I think that the reason that there are more "bad marriage" stories than "good marriage" stories is that the good ones don't whine and whinge and point the fingers at anybody.

We just get on with our lives, families, extended or not, jobs, retirement and enjoy life in Thailand to the full.

Of the 20 or 30 close friends I have who are married, Some live in Thailand, some in their own countries, some are FIFO. Some of the husbands are in their 30s, some 40s, 50s and 60s and some are older than me at 70

I know English, Scottish, Kiwi, Aussie, German Dutch and Swiss among their nationalities. Quite a few are or were engineers, builders one was even an exporter of Thai goods.

Of that lot which is my sample of Thai wifes only 2 marriages have ended in divorce which seems to be a lot lower than in the west (been there, done that myself).

None of us are perfect and willingly admit our mistakes but all of us are happy with our choices.

So my answer the OPs question is why ever NOT marry a Thai?

Same here, Happily married to a Thai, Best thing that ever happened to me. I know many Farang Thai couples and as far as I can tell , they are all happily married. But how long do you think a thread titled, " I have no problems with my lovely Thai wife" will last ?

Well there was one a couple of years ago and it lasted quite a while. However if you took out all the negative bits there were only about 10 posts across 4 or 5 pages.

Why?...In my case it was all about love and companionship.

Plus 1

Ahem! I was led to believe the marriage would "easen" the visa-process. Indeed they were right but there was more......

And-eehm I wasn't thinking rationally while usually I think things through and assess all the time.

. . . ummmm . . . yes, but I know that wasn't my thinking at the time. I wasn't thinking at the time is probably more accurate.

Cough!! You can't just NOT think....

Don't you feel ashamed? I do. I justify the marriage to myself by thinking: if I went back in time knowing all I'd still do it again. No regrets, just like that.

I know I'm a fool, I admit it to myself.

Here's something I can't understand. Marriage is a religious ceremony and so many people who aren't religious get married. I don't understand that. Visa perhaps?

I dont know where people get these ideas. One thinks marriage is about money the other thinks it is a religious ceremony.

If that was correct then I guess Atheists could not get married.

It's a choice. But what is that choice based on? What makes us do it?

I have no idea to this day why I ever got married because I'm atheist.

.

Different people get married for different reasons. but you don't need a religious ceremony to get married. you go to the Amphur and get married. but one needs to remember that it takes two people to have a marriage, and then there is the extended family, We had a civil ceremony, then later on we had a religious e ceremony to make my wife's mother happy.

It was lovely, and everyone had a good time.

But there are some universal reasons why people get married. One would be commitment, others would be love,companionship, a partner, family, legal protection.shared labor towards a common goal, etc,

But the biggest one is Commitment.

Here's something I can't understand. Marriage is a religious ceremony and so many people who aren't religious get married. I don't understand that. Visa perhaps?

I dont know where people get these ideas. One thinks marriage is about money the other thinks it is a religious ceremony.

If that was correct then I guess Atheists could not get married.

It's a choice. But what is that choice based on? What makes us do it?

I have no idea to this day why I ever got married because I'm atheist.

.

Different people get married for different reasons. but you don't need a religious ceremony to get married. you go to the Amphur and get married. but one needs to remember that it takes two people to have a marriage, and then there is the extended family, We had a civil ceremony, then later on we had a religious e ceremony to make my wife's mother happy.

It was lovely, and everyone had a good time.

But there are some universal reasons why people get married. One would be commitment, others would be love,companionship, a partner, family, legal protection.shared labor towards a common goal, etc,

But the biggest one is Commitment.

But the biggest one is Commitment.

You talk like a farang, for most Thai its about security and knowing somewhere down the line there is a pension to be picked up.

My MIL picks up the grand sum of 500 baht per month pension from the Thais.

She didnt get married for commitment, she got married becoz she was forced into it, thats another story for another day.

Still have her wedding bowl in the house on prime display in the cabinet, brilliant old woman who wouldnt take any shyt.

Just to pick up on a few of the points raised.

1. Thinking about it, I got married out of a need for commitment and stability, I got the opposite;

2. Don't feel ashamed because the kids have got it all and are set for life, Their lives would have been pretty dreadful otherwise. I did a very good job of this however difficult certain parties made it to do so at the time (a certain person finally 'gets it');

3. For me at least it worked out fine because of the family, very nice people, strong work ethic and good values.

Would I go through all that again? Absolutely not. Would I do it differently to get to the same endpoint? Yes, absolutely.

It's all live and learn stuff.