In an effort to recognize Valentine's Day, parts of China and Thailand have decided to institute a new custom: no divorces are allowed on February 14th.

In Thailand's northeastern province of Roi Et, anyone who applied for a divorce on Thursday was denied and told to go home. In Beijing, some courts did the same thing, stating that Valentine's Day was widely celebrated, and allowing divorces on February 14th would have been hurtful. Yu Lihua, a senior judge in charge of divorces for the Shijingshan District Court was quick to point out "We didn't arrange the sessions of any divorce cases on Thursday, which is courtesy, rather than a policy."

While there may have been sentimental reasons for not allowing divorces on the "day of love", in Thailand at least there may have also been financial issues at play. The University of Thai Chamber of Commerce released a study that showed young people in Thailand were expected to spend 2.16 billion baht, about $65.4 million, on Valentine's Day. And this is despite a sluggish economy and increased cost of living. Perhaps officials decided they did not want to ruin the mood by allowing divorce.

Whatever the reason, it appears that it may not have made much of a difference: not many people choose to divorce on Valentine's Day to begin with. In one district in China, there were no divorce requests on February 14th from 2004 to 2007. One man did apply this year, but only because he had just found out his wife was cheating on him.