one is not enough
=====
Friday February 16 8:06 AM ET
Polygamy Thrives Despite Ban
NAKORN PHATHOM, Thailand (Reuters) - Supat Teeraphapsakulwong
has obviously never heard of the maxim ''don't mix business with pleasure.''
Inside his Thai meatball factory-cum-home just west of Bangkok, Supat jokes casually with employees -- his
seven wives.
``I never thought I would marry more than once,'' says Supat who first tied the knot when he was 22 years old.
``It just happened. I met my first wife at school. My second wife was at the same school. She was heartbroken
when I married, and her parents asked me to marry her as well.''
So, six weeks later, he did.
From then on, the family business just grew and grew. By the time Supat was 41, he had wed five more wives
and had a total of 22 children -- all of whom have worked in the meatball factory. Supat, now 57, and his
wives each have their own bedrooms inside the three-story building, where the family have run their business for
the last 30 years.
``My wives take it in turns to spend the night with me. If I go away, I always remember who's next in line,''
Supat says.
Polygamy, outlawed in 1932, is alive and kicking in Thailand.
According to a study by Bangkok doctors, one in four Thai men have more than one wife despite the ban on
polygamy.
While Thailand's form of Buddhism specifically condemns men who covet other men's wives, it lays down no
firm guidelines on the shape of the family. |
