Best Amphur to register marriage?

[jnp73]

Hi,

I'm getting married soon and want to know the best Amphur to use to register it. I tried Laksi and they say submit paperwork, wait two months and get called in for the registration. I live in Bang Pa In and that was less helpful! I hear some places just ask you to turn up and job done. 

Anyone with recent experience who can offer advice?

Thanks John

[MJCM]

Amphur Bang Rak?

 

https://goo.gl/maps/7FFHz9X9dnRy5foe9

[jnp73]

Thanks - I'll ask.

 

 

[BostonRob2]

Tong Bang Rak na phee 

 

Rooster

 

 

[MJCM]

One advice though if going to Bang Rak, don't go on a special day like Feb 14th etc etc it will be swamped!

[NoDisplayName]

Where is your betrothed from?  They tell me you can go to any amphur, but might get better service in someone's hometown.

 

We went to a smaller town outside of Korat, no appointment and no waiting.  Went directly to the marriage/divorce desk.  Handed over the required papers, waited about 30 minutes for processing, paid 20 baht.  Received two lovely certificates.

[roo860]

1 minute ago, MJCM said:

One advice though if going to Bang Rak, don't go on a special day like Feb 14th etc etc it will be swamped!

We did, it was amazing, got there at 9am, were number 545, married at about 1.30pm, stayed on for the entertainment, free goodie bag, won the dance competition, ????one years supply of toothpaste ????, Channel 7 broadcasting live, and all was free.

[MJCM]

8 minutes ago, roo860 said:

We did, it was amazing, got there at 9am, were number 545, married at about 1.30pm, stayed on for the entertainment, free goodie bag, won the dance competition, ????one years supply of toothpaste ????, Channel 7 broadcasting live, and all was free.

We did ours in Pattaya, arrived at 10am, done and dusted at 11am and stuck ever since (11 years now )

[jnp73]

Thanks, everyone, for the advice.

[roo860]

Just now, MJCM said:

We did ours in Pattaya, arrived at 10am, done and dusted at 11am and stuck ever since (11 years now )

My condolences. 

[jnp73]

1 minute ago, MJCM said:

We did ours in Pattaya, arrived at 10am, done and dusted at 11am and stuck ever since (11 years now )

Congratulations

[MJCM]

13 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

We went to a smaller town outside of Korat, no appointment and no waiting.

Friends of ours asked to get married in our local town, OMG if they followed the requirements that the Amphur threw at them they would still be single.

 

Went to Bang Rak and they were married same day.

 

Bang Rak (In Bangkok) knows all the rules and doesn't give you the runaround.

 

However YMMV

[jnp73]

ps. I asked an agent and they wanted 37,000 baht for the whole process! 

[MJCM]

2 minutes ago, roo860 said:

My condolences. 

Not time for that YET

[jnp73]

1 minute ago, MJCM said:

Friends of ours asked to get married in our local town, OMG if they followed the requirements that the Amphur threw at them they would still be single.

 

Went to Bang Rak and they were married same day.

 

Bang Rak (In Bangkok) knows all the rules and doesn't give you the runaround.

 

However YMMV

Yes, my local Amphur needed loads of stuff....too complicated.

[NoDisplayName]

4 minutes ago, MJCM said:

Friends of ours asked to get married in our local town, OMG if they followed the requirements that the Amphur threw at them they would still be single.

 

Went to Bang Rak and they were married same day.

 

Bang Rak (In Bangkok) knows all the rules and doesn't give you the runaround.

 

However YMMV

 

We had planned to use the amphur in Bangkapi within walking distance of our old apartment.  Learned the man that signed the certificates had died recently, and they were having a substitute from another amphur come in occasionally.  We could apply, but would probably wait several months for an appointment.

 

We provided the same documents at the Korat amphur that Bangkapi required.  Nothing extra or out of the ordinary asked for.  And as it turned out, no witnesses were required.

[Jerno]

Bang Rak.  Go there VERY early to get waiting seat in line, or they may not take you in if too many there and you won't know that until noon or later. Same day service, no returns needed.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

My wife and I originally were married at Bangrak quite a few years ago with very little fuss or hassle, all in the same day on a walk-in basis --  unlike what other district offices in Bangkok were demanding at the time about having to bring along two witnesses and a Thai-English translator, and other junk.

 

Recently, the wife and I needed to get temporarily divorced so she could transact some land business here without having a farang husband complicate things. So, we figured we'd go back to Bangrak to check about the divorce, which we did last month... WRONG!  The desk clerks there basically told my Thai wife the same rigamarole that JNP recounted above about needing an advance appointment and facing a long wait, etc etc.

 

We passed on that, and instead paid an agent who took us to another district office in BKK where we got divorced in about one hour without having to bring any witnesses, have any translator, wait long for an appointment, etc etc.

 

But now that we're ready to get re-married again, I'm wondering if Bangrak is still an easy-go place to get the deed done... Because they sure weren't when it came to getting the divorce done.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:53 PM, MJCM said:

Went to Bang Rak and they were married same day.

How recently or long ago was that?

 

[lopburi3]

15 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

in Bangkok were demanding at the time about having to bring along two witnesses and a Thai-English translator, and other junk.

Actually it was not that much of a process in Bangkok - any two people in/around office could be used for witnesses signature and translator was any Thai that could speak enough English to let you know what you were signing (family member was fine).

[DrJoy]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:53 PM, MJCM said:

Bang Rak (In Bangkok) knows all the rules and doesn't give you the runaround

Correct

[DrJoy]

47 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Recently, the wife and I needed to get temporarily divorced so she could transact some land business here without having a farang husband complicate things.

Who told you such gibberish?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

20 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

Who told you such gibberish?

The Thai government bank where my wife was taking out a loan in her name on a house she was buying for her parents' use.  If we were married when she took out the loan, the bank was going to require me to be a signer on the loan -- even though I'd have no actual or legal rights to the house/land.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

47 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Actually it was not that much of a process in Bangkok - any two people in/around office could be used for witnesses signature and translator was any Thai that could speak enough English to let you know what you were signing (family member was fine).

At that time, we didn't have anyone in our immediate circle here who was sufficiently English fluent for the purpose, not to mention having to drag them down to the khet office for a half a day.

 

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Recently, the wife and I needed to get temporarily divorced so she could transact some land business here without having a farang husband complicate things.

What's so complicated about signing an affidavit stating that any and all funds your Thai spouse is using that may have come from you was a gift?

 

Divorce and remarry to avoid "complications" at the land office? Someone's pulling someone else's leg.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

What's so complicated about signing an affidavit stating that any and all funds your Thai spouse is using that may have come from you was a gift?

 

The bank already knew it was her funds, not mine, going to pay for the house purchase. But because it involved a loan, if we were married, they (the bank) insisted I had to sign on the loan.

 

It wasn't about complications at the Thai land office. It was the government bank relating to the loan.

 

All I can add is that, my understanding of Thai marriage law confirms that any loans or other debts that a husband or wife individually takes out while married are considered joint financial obligations under Thai law -- even if the actual debt was only incurred by one person, not both.

 

The issue about the affidavit for the Land Office is for a different purpose and doesn't somehow erase the legal joint obligations of spouses for debts incurred while married.

 

[NoDisplayName]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

My wife and I originally were married at Bangrak quite a few years ago with very little fuss or hassle, all in the same day on a walk-in basis --  unlike what other district offices in Bangkok were demanding at the time about having to bring along two witnesses and a Thai-English translator, and other junk.

 

Recently, the wife and I needed to get temporarily divorced so she could transact some land business here without having a farang husband complicate things. So, we figured we'd go back to Bangrak to check about the divorce, which we did last month... WRONG!  The desk clerks there basically told my Thai wife the same rigamarole that JNP recounted above about needing an advance appointment and facing a long wait, etc etc.

 

We passed on that, and instead paid an agent who took us to another district office in BKK where we got divorced in about one hour without having to bring any witnesses, have any translator, wait long for an appointment, etc etc.

 

But now that we're ready to get re-married again, I'm wondering if Bangrak is still an easy-go place to get the deed done... Because they sure weren't when it came to getting the divorce done.

 

That sounds complicated.

What sort of documentation requirements will you have to fulfill?

Will you have to legalize a copy of your divorce papers so that your embassy can notarize your affidavit for marriage?

I can't imagine it being a simple process.

 

What was the problem with signing for the loan with your wife?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

23 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

What sort of documentation requirements will you have to fulfill?

Will you have to legalize a copy of your divorce papers so that your embassy can notarize your affidavit for marriage?

I can't imagine it being a simple process.

I answered the part about the wife's loan issue above...

 

As for the getting married (remarried) documentation part, the specifics may vary some from amphur/khet office to office... Some places make it relatively easy, others hard.

 

But in general, as an American, they seem to want:

 

--a US Embassy certified copy of my passport face page (some offices don't)

--the completed US Embassy-stamped affidavit of freedom to marry

--then translating the marriage affidavit and my US passport copy into Thai, and taking them to the Thai MFA to have the translations/documents certified and stamped there.

--And then for the district office, I believe we also need to bring the Thai Khor Ror 2 and 3 documents (original Thai marriage certificate and marriage registration document) and subsequent Thai divorce certificate. I'm not clear yet on whether those also have to go thru the Thai MFA process.

 

Quote

Will you have to legalize a copy of your divorce papers so that your embassy can notarize your affidavit for marriage?

When we got divorced here, the district office gave us the TH language version of the Thai divorce certificate, and also an EN language version of the same. So I'm planning to bring along the EN version when I go for my US Embassy appointment.

 

For whatever it's worth, when we originally got married here many years back, I had a single prior marriage and divorce in the U.S. I had documentation of that here with me, and wondered if the U.S. Embassy would ask to see it when I applied here for the affadavit of freedom to marry. But they did not ask to see or use it at that time.

 

 

[jnp73]

My fiancée called Bangrak Amphur about marriage registration and was told we'll have to leave the paperwork and it'll take about three weeks before being called back - so, no same-day service. An agent says she can get it all done on the same day for a fee of 8,000 baht. Laksi Amphora wants up to three months to get things done! Seems like there's quite a few variations of service.

[SuperSilverHaze]

Ban Rak, Bangkok