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Published on August 12, 2007

Legislation has been slated for tabling in the National Legislative Assembly.

Deputy Social Development and Human Security Minister Poldej Pinpratheep said Saturday the matter would attract widespread public attention and needed a broad hearing.

Assembly member Juree Vichit-Vadakan plans to submit a bill allowing transsexuals to legally change their titles.

Poldej said he thought Juree's reason for doing so was out of concern that transsexuals encountered "lifestyle problems" if they were forced to remain identified as men, citing checking into hotels as one such problem.

Srinakharinwirot University president and assembly member Wiroon Tungcharoen backed the bill.

It gives transsexuals a choice of what title to adopt, similar to other countries, he said, adding that he foresaw no problems with title changes. Even universities with segregated dormitories have discussed assigning appropriate accommodation for "third-sex" students.

Wiroon said that with the production of "third-sex evidence", universities could assign trans-genders to women's accommodation.

Meanwhile, Poldej said the ministry was promoting two new laws, both in line with the draft constitution.

The first - which has passed Council of State consideration and will be submitted to the assembly in three weeks - is the family-promotion bill.

Its establishes Sunday as "family day", encourages businesses to support "family-strengthening activities" and provides for family laws and marriage counselling.

He said there were 18 million families in the country, 3 million of which were single-parent.

The other is legislation covering domestic violence. It has passed a third reading in the assembly and is awaiting royal endorsement.

The draft law defines domestic violence and expands this behaviour to cover both physical and mental abuse, obliges those witnessing such abuse to alert authorities and gives legal protection to such witnesses.

"Once witnesses tip off police about domestic abuse, officials can enter a house and remove an abusive spouse or family member," the minister said.

Penalties of up to Bt6,000 and/or six months in jail for convicted abusers are provided for, as is a three-month statute of limitations.

The bill will protect victims of domestic abuse from identification in the news media and allow them to litigate if identified.

Health Systems Research Institute investigator Penjan Pradapmuk Saturday said the most-frequent pattern of domestic violence was husbands abusing wives.

In Thailand, about one-third of assaulted women were abused by husbands, she said. Eight out of every 10 abused women admitted to emergency homes were assaulted by family members, and more than half were beaten regularly.

A Centre for the Protection of Children's Rights Foundation report in 2001 showed 43 per cent of rescued children were girls under nine. Thirty-nine per cent of them had been raped and 31 per cent assaulted by family members.

Most domestic violence involves husbands attacking wives, Penjan said. Mental illness, drinking or narcotics prompt abuse.

The "male-dominant society" factor encourages violence and injustice, she added.

The Nation