Another update, on this saga.

We contacted Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, about getting married on Valentine's Day, around a month ago.

We emailed in all the documents they required, which they pass onto Sattahip Office, and we were accepted.

4 days out, we are contacted again, that if we want to get married on Valentine's Day, then we must turn up in person at Sattahip first.

New directive from Bangkok, no foreigners can get married, without an interview at an Amphur Office first.

SIGH!

7 hours ago, Scottie37 said:

Another update, on this saga.

We contacted Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, about getting married on Valentine's Day, around a month ago.

We emailed in all the documents they required, which they pass onto Sattahip Office, and we were accepted.

4 days out, we are contacted again, that if we want to get married on Valentine's Day, then we must turn up in person at Sattahip first.

New directive from Bangkok, no foreigners can get married, without an interview at an Amphur Office first.

SIGH!

The same applies at perhaps the biggest marriage factory - Bangrak amphur. My daughter booked what she thought was an appointment to get married; it turned out that was for the "turn up in person with all your paperwork first" appointment.....it would have been a 6-8 week wait after that. That idea got junked and we got them into a local amphur in Buriram province - who could not have been more helpful if they tried. They saw it as a feather in their cap having done their first Farang/Farang marriage.

4 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

The same applies at perhaps the biggest marriage factory - Bangrak amphur.

All the Amphoes in Bangkok are corrupt and running the same scam, making it as difficult as possible to get married unless you're prepared to pay.

We went to our local Ampur 25km outside of Udon Thani city yesterday with all the paperwork and they checked it and asked if we wanted to get married there and then.

We said no but would like to get married on Valentines day as the Ampur are doing a promotion and couples are getting married at a local beauty spot ,Talay Bua Daeng.

Friday we have to take in our documents again along with our 2 witnesses and Saturday we are to get married.

Many people have said that we needed an agent ,but I booked the British Embassy appointment online and then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointment online for the following day.

Contacted a translation sedvice in the same building as the MOFA and everyting sorted within a week.

Managed to reduce the stress by plenty of draught Chang in soi Nana and 3 days in Pattaya.

Lots of running about but quite an easy straight forward process.

I thought I should post the conclusion to this saga 🙂

Last Wednesday, we travelled to Sattahip District Office, who were a joy to deal with, compared to Banglamung.

(Anyone, contemplating getting married in the Chonburi district, I would advise using Sattahip over Banglamung)

It took roughly around 30 minutes, to fill a form in, and we were on our way.

Then yesterday, Valentines Day, we turned up at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden to get married.

We were told to turn up anytime, so we arrived around 9am. which was kind of busy, and a bit hectic.

We did not leave Nong Nooch until the afternoon, and it was clearly a lot more relaxed then, and that would be my advice, if you fancy doing it here next year.

There was yet another form to fill in, and a payment of 550 baht, but after that, it was just wait your turn, then up onto an Elephant, and handed the marriage certificate, from the same lady from the Sattahip office, who we met on Wednesday.

And that was it.

Nong Nooch was really good actually, there was no entrance fee or the like, in fact, we got a voucher for a free meal, and a gift of a potted plant.

So, thank you for all the advice I got on the two threads I started, it was all much appreciated.

On 1/15/2026 at 3:38 PM, aluc said:

Not sure how things are going now at MoFA, but when I was there to legalize my documents even with appointment I was basically all day there, because agents will be served before anyone else and they are going there with massive piles of papers.

We ended up at MoFA in Central Festival 3 times. Only once was there anybody ahead of us, and that was only 1 person. Also, my Freedom to Marry was just an affadavit signed by a notary at the US Consulate in BKK. Had to have passport certified, too.

MoFA kept refusing the translations, for like, seriously, translating "soi" into "street". Must be "alley", they said. Then a new problem the 2nd time. I asked why they didn't tell us ALL of the needed corrections the first time around. Was told, "Different officer", so very arbitrary.

We were also given the run-around when we tried to do it ourselves at Bang Lamung. Told they only give appointments on Tuesday or Thursday, limited to 2 foreigners each day, with a 2-month wait for an appointment. WTF??! Used an agent, and was married a week later. The agent provided the witnesses for both of the 2 neccessary appointments and also picked us up, drove us, and returned us to our home.

26 minutes ago, Peabody said:

MoFA kept refusing the translations, for like, seriously, translating "soi" into "street". Must be "alley", they said. Then a new problem the 2nd time. I asked why they didn't tell us ALL of the needed corrections the first time around. Was told, "Different officer", so very arbitrary.

Yes, I was warned they were extremely fussy.

I used the old translation guy through the back of Maneerat Visa Services, on Soi Post Office, and even he was surprised to see us return, with one correction needed.

They were unhappy how the name of the person we saw at the British Embassy was translated.

The translation service we used was a bit rippy, I think. I needed the cover page of my passport translated and I needed 4 copies to attach to various documents. They charged me 4000 THB, 1000/page! At least they did the corrections for free. I think we had 22 pages, with all of the apostilles, certifications, verifications, and obfuscations, so 22K THB for the translations.

Hilarious, and for me, confirms that Banglamung District Office are at it.

They called "my wife" today, to inform us, that we can get married on the 25th of February.

My visa expires on? ... the 24th.

Sattahip never asked to see my passport, or my visa stamp, unlike Banglamung who demanded copies of both.

"My Wife" thinks it is just a coincidence 😆

Tell her by coincidence you have to leave Thailand on 24th.

Next question 🙂

What do I need to do with the Marriage Certifcate, in case I need to use it in the UK, at some stage?

Can it be translated here in Thailand, or will it need to be done in the UK?