BANGKOK, 14 April 2014 – The Ministry of Public Health revealed that the divorce rate has risen 27 percent over the past nine years in Thailand, showing the fragile state of marriages in recent years.
The Public Health Ministry spokeswoman Panpimol Wipulakorn said yesterday that the National Statistical Office’s 2012 report showed that 314,338 couples married and 111,377 divorced.
In 2003, 328,356 couples had wed and 80,836 divorced. Panpimol suggested that couples are suffering more from work-related stress while independence is valued higher and couples are less tolerant of each other.
She urged couples to compromise, be responsible, and to be gentle and rational with partners when in conflict instead of being too emotional or angry.
The increased divorce rate has led to more single-parent families, and she urged that both parents in a divorce continue to have a parental role to create stability for their kids.
“Children nowadays better understand why couples divorce but they still expect care and participation from both parents,” she said.
