Thai-farang Couples And The Law.

[Martin]

Last Saturday, the legal-aid section of the the government held a one-day meeting in Udon that all farangs and Thai spouses were invited to attend.

It was a morning-plus-afternoon affair at the Karin Hotel, with lunch provided.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get there till mid-morning. So I missed the opening when I expect the legal system set-up was explained.

However, it seems that there is a section of the Attorney General's Office that gives free legal advice and has a sub-section in each provincial city, and it is foreseeing that there are now so many farang-Thai couples that there is a need for more specialised information being available to them.

At the meeting, questions were answered by a team that had come from Bangkok and are travelling round the country. They were due to be down in Surat Thani/Koh Samui this weekend.

I have seen an estimate that the number of women from Isaan alone who have married a farang well exceeds 250,000. If a sizeable proportion of them come to retire in Isaan, it makes sense for there to be a small section of the legal system specialising in the interface between them and the system.