Thai to Thy.

Danish TV has produced an excellent TV documentary on a specific Thai community living in the Danish area of Thy. It is a thoroughly researched documentary based on the findings of social anthropologist, Sine Plambech.

The documentary shows how Thais help their families immigrate to their local area by helping them marry Danish men. It focuses on Sommai who came to Denmark in 1991. Since then she has succeeded in getting a lot of her cousins and nieces to join her there. In this documentary we get a close look at how Thais relate to their husbands and how they interact with each other. It is a good, honest insight into the motivations and realities for many Thai women. It also dispels many myths about victimisation. The women shown in the documentary are pro-active and quite aware of their actions and behaviours – they’re not being exploited by Danish men as some prejudices go.

However, some people watching the documentary can be repulsed by the businesslike manner of Sommai in getting her niece a husband. Some may feel that undue pressure is being put on this younger niece. The documentary strikes a fine balance here, however. People who know Thailand will understand that Sommai may just be doing what she finds necessary under the pressure of time – her niece only has a 3 month visa to find herself a husband.

I recognise the method of bringing over family from the way some of my wife’s cousins were brought to Norway by an older family member. It is quite a common practice. It may seem blunt and crude to some, but for many the end result has been a better standard of living and in many cases a happy relationship.

I also recognise the area and people of Thy as that is where I grew up. In many ways, Thy and Isarn (where many of Thai expats originate from) share certain characteristics: Both peoples are considered to be hicks by the rest of the population and they live on some of the most poor and meagre land of their respective countries (something that still keeps Isarn in poverty and used to keep Thy in the same kind of poverty). Differences are that Isarn people seem far more fun-loving and talkative, Thy people like to express themselves in as few syllables as possible and as little as possible. The irony is that both areas see a great emigration of women. Younger Thy women are seeking education and job opportunities in the more vibrant and exciting Eastern Danish cities – they rarely return. On the other hand, Isarn women leave their impoverished region in order to find work in Bangkok or – if they marry a Farang – in order to move to foreign regions like Thy.

I can’t see it as anything but a win-win situation: The lonely Danish men find a companion and the poor Thai women find a way out of poverty for themselves as well as many Isarn relatives. People who turn their noses up at these relationships should consider whether their own relationships are as meaningful and whether they actually make as much difference other than to their own selfish desires. This is not a jibe at traditional “romantic” ideas of relationships – just to make people question whether they have the right to judge other relationships that harshly.

The documentary can be seen here. Enjoy.

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