Many politicians have minor wives or extra-marital affairs to conceal, she says. Not surprisingly, such arguments cut little ice among traditionalists. Suddenly, polygamy became something undesirable, bad even. But the times, they are a-changin'. And along with it women's attitudes to marriage, says Supatra Suparb, a professor at Chulalongkorn University.
Women feel monogamy is more modern and progressive.
They think 'stick to one person'. A number of wives are no longer prepared to suffer quietly. The wife of former armed forces chief, General Sunthorn Kongsompong, is a high-profile example. At a press conference in 1991, Orachorn Kongsompong threatened to sue the general's mistress for flaunting the family name. Such blatant behavior hurt her sons' feelings, she had said.