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Published on December 9, 2007

From January to September, the Provincial Juvenile and Family Court in Khon Kaen had taken on more than 600 cases and its docket should reach 800 cases by the year's end, said Patikorn Khongpipit, the court's chief judge.

He said divorces filed by Thai wives against foreign husbands made up the most cases, totalling 142, as Khon Kaen is among the provinces where many local women marry foreigners.

Crimes by young people are also on the rise.

Khon Kaen is a big city and the court has to deal with family cases in all 26 districts in the province, he said.

The court has tried to reduce the workload by creating many projects to strengthen good relations in families, communities and schools.

While many provinces including Khon Kaen have more than one provincial court to handle general cases, youth and family matters seemed to be slighted as there is only one juvenile and family court to cope with all family cases in each province, Patikorn said.

"[I] would like to ask authorities to consider establishing more juvenile and family courts in the province," he added.