In Thailand — where women outnumber men at university — nine in 10 single women will not date a man who is less educated than themselves, reported matchmaking company Bangkok Matching.
Seven in 10 single Thai women prefer partners who earn 100,000 baht (US$3,140) a month, according to the company’s dating statistics last year. The average monthly salary in Thailand was 15,565 baht in the first quarter this year.
Researchers, meanwhile, have found that each additional year of schooling reduces fertility for Thai women, and a university degree lowers their marriage prospects by nearly 15 per cent.
In Asia, this has become known as the Gold Miss phenomenon — a term coined in South Korea to describe highly educated, high-earning women, who either postpone or opt out of marriage.
The result is a mismatch between what men and women want, shaped by greater gender equality and personal autonomy for women.
Still, marriage is not off the table for Chi. But she would rather wait for Mr Right than compromise. It is a sentiment Pacharaporn shares, as she believes in choosing “the best for your life”.
Others, such as Dat, think people have been “defining happiness wrongly”. “People always define happiness as having a spouse, children and all that. But when those families fall apart, nobody says anything,” he says.
“Living a single life until old age doesn’t mean you’ll be unhappy. You can still find joy in many different things.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insider/marriage-losing-charm-thailand-vietnam-unmarried-young-people-asia-5576161
