Equable Divorce Law Sought

Equable divorce law sought

BANGKOK: -- Social Development and Human Security Minister Watana Muangsook has outlined plans to amend civil law to make it easier for women to instigate divorce proceedings.

Watana said current divorce law favoured men.

"While a man can file for divorce if he can prove his wife has had sexual relations with another man, a women can do so only if she can prove her husband has had sexual relations with another woman and is paying her living expenses as if she were his wife," he explained.

"That makes it more difficult for women to file for divorce," he said, noting that women's rights groups had inspired him to look into divorce law.

Watana's latest idea follows his unconventional approach to solving the problem of street motorcycle-racers by allowing them to compete on certain closed-off streets on specific days of the week.

He also proposed earlier that the state set up a centre to take care of newborn babies whom their mothers did not want or were not yet ready to take care of them for personal reasons such as still being at school or university.

Watana's proposals in the past six months challenge conventional Thai moral standards. His critics complain that he is trying to hog the limelight for political reasons rather than out of serious concern for the issues.

Apart from the law amendment, Wattana yesterday said he would propose three measures in support of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's recent idea to promote Sunday as "family day".

--The Nation 2005-10-16