Getting married in Thailand (To a non Thai)

[Memurtle]

Hi Gents.

I don’t really expect to get many replies for obvious reasons! but I’m curious to know if any of you have ever gotten married in Thailand to your partner from your home country?

My fiancé and I have been together for over 10 years. We met in Australia (I’m English born dual citizen - I moved to Aus as a child and she’s Indonesian Australian - born in Australia). We both love Thailand and have been traveling there together many many times.

We want to get married in Thailand on our next holiday, just her and I (maybe a couple of close friends if a witness is required). We both want something really small and inexpensive. I understand most of the paperwork that’s required but I’m wondering if anyone else has ever done it?

After searching google, It seems like there are many companies that do it but most of the information is for Farang/Thai.

We don’t want to get married in Australia as we will be forced to have something bigger than we both want so we’ve decided to elope and tell everyone when we get back! 😬 hahaha… 

Does anyone have any recommendations, expected cost and experiences?

Thanks 😊 

Edit: not that it really matters or is relevant but she is a really cool chick and lets me come to Thailand alone to have fun when she can’t make it due to work. She also dabbles in a little fun with the girls too!

Edited May 3, 2023 by Memurtle

[ChiFlyer]

2 hours ago, Memurtle said:

Hi Gents.

I don’t really expect to get many replies for obvious reasons! but I’m curious to know if any of you have ever gotten married in Thailand to your partner from your home country?

My fiancé and I have been together for over 10 years. We met in Australia (I’m English born dual citizen - I moved to Aus as a child and she’s Indonesian Australian - born in Australia). We both love Thailand and have been traveling there together many many times.

We want to get married in Thailand on our next holiday, just her and I (maybe a couple of close friends if a witness is required). We both want something really small and inexpensive. I understand most of the paperwork that’s required but I’m wondering if anyone else has ever done it?

After searching google, It seems like there are many companies that do it but most of the information is for Farang/Thai.

We don’t want to get married in Australia as we will be forced to have something bigger than we both want so we’ve decided to elope and tell everyone when we get back! 😬 hahaha… 

Does anyone have any recommendations, expected cost and experiences?

Thanks 😊 

Edit: not that it really matters or is relevant but she is a really cool chick and lets me come to Thailand alone to have fun when she can’t make it due to work. She also dabbles in a little fun with the girls too!

Complicated question guy. I have been looking into Thai marriage laws recently, so I will pass on the little that I have learned. My situation is very different than yours in that I am an American looking to marry a Thai National.

• You need to read the consulate web pages for your home countries to see what is required to have a marriage recognized in said country.
• After understanding that, you may want to consider hiring a Thai agent to pull together your paper work relative to Thailand. My understanding is that the paperwork varies by province.   

Good luck.

[Greg_B]

https://www.thaiembassy.com/family/marriage-in-thailand

 

MARRIAGE PROCEDURES FOR FOREIGNERS

Foreigners who are wishing to marry shall appear in person with their respective passports and arrival card at their Embassy in Thailand to complete declarations attesting that he/ she is single and free to marry in accordance with Thai Law and the registration shall be effected by a Thai Diplomatic or Consular Officer.

Take the completed declaration to a reputable translation office to have the contents of the declaration translated into Thai.

The documents together with translation and copies of passports have to be taken to the Legalization Division of Consular Affairs Department, where the Consular Official’s signature will be authenticated. This normally takes 2 days. The documents and translation are then ready for submission to the District Registrar who will register the marriage and issue the marriage certificate in Thai in accordance with and following the procedure led down in Thai Law.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Greg_B

[Roadglide]

There are two types of marriages in Thailand, one is the "village or home" wedding, the other is one done at the local Amphur.  Only the one at the Amphur is recognized as a legal wedding.

I don't know the rules for your country or your fiancé's country, but as an American it took me about 3 weeks to get the paperwork done.  

First I had to print out a piece of paper from my Embassy and get it notarized at the Embassy.  It was a simple paper that said I was single and could legally be married.  That then had to be translated to Thai along with my passport.  I had that done just down the street from the Embassy, then that paperwork has to go to the Thai Foreign ministry, I would STRONGLY suggest that you pay the translation service for the courier service for this, then you need to take the paperwork to whatever Amphur you are going to have the paperwork done at.  In my case I had to bring two witnesses with us to swear that this was a "real" marriage.

My suggestion to you would be to pay the money for a marriage broker to help walk you through all the steps.  Even though we have a Thai marriage certificate, the state of California requires us to go to court to have it certified so the state will recognize our wedding, or we have the option of doing a civil wedding at the local county office building.

Double check with a family lawyer in your home area to find out if a marriage done outside your country will be recognized. 

[rain_angelus]

So I married my wife in Thailand in 2018. It was significantly less than it would cost in the West. 

The resort we used was Sea Sand Sun in Na Jomtien. I looked at loads of hotels and that one had everything we wanted. All beaches in Thailand are public so to get a good beach wedding you have to go out of town. They had private bungalows and opened out tight on to the beach: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g2005201-d1157522-Reviews-Sea_Sand_Sun_Resort_And_Villas-Na_Chom_Thian_Sattahip_Chonburi_Province.html

Aside from Na Jomtien, North Pattaya is also an option although there will be less privacy at the Mirage/Pullman/Dusit Thani. We looked at those as options but the besches were too busy.

The hotel can provide music or you can arrange it seperately through your wedding planner. We used a band called the Soul Mates. They have undergone a few staff changes so I dont know if they are still good: https://m.facebook.com/groups/193932438085353/

We used a wedding planner called Sinderella in Pattaya. They helped us arrange the photography, makeup and floral arrangements. I think they do dresses as well but this was done by us overseas. You can see them here: http://sinderellawedding.com

Hope this helps.