Yes and I think I saw in some media that he told them she'd returned to Thailand (which she had previously done when they separated for a time).
I feel so sad about this case - my partner is from a town not far from where Lamduan's parents live. We have so many Thai female friends who have been stuck in bad local marriages their first time around - often married really really young. Many have a perception that marrying a foreigner will be so much better. It's not all about money (though that stability that brings someone's life is part of it). There is a misunderstanding that western husbands don't lie, cheat or beat their wives, which of course we all know is definately false. It must be terrifying when they find themselves in a bad marriage in a new country with limited language skills and noone to turn to.
My wife is Thai. She had been previously married to her manager at the factory where she worked, for 20 years. Had a little house in Bangkok and a daughter at Uni, which was a huge deal for her, as she probably has a similar background to this lady.
Then her husband suddenly announced, literally, he had a new wife (he got his secretary pregnant). Her life then fell apart. They worked for a Japanese company, and Japanese companies are pretty pious. SO both were forced to leave their jobs. He returned to Isaan, where they had a country house on his mum's land. As far as I know, he spends his day tending rubber trees, eating BBQ'd rat and drinking Thai whiskey; there is a huge drinking culture in Issan, where even the little old ladies will sit around drinking rice liquor and Fanta. My wife's mother died in her 50s, and my wife blames drink.
Both her parents and brothers are all dead. Her younger brother died in a Bangkok hospital getting bypass surgery on the day of the Tsunami. She thinks her brother returned home after many years working as a fisherman in Malaysia, with HIV, and died. Her dad died a year after her younger brother died, after a memorial for him, because he got drunk and rode his scooter.
They sold the house. Her half of what was left she gave to her daughter to get her through university. The current King, when he was Crown Prince, basically expanded what the UK would call tech colleges and polytechnics, into full blown universities, to greatly expand education in Thailand. Thai families don't value education as you might think. She went to school until she was 12, then her parents had decided that was enough school for her, and she was put to work in the fields. Women also have to mix the cement, and be hod carriers. She's quite proud of her construction skills.
Like many women in Issan, which is the largest province in Thailand and the main farming area, she and her school friend had enough of this, saved enough money for a train to Bangkok, and ran away to the bright lights.
I'd like to think my wife is a bit different to the other semi-literate gorls. In Bangkok, she got herself a job as a maid, then put herself into a school for basically runaways, then got a job in Bangkokk's Chinatown in a squid factory, before landing an apprenticeship at 17 at a Japanese electronics company, which involved going to Japan for training, learning some Japanese, and eventually ending up in QA
Other ladies skip the education, and flock to the tourist areas. Many end up as bargirls. In the West, we might regard them as prostitutes, but its not as simple as that. They are looking for farang or a foreigner, to take them away from all that. Many, even when young, will have a kid, that they will have left with their parents to raise, while they "work". Its very common for single Thai mums not to see their kids for years, and its seen as entirely normal, not evidence of a trauma. Likely a 27 year old Armitage met his wife in a Bangkok bar, and paid the bar fine to take her home for the night.
When my wife basically lost everything, she had to restart her life, in her mid-40s. But Thai women are very practical, and won't let that get them down. Job options for 40-something Thai ladies are limited. You won't find them working at Tescos (Tesco was the first supermarket in Thailand, and had such an impact, even after they pulled out, Thai people still talk about going to Tesco, when in fact they are now called Lotus), nor at 711, because they will be reporting to a younger manager, and that can't happen in Thailand. So they end up running a street food stall, maybe going to work in a bar, or working in a massage shop. Which is what my wife did, getting her certificates from the Temple massage school
It seems in Thai Bhuddism, if the husband dies, its the wife's fault for bad khama. If the husband, its the wife's fault for not being very good. When they marry, the groom must pay her parents Sin Sod "Mothers Mik"; its not a dowry, but is compensation for raising their daughter. The oldest daughter (not the son) is expected to take care of their parents in old age, and Sin Sod is meant to help with that.
If the lady is a divorcee, especially with children, she is considered "ruined goods", and there is no Sin Sod. The idea of marriage in Thailand is not quite the same as the UK. The only place you can get married is at the local Amphur, or registry office. Buddha considered marriage an early thing, and nothing to do with religion. Sure, you see westerners getting a "Thai marriage" with monks, bits or rope etc, but its really nothing more than a good luck ceremony. My wife had much the same ceremony when she got her new motorbike and car, sort of like extra insurance. Armitage would likely have traveled to her village, had a big party, for which he would have had to pay for everything. They probably knew he didn't have much money, so likely would not have been asked to pay for a sick elephant or buy a new tractor for the brother in law.
I have thought about my wife moving to England. We tested it out with a long visit last year. She liked the idea of England, but found it too cold. I know she would struggle in the UK, and would miss speaking Thai. Thai ladies are both loyal, as long as the husband isn't kineal, or stingy, but also social; they become best friends with another Thai lady within 5 minutes (and also fall out equally quickly). She has a business in Thailand; it doesn't make much money, but its her business that she's built. In the UK, her options would be very limited. So I will be relocating my job to Thailand. Its not exactly the short end of the straw.
Lamduan, with a part time job washing up in a takeaway, would have found life in England very underwhelming. Many UK-Thai marriages fail in the UK, because the wife becomes isolated, and ends up finding other Thai ladies through social media, and retreating to their phones. The Westerner doesn't really understand this.
Its been variously reported that Armitage was either a Lecturer or a Teacher in the UK. Back in the UK, he seems to have secured a fairly entry level job in Portsmouth,, before moving to Rugby, and finding enough to buy a house there. But money was tight, because when Lamduan had to stop work due to repeated miscarriages, he couldn't pay the mortgage, so they went into rented accomodation. Then he ends up at his parents' home, a man approaching his 40s, with 3 kids. Normally, being in education, whether schools, or colleges, there is career progression. The money might not be great, but its ok, and there is a good pension. I'm getting a impression this man didn't really progress much in life.
At age 43, with a wife having disappeared into thin air, he decides to move to Thailand, for another low paying TEFL job, but at one of these Crown Prince Universities, taking two of the children with him, but leaving the stepson behind in the UK. This doesn't sound too sensible. In Thailand, he would have earnt about 40-50,000 Baht a month as a lecturer at a public University, far below even a trainee teacher's wage in the UK. In Thailand, he would have lived ok. As a foreigner, he can never own property, so would have lived in rented accomodation, though its possible he could have purchased a house using his children's names, as they would have Thai nationality
www.bbc.co.uk
www.nationthailand.com
www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org
www.thaiexaminer.com
www.thesun.co.uk
