,000 "One Tambon, One Product" (Otop) items. They will also be asked to persuade their husbands' friends and families to visit Thailand to help boost tourist arrivals, the governors say. The phenomenon of the mia farang has been well noted for decades among the households of the region, but it has been very much a taboo subject at community level and above. But that is all changing as the economic reality of marrying a foreigner sets in. To Thais, especially in rural areas, a commonly held prejudice of a Thai woman walking with a Westerner is that the woman must be in the sex industry and the man her customer. It might be grossly unfair, but that is the perceived wisdom. But now the first mia farang club has been founded in Roi Et and similar ones are in the pipeline in most provinces of the Northeast. The clubs will be initiated by the provincial governors and officially recognised, Roi Et Governor Nopporn Jantarathong told The Nation. "We have invited [the mia farang] to be official guests for our bunpavet - an annual Isaan Buddhist ceremony - and to wear Thai silk dress, like at other provincial ceremonies," Nopporn said, giving just one example of how the province recognises the contribution of the foreign husbands to the mia farang's family. "It is a historical and drastic change," he said. "These women have been looked at in a negative light for too long, but it is a fact that they exist and they are not a problem. "To the contrary, they bring in foreign currency and have boosted the province's economy for decades. Why shouldn't they be recognised positively," the CEO governor said in explaining his decision to set up the Roi Et club, known officially as Mae Ban Ruam Jai Club (housewives come together). Khon Kaen Governor Jade Thanawat said his province will set up a club similar to the one in Roi Et by next April when most of the wives bring their Western husbands to their home towns. "We are trying to work out the best form of cooperation between the province and the mia farang. The club is one very interesting form," Jade said. However, he accepted that giving official recognition to mia farang might be too sensitive an issue for many people and could lead to opposition from more conservative elements of society. "Therefore we have to spend some time studying it carefully before announcing the policy," he added. In Roi Et, there has been no such hesitation. Governor Nopporn said he is planning to give even more recognition to the province's mia farang by holding an official "wedding ceremony" for them in the province. "It is to send a message that they are now honoured by the governor. Looking at what they have done for the country, they deserve this honour," he said. Roi Et resident Athika Sarawithee, chairman of Roi Et's mia farang club, said she is very happy with the policy. "The recognition is very important to us. We have been looked at negatively for too long," she said. Athika is currently running for the Tambon Administrative Organisation (TAO) in her home town. Nopporn said the new policy had been running since February and he was now evaluating the number of extra visitors and the amount of Otop products sold. "I have seen some women bringing as many as four groups of visitors with them this year," he said. Anthika said communication among the club's members was still poor as many of the members live abroad. "So selling Otop products and bringing in more tourist is still being learnt at the individual level, mostly. The idea of this policy is great but personally I think Otop products need many improvements before being sold abroad, especially designs," she said. Decha Vanichvarod, director of the regional office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said the phenomenon of mia farang had long been noted by local people and the authorities but no scientific studies had been made before the NESDB's, which he conducted because of a personal interest. The study will be published this year but the results are already being used to shape regional policy. The issue is attracting more and more interest from local academics and non-government organisations. Some of them are planning to conduct a series of studies on the impact of mia farang, especially the cultural and social aspects. Kamol Sukin, Sumalee Phopayak The Nation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hi, Not sure what to think of this. On the one hand it is good that some of the stigma is being removed, but on the other hand it seems that the main reason behind this was not removing that stigma, but rather getting these women to have their farang husbands and friends spend more money in Thailand. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted June 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hi, Emperor Vespasian(us), who introduced taxes on public toilets in ancient Rome, said to his bewildered son Titus: "Money does not smell!". elef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitagawn Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 KS- Agreed. I think it would be nice if Mia Farang gains a bit of respect and their husbands as well. HOwever in this article it is clearly based on the money flow into Thailand not about happiness for the "hopefully" loving couple. Good try in the right direction but ah... classic TIT. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickfarang Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Honoring people for what they've achieved is one thing, honoring people beacause it will bring you economic benefit is deceitful. I think giving the Nobel Prize for Physics to Richard Feynaman for his work in electrodynamics was worthwhile as it spurred others to do well and gave Feynamn some cash to buy a PC with. By this recognition of Mia Farangs is almost as if Alabama of the 1950's had an event to celebrate being black, with the main hook being that each black attendee is asked to bring realitves who will purchase tickets... Note that Alabama is much better now, but I worry about the integrety of government officials in another part of the world... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 This is the classic case where good is the end result but the process is not out the goodness of their hearts. One can view it as a win-win situation for the both mixed couple and the local economy. So i guess its not exploitation, right? I wish some people in the world would do more things because it is the right thing to do and not driven by either self-interest or economic gain. Capitalistic is burning at both ends of the candle. Not a lot of integrity on this one..... My one question is why did it take officials (not all at the local/community level will accept it though) so long to realize this potential economic windfall? Asute Isaan families have known it for years...... Cardinalblue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 Hmm, I am speechless :: However, it seems to me money talks again, so typical in Thailand. However, I hope the "mia farangs" can show them that the women are bringing money in the country with dignity, not only just for being thier wives. And not all of "mia farangs" marry "farangs" for economy reasons either I need to think about this more Jasmine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted June 16, 2004 Report Share Posted June 16, 2004 jasmine, would you care to speculate what percentage of married couples met their husbands thru the bar scene? Do you think there is a balance or will it be dominated one way or the other? Do you think there is a significant difference geographically? There was no mention of any refernece to a bkk club or mia-falang couples from BKK? I wonder if the bkk local gov feels the same way as the issan local gov about this topic? Cardinalblue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 Although we'd all wish it would have been for more altruistic reasons, the bottom line is that its an escalaton in social standing. One step at a time. In a generation or two, hopefully the stigma would have been removed. It may start out with an economic motive but it can be the impetus for a change in outlook on these types of unions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iuytrede Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 the editorial of the Nation commented on this report and said pretty much what KS and others have said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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