Predictor variables included husbands' socioeconomic status, occupational prestige differences between husband and wife, psychological stress, felt demands, husband's degree of alcohol abuse, marital companionship, marital instability, parent-child relationships, and verbal marital conflict. Control variables included duration of the marriage and number of children living at home with the parents. Results of multivariate analyses revealed that approximately 20 percent of the husbands interviewed committed some type of wife abuse, similar to rates in the U.S. and other Westernized nations. These results, found in a Buddhist country that prizes family harmony and compassion, provide further evidence of the worldwide prevalence of wife abuse. As suggested by resource theory, higher socioeconomic status decreased the likelihood of physical abuse. In Thailand, as elsewhere, wife abuse seems to be encouraged by cultural norms prescribing male dominance and power within traditional marriage. 1 figure, 4 tables, and 71 references