SirDougless

I had a Buddhist wedding ceremony on Surin Beach on Jan 7th at sunset. The reception for 35 was held at the Manathai Resort. Highly recommended as Surin is a lovely beach and everything went well and the food & drink were excellent. Can PM more details if your interested.

I use a travel agent in BKK when the GF comes to Sydney. I pay them with my Amex but they issue an eticket with "Payment: Cash". Costs me an extra 500 baht over the Thai website price.

Like it or not 'tea money/bribe' seems to be the norm when dealing with government officials. It certainly speeds up the process and can get 'deficiencies' overlooked. My wife needed a document at her local Amphur and for 500 THB we just walked up to the desk with the biggest chair and were dealt with quickly. Money well spent IMHO. When we got married I only had a 'certified by a JP copy of my divorce certificate' (a legal document in Aus). Not good enough for Thailand, but 'tea money' took care of the problem. When we got legally married 'tea money' made sure the whole process was completed in 30 minutes. I saw other couples in the Amphur who were waiting when we walked in and were still waiting when we walked out.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do ...