Thai Marriage Certificate.

[haha]

is it true that to receive a thai marriage certificate from the amphur, you need to be registered to vote in thailand?

my friend (anonymous) from the usa has been married to a thai lady for about 1 year now. they went through the thai ceremony back in issan, but never bothered to register the marriage in thailand, or usa.

..then, having heard that he could stay here in thailand on a 1 year marriage visa instead of the tourist visas he has been on, he wants to get registered.

400k baht in bank + thai marriage certificate = 1 year marriage visa

so, he has asked his wife to get the thai marriage certificate.

..this morning, he anxiously calls me saying that his wife just told him that because she didn't vote in the recent elections (yesterday), she cannot get a thai marriage certificate.

can anyone confirm this info?

[singa-traz]

Quick Google Search:

http://www.ect.go.th/english/national/senate/nat4-7-2.html

 

Under the Constitution, every person has a duty to exercise his or her right to vote at an election. The person who fails to attend an election for voting without notifying the appropriate cause of such failure will lose the following rights as provided by law:

(1) the right to challenge the result of an election for the Members of the House of Representatives, the Members of the Senate, the members of the local assembly and the local administrators;

(2) the right to challene the result of an election for Kamnan and the village headman under the law on local administration;

(3) the right to be a candidate in an election for the Members of the House of Representatives, the Members of the Senate, the members of the local assembly and the local administrators;

(4) the right to be a candidate in an election for Kamnan and the village headman under the law on local administration;

(5) the right to propose the National Assembly to consider bills under the law on the proposal of bills;

(6) the right to propose to local assembly to consider regulations under the law on the proposal of local regulations;

(7) the right to submit a petition to the Senate to remove persons from their positions under the Counter Corruption Law;

(8) the right to submit petition to remove the members of the local assembly or the local administrators under the law on the removal of the members of the local assembly or the local administrators.

The disfranchisement of rights will be in effect from the date of an election that a person fails to attend, and it shall be revoked when a person exercise his or her right to vote at the next election.

[lopburi3]

Your information is so messed up as to be (almost) unbelievable.

Your friend has no wife if he does not have a registered marriage. You can only register marriage when the folks in the District office are at work (and that is not on a Sunday). Election was today not yesterday. Vote has nothing to do with marriage. Both parties have to be together to marry. If one party foreign correct paperwork will also have to be made available to amphur.

Visa is next issue as it is not automatic even if you have 400k. You must prove support for one year extensions of stay. This also must be done together.

[haha]

thank you everybody for all the information. I think my friend will be very interested in what is said here.

frankly, I had my doubts about the vote vs.marriage connection. so, didn't say anything to him. ..only offered to post on thaivisa for everybody's feedback.

[Indo-Siam]

I'll add my post-mortem: The real reason that she cannot get a marriage certificate is that she is still legally amrried to someone else - probably a Thai. She may be a dedicated wife to your friend, but she never went through the administrative hassle of obtaining a divorce. For a woman to divorce a long-disappeared husband is somewhat of a hassle - it requires a court appearance, and appearance by the Puyai Bahn of the place where her ID card is registered.

At least, that's my guess.

Cheers!

Steve

Indo-Siam

[lopburi3]

I agree that is the most likely reason for a tale like this.