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Norwegian Thai temple as Thai women arrive in Norway

Monday 26th December 2011 9:13pm

Thai women face challenges in Norway as Norwegian men opt for Thai marriage partners

More and More men from Norway are opting for Thai women as marriage partners.

Indeed there was quite a backlash from women in Norway some time ago when a Norwegian politician publicly stated that he thought Thai women took better care of their husbands and family. A recent TV programme on Norwegian TV saw feminist groups suggesting that Norwegian law gives Norwegian men power of their Thai wives when they arrive in Norway. The new law allows for the deportation of Thai women in Norway in certain situations where their marriage to their Norwegian husband fails.

Norwegian men speaking to ThaiLoveLines have rejected the programmes concerns pointing to his their own marriages and then fact that growing numbers of Norwegian men are becoming interested in find wives in Thailand. 'If there was a problem, men would not be travelling there. Most Norwegian men are fair people,' says Rune who met his Thai wife Pim in Khon Khaen, Thailand two years ago after meeting her on the internet through a Thai Dating site. Rune: 'Pim and I, we are happy, we have our own house, no money problems and I respect her, this is the story with many Norwegian men with a Thai wife. My friends do not treat her badly; many ask her about Thai women and life in Thailand and want to know how to find a Thai woman also.'

Rune's wife Pim is 32 years, 6 years younger than him. She is equally adamant that the story of Thai women in Norway is more a positive one than a negative one. Pim: 'I am Thai woman, not a child. I am happy to live in Norway with my husband.'

The TV programme comes at a time when a government report in Finland concluded that well over 90% of marriages between Thai women and men from Finland were happy ones. Finnish women's groups had called for an investigation into the high levels of Thai women opting to live at home as housewives. An outcry over Thai women working in massage parlours in Finland also contributed to calls for an investigation. A report by a Thai University student into Thai women living in Germany also highlighted the vulnerability of Thai women immigrating to a colder western country. In all these situations, however, the reports went to great lengths to point out that the vast majority of relationships between Thai women and western men were enduring ones.

The growth of Thai women travelling to Norway now means that Thai and Filipina women are the largest group of non western immigrants in Norway. Norway, with its oil wealth, has now become one of the richest countries in the world and a magnet for immigrants.

However, the developing economy in Norway has brought more women in Norway into the Norwegian workplace and the roles of men and women have altered from previous generations. Some men in Norway see Thai women as 'more feminine,' more 'old fashioned' and therefore better marriage partners. Many Thai women coming to Norway have very successfully integrated themselves into Norwegian society.

Thai Women in Norway and Oslo

Indeed there are many Thai women in Oslo and throughout Norway now using Thai Dating sites to meet boyfriends, marriage partners or simply friends in Norway, Thailand or any other place in the world. Many younger Thai women living in Oslo now lead a cosmopolitan life with careers and seek life partners online with Thai Dating Sites from Norway. At the same time, there have many shocking stories of Thai women who have been abandoned by their partners after travelling to Norway and been forced to depend on Norwegian social services.

The biggest challenges facing Thai women in Norway are:

  • The cold - Many Thai women wear multiple layers of clothing in winter and summer periods.
  • The negative reaction from some women in Norway and the Norwegian media.
  • Many Thai women feel homesick in Norway where the weather and the culture are so different. This is countered in time by the rising numbers of Thai women moving to Norway .

On July 2007 Thai Princess Somsawalee traveled to Norway to meet Thai women and to open the first Thai temple in Norway on the 100th anniversary of the famous visit of King Chulalongkorn to Norway in 1907.

This highlights an important element of the story. We have seen from countries like Australia, the United States and Canada that Thai women arriving in foreign countries as Thai Brides are beginning to found active communities in these countries.

The Thai government has also now begun to provide support facilities for Thai women who marry foreign men abroad through its embassies and consulates. One Thai university researcher suggests that the level of inward investment into Thailand and future relationships abroad, could in the future, have a very positive effect not only on the Thai economy but in the overall development of Thailand both economically, politically and culturally.

ThaiLoveLines.com is Thailand’s biggest internet dating site with over 355,000 members and growing rapidly …Begin your search for a Thai girlfriend, wife or partner here.


Thai woman in Norway
As more and more Norwegian men opt for Thai marriage partners, Norway now has its first Thai temple. Begin your search on Thailand's largest internet dating site.
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