Polygamy in Thailand

Polygamy in Thailand could be freely practiced before 1 October 1935. Polygamy was recognised under civil law. The old family law divided wives into three categories, in accordance to the way they became wives.

• The first was called mia klang muang (เมียกลางเมือง), the 'official wife', whom the husband's parents had "acquired for him".
• The second was known as mia klang nok (เมียกลางนอก), the 'minor wife', whom the man acquired after his first marriage.
• The third was mia klang thasi (เมียกลางทาสี), the title given to slave wives who were purchased from the mother and father of their prior owners.

Children of these unions were recognised as legitimate.

While polygamy has since been abolished, it is still alive in Thailand and, according to some, widely accepted. Such unions are not recognised under Thai law in accordance with the law that states "A man or a woman cannot marry each other while one of them has a spouse."

See also

• Thai marriage