Getting Married In Thailand

[William C F Pierce]

Both my Thai girlfriend and myself will return to Thailand in June. We are planning on getting married in Chiang Mai. Her family does not live in Thailand and she was brought up outside of Thailand. Therefore we have to arrange our wedding ourselves.

 

Once I have obtained my Affirmation to Marry from UK Embassy. Can anyone enlighten us as to what we have to arrange for a wedding in a Temple (Wat) and who do we arrange it with? I am aware it is a process that can take all day to get married. Has anyone had the experience of arranging their own wedding in Thailand?

 

Please, no replies from third and fourth rate comedy writers.

[NotEinstein]

Getting officially married in Thailand is just a visit, with the correct paperwork, to an Amphur office

[Dante99]

Does she have any relatives or friends here that might assist?

 

NotEinsten is correct, the Temple visit is not a marriage it is making merit.  Unless it is a lot of people, you can just go, if it is a big crowd it would be good to talk with the head monk at the temple first.  Another ceremony usually at home can be included but is not necessary.

[Dmaxdan]

I've been to a lot of weddings here including my own. But as yet, I've never been to a wedding that took place at a temple. Of course that doesn't in any way mean that people can't get married at  temples. 

More common venues are the bride's home if they have the space to accommodate it, hotels, resorts or restaurants.

The actual ceremony doesn't really take that long, certainly not all day. But of course if you want a big reception, well that's a different story.

[Yellowtail]

We did Thai ceremony with the monks and whatnot at the house, and the western style reception at a hotel. The hotel had several ballrooms for the receptions and a couple smaller rooms for the Thai ceremony if you do not want it at home. 

 

 

[lopburi3]

Is your wife Thai with Thai paperwork?  Or is it going to be two foreigners getting married?  There have also been issues with extra paperwork being required of foreigners as of late so make sure you are able to meet all requirements of the District Office you plan to use (wife also as she may not have ID card or home registration if family not live here).  Seems it might be easier to do the official marriage in UK and then do what wife would like here.

 

[Johpa]

Thais in the city tend to get married in the hotels which usually have pre-paid plans where they arrange just about everything.  It is also common for the wedding party to rent traditional Thai garb.  There is a small shop behind Wat Singh on Ratchamanka Soi 9 that does such rentals.  A couple may visit a temple to make merit but it is not mandated for a Thai wedding ceremony.

[lopburi3]

8 hours ago, Johpa said:

Thais in the city tend to get married in the hotels which usually have pre-paid plans where they arrange just about everything.  It is also common for the wedding party to rent traditional Thai garb.  There is a small shop behind Wat Singh on Ratchamanka Soi 9 that does such rentals.  A couple may visit a temple to make merit but it is not mandated for a Thai wedding ceremony.

But is OP case neither appear to have any family or friends in Thailand so no guests - so would appear to be money wasted.  

[jonwilly]

You can have a civil ceremony almost anywhere, or a legal ceremony at the Amphure Office.

Civil is just shacking up or a Legal ceremony is recognized world wide.

John

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/18/2023 at 11:44 PM, William C F Pierce said:

Can anyone enlighten us as to what we have to arrange for a wedding in a Temple (Wat) and who do we arrange it with? I am aware it is a process that can take all day to get married. Has anyone had the experience of arranging their own wedding in Thailand?

1/ you don't get married in a Wat. You can have a ceremony in one, but it has no legal standing.

Only the amphur give legal standing and it takes about half an hour unless there is a queue.

There is no legal requirement to have any sort of ceremony. Far as I can tell it's just a way for the locals to get drunk at the farang's expense. The monks get gifts too.

 

2/ You need to check with the amphur office re witnesses etc.

 

I got married in Pattaya. Did not require witnesses or a translator. Other amphurs may require such and a translator. Some have quite strange requirements, IMO, but it's their office and they do it their way.

 

You should let your girlfriend sort out the requirements- she speaks Thai. My wife sorted everything for us. All I had to do was turn up and sign the paper. We didn't have any sort of ceremony. She asked me to give her mother sin sod, even though she had been married before, so I did that, but I got it all back- just for show.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/18/2023 at 11:53 PM, NotEinstein said:

Getting officially married in Thailand is just a visit, with the correct paperwork, to an Amphur office

100% correct. Seems to me that a lot of farangs get conned into paying for a big ceremony which is in no way required- it's not the west.

I like the Thai legal marriage. Apart from the paperwork, which is a hassle, the actual marriage takes about 1/2 hour and cost about 20 baht ( when I did it ). The divorce was just as easy, and as cheap.