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While many Thai families continue to celebrate Songkran and enjoyed National Family Day yesterday, the Public Health Ministry highlighted the fragile state of some families after revealing the divorce rate had risen 27 per cent over the past nine years.

Public Health Ministry spokeswoman Panpimol Wipulakorn said yesterday the National Statistical Office's 2012 report found 314,338 couples married and 111,377 divorced.

In 2003, 328,356 couples had wed and 80,836 divorced. Panpimol said couples suffered work-related stress while the value of independence made them less tolerant.

She urged couples to compromise, be responsible, gentle and rational with partners when in conflict instead of being too emotional or angry.

The increased divorce rate led to more single-parent families, she said, and urged divorced couples to maintain a parental role to create stability for their kids.

"Children nowadays better understand why couples divorce but they still expect care and participation from both parents," she said.

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