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What is a mia noi, or minor wife? (Plus what the Thai really think about them!) - YouTube
Channel: Bangkok Unmasked
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Welcome to the twenty-seventh video of Bangkok Unmasked!
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The YouTube channel that helps you get the most out of your visit to Bangkok city!
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If you're new here, please consider subscribing!
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In this video, I'm going to look at a term
that is often mentioned in Thailand-based
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discussions, but rarely explained.
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That of a mia noi, or minor wife.
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Let's get started...
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It's common practice for men in Thailand to have a 'mia noi'.
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So what is a 'mia noi'?
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Roughly translated the term means 'minor wife', or mistress.
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The practice has been common in Thai culture for centuries.
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Even in modern-day Thailand, a good number of Thai men will have a mia luang [a major
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wife] and then have a mia noi.
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It's not uncommon for very rich Thai men to have several mia noi.
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Support for a Mia Noi generally includes a
separate residence, a car and spending money.
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If many people know about the lady, she is considered a Mia Noi.
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However, if the lady is a closely guarded
secret, she is considered a girlfriend, or
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'Gik'.
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For the most part, the way things work is
that the mia luang takes care of the family,
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and any children.
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The mia noi takes care of the husband.
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This is generally his sexual needs, and whatever else that's missing from the relationship
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with the mia luang.
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However, sometimes the mia noi might also have children with her sponsor.
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My suspicion is that most Thai men don't intend to have children with their mia noi.
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The mia noi know that having a child is one way to maintain the relationship, and money-flow.
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A survey from 2009-2010 gives some insight into how the Thai view the practice of having
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a minor wife.
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Ramathibodi Hospital conducted the survey as part of a domestic violence study.
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The Nation Newspaper reported the study.
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It explored state officials' attitudes towards men possessing minor wives.
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Almost 60 per cent of the men surveyed said having a minor wife was a man's personal business.
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Only 28.5 per cent mentioned it as an immoral act.
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About half of the women said having a mia noi was an immoral act.
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39 per cent of women felt it was a very personal matter.
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The legal situation in Thailand regarding
minor wives is clear.
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There is no basis for a second wife under
Thai marriage law which states, and I quote:
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"A man or a woman cannot marry each other while one of them has a spouse." End quote.
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Marriage and Divorce laws in Thailand are
surprisingly modern, and based on the western
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model.
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However, up until 1935, polygamy was very much a part of the Thai legal framework regarding
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marriage.
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Up until 1935, there were three different
forms of wife in Thailand.
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'Mia klang muang' was the first form of wife.
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This was the 'official wife' that the husband's parents had 'acquired for him'.
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'Mia klang nok' was the second form of wife.
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This was the 'minor wife', whom the man acquired after his first marriage.
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Finally, 'mia klang thasi' was the third form of wife.
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This was the title given to slave wives that
were purchased from their mother and father.
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All children resulting from the three types
of union were recognized as legitimate.
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Of course, you're unlikely to find a Thai
man who will admit that he has a mia noi.
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Over the years a number of Thai friends have introduced me to their Thai wife's friends, and
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later told me that they're a 'mia noi'.
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To my surprise, one even had a child with
her 'husband'.
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I had always wondered how some women had access to so much money, yet they didn't come from
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money, or work.
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In all cases they were attractive women, or 'pretties'!
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In one of these cases I was told that the
major wife knew about the minor wife.
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It seems that the major wife saw it as an
outsourcing of sexual services.
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As long as her needs, and her children's needs were being met, the arrangement was quite
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satisfactory from her view-point.
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Thai soap opera's, also known as lakorn, frequently cover the subject of mia noi.
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In 2017 there was a very popular series called 'Mia Luang'.
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My wife, like many Thai women, was hooked on this TV series.
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The story is about, and I quote:
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a very wealthy, famous, well-educated, and respected couple.
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Everyone assumes that they're happily married and live a very good life, while in reality
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they have a lot of problems.
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The problems start from Dr. Aniroot, the husband who is a player and has a lot of mistresses.
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His wife Dr. Wiganda is a smart woman who endures his misbehavior and his many women.
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Among his women, there is only Ornin who seems to openly come in between the couple without
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shame.
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End quote.
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What follows is a teaser from the series.
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I think that it's quite enlightening as to
how the Thai view, and deal with, the subject
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of mia noi. Take a look.
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The husband traditionally used to control
the family's money.
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This meant that the major wife wasn't likely to rock the boat when it came to a mia noi.
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If she did her husband might leave, and she could be left in dire financial straits.
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However, things are changing in modern day Thai culture.
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Especially in Bangkok, a lot of major wives now have jobs and money of their own.
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This means that if needs be they can take
care of themselves, and any children.
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A number of Thai men over the years have asked me whether I have a mia noi.
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My answer has always been the same.
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One wife is more than enough!
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When I try to explain that keeping two Thai women happy is more effort that it's worth, I have
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been met with bemused looks.
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Anyway...That's it for this video.
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I hope that helps answer all your questions about mia noi.
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Expect a new video shortly.
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It should be posted in about a week, or so.
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For all you techies out there, this video
was shot on a Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, and
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edited using HitFilm Express.
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Finally, please don't forget to subscribe
to this channel through the button below!
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Also, if you have any comments on this VLOG post, please do write something in the comments
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section! Thank you very much for watching. I'll see you next week. Goodbye.
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