Divorce ?

[Teak]

I was married in Chiengmai 30 years ago and divorced in Canada 9 years ago. It just came to my attention that as far as the Thai Government is concerned I am still married to my Thai ex..

Would simply providing my Canadian divorce decree (translated into Thai) plus my Thai marriage certificate to our local Ampur (Chieng Dao) office be sufficient or would the marriage registration office in Chiengmai be the more logical place to proceed ? I am not on a marriage visa or retirement visa. 4 to 6 months in Thailand is long enough !  ;-)

[BritManToo]

Why bother?

[Teak]

Just a matter of generally cleaning up my past. Not sure if I would be responsible for anything connected to the Thai ex., when I am in Thailand. Also married to a Chinese citizen (in China) for 7 years and after 3 years separation going back to divorce her where we were married in China. That one could be entitled to claim assets.... if I died from misadventure or something less noble. ????

[blackcab]

You need to visit the Amphur and actually find out if you are still married. You should still be married in Thailand, unless your Thai wife has either died or divorced you (this is possible).

 

If you are still married you have two options. You can either:

 

1. Find your wife, mutually agree to divorce and then go to the Amphur to finalise matters. If you don't have both original marriage certificates you will need to make a police report.

 

2. If you cannot find your wife or she will not agree to divorce you then you will have to take the matter to Court. It's straightforward as you have been separated for more than 3 years.

[happylarry]

You need to copy your divorce certificate and take both copies to the Canadian Embassy to get stamped as a true copy, then get translated into Thai and take to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get stamped and legalised as true translation then take all to the amphur with your original Thai marriage certificate and they should register the divorce for you.

HL