PHUKET: Her name is Safariyas, she is 16 years old, and she is about to marry a man she has never met until this moment.
This is the Phuket that tourists do not see. The Phuket where a 16-year-old becomes a bride, just four days after her father arranges her marriage.
The wedding night? She will probably ask the groom for his name, or he will ask for hers.
The bride and her groom, Fayea, 28, had never met before their wedding ceremony on Sunday.
For Safariyas, it is a difficult day. She manages a half-smile once or twice at friends, but for most of the time, she sits impassively, looking like a bride in her white finery, but unsmiling.
The location where the wedding takes place is in a five-star part of the island, but back in the hills.
This is where some of the people who build Phuket's resorts and villas try to retain their traditions, in a hand-made camp for about 50 families.
The rain has been falling so the earthen path to the camp is slippery and too treacherous, even for motorcycles.
On July 4, independence day for some, Safariyas lost her freedom when her father announced at the Kalim mosque, on Phuket's west coast, that he had a daughter of marriageable age.
Did anyone know of a suitable husband?
A friend suggested Fayea and four days later, with the dowry fixed at one baht-weight of gold and 30,000 baht in cash, Fayea and his bride are getting married.
He rents a room. He sells roti. The couple will have a home after the ceremony.
Her family is Burmese Muslim, from near Victoria Point, opposite Ranong, where many westerners from Phuket do their visa runs.
Fayea has his documents to work in Thailand and he is a Rohingya, from further north in Burma. The couple do not speak the same language, but people say they will have enough in common to be able to communicate.
Guests at the wedding celebrate with a fine lamb curry and some games. Young men, including the groom, are delayed from entering by two women suspending a gold necklet, and asking for financial contributions.
Meanwhile, the documents are signed and Fayea and Safariyas formally become man and wife.
Like her parents, 16-year-old Safariyas has been working on a Phuket construction site. It is never made clear whether she has ever been to school.
But the signed papers show that yesterday, at 16, she became a bride.
From now on, her life will be as a home-maker for Fayea, and probably as the mother of his children.
This is the Phuket that tourists do not see. The Phuket where a 16-year-old becomes a bride, just four days after her father arranges her marriage.
The wedding night? She will probably ask the groom for his name, or he will ask for hers.
The bride and her groom, Fayea, 28, had never met before their wedding ceremony on Sunday.
For Safariyas, it is a difficult day. She manages a half-smile once or twice at friends, but for most of the time, she sits impassively, looking like a bride in her white finery, but unsmiling.
The location where the wedding takes place is in a five-star part of the island, but back in the hills.
This is where some of the people who build Phuket's resorts and villas try to retain their traditions, in a hand-made camp for about 50 families.
The rain has been falling so the earthen path to the camp is slippery and too treacherous, even for motorcycles.
On July 4, independence day for some, Safariyas lost her freedom when her father announced at the Kalim mosque, on Phuket's west coast, that he had a daughter of marriageable age.
Did anyone know of a suitable husband?
A friend suggested Fayea and four days later, with the dowry fixed at one baht-weight of gold and 30,000 baht in cash, Fayea and his bride are getting married.
He rents a room. He sells roti. The couple will have a home after the ceremony.
Her family is Burmese Muslim, from near Victoria Point, opposite Ranong, where many westerners from Phuket do their visa runs.
Fayea has his documents to work in Thailand and he is a Rohingya, from further north in Burma. The couple do not speak the same language, but people say they will have enough in common to be able to communicate.
Guests at the wedding celebrate with a fine lamb curry and some games. Young men, including the groom, are delayed from entering by two women suspending a gold necklet, and asking for financial contributions.
Meanwhile, the documents are signed and Fayea and Safariyas formally become man and wife.
Like her parents, 16-year-old Safariyas has been working on a Phuket construction site. It is never made clear whether she has ever been to school.
But the signed papers show that yesterday, at 16, she became a bride.
From now on, her life will be as a home-maker for Fayea, and probably as the mother of his children.
Interesting story.
I know age of consent is 15y here but do you know what is the required legal age to marry ?
I wonder if marriage to a legal foreign resident changes her status too (in case she's not legal here), i.e. is she eligible for a spousal visa ?
Posted by Andrew on July 9, 2012 22:30