Survey: 71% of Thai men have affairs, 42% force themselves on their partners

Shocking results from a survey on Thai men’s abusive behavior against their partners were revealed yesterday, with 71.7 percent of the participants admit to having “giks,” or affairs, while 42.4 percent say they force themselves on their wives as a way to manage their anger.

In a campaign to stop violence against women, the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation conducted a survey of 1,617 Thai men, aged 20-35 who live in Bangkok, Chumphon, Lampang provinces.

The results were revealed yesterday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

It was found that 80 percent of the participants yell at their partners, 74.7 percent curse at their partners, while 14 percent admit that they use violence when facing a jealous conflict, Bangkok Biz News reported.

When men are experiencing anger, some ways they deal with their emotions include: going out drinking (68.9 percent), destroying objects at their houses (57.3 percent), drinking to the point of intoxication and coming home to attack their wives or girlfriends (44.8 percent), and a shocking 42.4 percent force themselves on their partners when they’re angry.

When witnessing women being abused by their partners, 12.9 percent of men choose not to intervene while one-third view married women as “property” of their husbands.

One-fourth agree with the famous Thai idiom, “Men without affairs are snakes without poison,” and “True men must drink.” They also agree that birth control is women’s sole responsibility.

Ausuma Ketthahak, a member of the foundation, said that families should start by teaching their children to respect other people’s rights and refrain of using violence, while governmental organizations campaign against patriarchy and publicize the channels where victims of domestic violence can seek support.

She added that education is a major tool to foster children’s belief in gender equality while media should not broadcast domestic violence.

“Rape scenes” are commonly shown in Thai drama series for entertainment, and violence is often depicted as an answer to conflicts or revenge.

Last year, the company which produces a popular series “Club Friday Continued” was fined THB50,000 by the National Broadcasting Commission for showing two violent scenes — one showed a women being raped while three other characters watched and another featured the same woman having her face forced against a motorcycle’s exhaust pipe, causing her to become deformed.