KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — Sisters in Islam (SIS) welcomed today a minister’s proposal to curb the problem of Malaysians tying the knot in southern Thailand, most of which the group said involved secret polygamous marriages.

The Muslim women’s rights group said that a study it had conducted found that 32 per cent of couples who wed in southern Thailand do not register their marriages when they return to Malaysia.

"Sisters in Islam welcomes the recommendation by Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom to curb the issue of Malaysians marrying at the Thai border to avoid problems when they return to Malaysia,” SIS said in a statement today, referring to the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs.

"It has been proven that most marriages carried out [this way] in Thailand bring more problems to a family than it does benefits, because many do not register their marriages when they return to Malaysia.”

The group further called for a reform in polygamy laws, urging for a return to the guidelines of the Islamic Family Law 1984, whereby the husband must be able to afford a polygamous marriage and be fair to all wives, and that it must not cause hardship nor lower the quality of life for the current wife.

"All this while, the loosening of these rules following the amendments to the Islamic Family Law in 1994 and 2005, has amounted to a form of persecution against wives and children because husbands were not mandated to act fairly towards those in their care,” the statement read.

Jamil Khir had two weeks ago said that a mechanism will be put in place to validate the marriages of Malaysians in Thailand.

He urged couples who married in southern Thailand to register their marriages as failure to do so could cause problems in registering their child’s birth and verifying the next of kin in death or divorce.