Review | The Thai women who marry Western men: lessons from one village in northeast Thailand in Love, Money and Obligation
- Well-researched book looks at women in a village in the Isaan region of northeast Thailand who choose to marry foreign men
- The author, anthropologist Patcharin Lapanun, examines the social impact of their marriages on the village and the women themselves
Love, Money and Obligation: Transnational Marriage in a Northeastern Thai Village, by Patcharin Lapanun, NUS Press, 4/5 stars
Well-researched and easy to follow, Patcharin Lapanun’s Love, Money and Obligation: Transnational Marriage in a Northeastern Thai Village is a powerful reminder of how interconnected the world has become – and how love can develop between people from completely different backgrounds.
Though a work of academic anthropology, based mainly on Patcharin’s PhD research, the book is still highly readable. It clearly and sincerely describes the communities in the Isaan region of Thailand, the women who inhabit these spaces, and the Western men who share their lives with them. Patcharin’s meticulous examination of the lives of Thais in one village, where some women have chosen to marry foreign men, makes for a fascinating read.
Patcharin’s central argument is refreshing, in that she does not want to bend the evidence to fit any narrative that denies women the chance to express their sexuality.
This book goes against currently popular theories that see transnational marriage [in Thailand] as nothing more than a front for sex trafficking. The research captures numerous moments of this bias, particularly by Western women, who can see these relationships as material – or, even more crudely, transactional – arrangements.
