Getting married in Thailand

[theblether]

Thais will be looking for a hefty bride price .

Not if she's already pregnant (and aged 34)!

Take your foot out of your mouth and try again.

They'll probably double it cos he's getting a baby thrown in too.

[theblether]

BudfahRuksa

To be honest , I think you are buying a load of trouble . Having a baby doesn't solve anything , is just a further impediment and source of argument . Moody and manipulative describes most Thai women . You have to learn to say NO and mean NO , they accept it and will sweeten up . Don't take any nonsense from them . I wouldn't send copies of your passport and birth certificate .

I would strongly advise against getting married until you know one another really well . Thais will be looking for a hefty bride price . If she is coming to Australia that is the place to have a simple registry office wedding . She may at a later date try to persuade you to go to live in Thailand , Don't . The Cops aren't going to come after you in Australia . Take Care !!!

No documents will be sent by me I will be present at the birth and I will deal with any requests at the time. I have told her that just because we are having a baby does`nt mean that we will be together forever. I also told her that I would not abandon her. She knows we had problems when she was here and that we are not ready for marriage..I reiterated that I will know when we are both ready. I do truly want to make it work with her and maybe have another child..she knows I`m not into divorce and that If she knows now that she is going to deceive me to please go away. I also send her emails from ThaiVisa and she doesn`t like it. She has actually told me to not send anymore saying she is not like "them" . I have been sending money to her and have told her that I am sending more than 3 times her monthly salary..I thought living was cheap in Thailand she says yes it is I say spend wisely..I am not the bank. She is also aware that when she comes to live hereIi will be consentrating on "our " family. Yes she is a virgin bride but I feel that the dowry thing I have already paid for and anyway from what I hear this is old fashioned beliefs.. I`m not at a market buying a steer. I have told her I want the little ones to grow up in Thailand..I like Thais and their gentle easy going nature...is this just a front? Grazie Toscano

Right seriously......just agree to pay for the child and walk away.

Highly brutal but she was doing your head in to the extent that you couldn't wait to get rid of her, then lo and behold she's pregnant.

This is a disaster in the making.

[jrtmedic]

Toscano

You clearly are a misogynist !

For your information I have lived in Thailand for many years and am happily married to a Thai lady.

Again just to satisfy your curiosity we have also been married for many years !

My wife is indeed a "sweet" lady who would eat a misogynist for breakfast beginning with its very small spherical objects !

[Toscano]

BudfahRuksa

Thanks for your kind reply .

Thai seemingly gentle easygoing nature is not a calculasted front as such .

They call Thailand The Land of Smiles . It certainly isn't in Bangkok , but is in N/E Issaan .

I would describe the smile as more of a knowing leer than what we might foolishly think it .

That said , I have many very good Thai friends ; but you do have to be wary .

[Toscano]

BudfahRuksa

Thai gentle easy going manner is not a fron't , but neither should you be fooled by it .

[PeVee1st]

Forget all the chat, before you do anything in LOS, get a good Lawyer!!!!!!!!

[laislica]

Marriage requires trust, from both parties.

If you can´t, won´t don´t trust, then don´t marry.

If you have love, ask if it´s unconditional. If it is than go for it. If not then don´t do it.

Giving is easy, so give.

Westerners, in general have much more wealth than Thai´s, so why is it so hard to give and if the little you give keeps your lady happy - why not?

Otherwise, marry a Western Lady and have the joy kicked out of you with the divorce!

At least you´ll know what you are getting, or not!

The OP asked - what rights would he get after marriage to a Thai Lady.

There was no question about if he should marry a Thai Lady!

[Toscano]

jrtmedic

You are obviously one of the lucky men . I too have been married a number of years and have a sweet wife , head teacher of a school and we get along very well .

I'll bet your sweet wife has her moments . You must be very blind if you haven't seen the disasters that many foreign men fall into .

I even warned one man at his wedding reception , that he was about to be taken to the cleaners . He has been and all his capital is gone , two houses and three cars .

I have met many kind well meaning men who have been robbed of their all .

I was very particular to marry a good woman of middling age and grown up children , like mine . Having her own home and respectable profession were other particulars .

However many men are very naive coming to Thailand and meet the love of their life in a bar in Pattaya and marriage to them works out as more a change of assets from one to the other .

[baboon]

Toscano

You clearly are a misogynist !

For your information I have lived in Thailand for many years and am happily married to a Thai lady.

Again just to satisfy your curiosity we have also been married for many years !

My wife is indeed a "sweet" lady who would eat a misogynist for breakfast beginning with its very small spherical objects !

I would call him a realist. Just because a few leave Vegas set for life doesn't mean the odds aren't stacked against you.

One day, out of the blue, you too may find yourself in an awful situation and I doubt you would then appreciate smug comments.

I must also add that I wish you no misfortune....

[jrtmedic]

"I was very particular to marry a good woman of middling age and grown up children , like mine . Having her own home and respectable profession were other particulars ."

Very romantic !

[Toscano]

" My wife is indeed a "sweet" lady who would eat a misogynist for breakfast beginning with its very small spherical objects ! "

So your wife isn't always so sweet . I'm pleased to note that she likes pork sausage and beans for breakfast . Misogynist or not I am never averse to being eaten for breakfast , small spherical objects and all .

[laislica]

jrtmedic

You are obviously one of the lucky men . I too have been married a number of years and have a sweet wife , head teacher of a school and we get along very well .

I'll bet your sweet wife has her moments . You must be very blind if you haven't seen the disasters that many foreign men fall into .

I even warned one man at his wedding reception , that he was about to be taken to the cleaners . He has been and all his capital is gone , two houses and three cars .

I have met many kind well meaning men who have been robbed of their all .

I was very particular to marry a good woman of middling age and grown up children , like mine . Having her own home and respectable profession were other particulars .

However many men are very naive coming to Thailand and meet the love of their life in a bar in Pattaya and marriage to them works out as more a change of assets from one to the other .

Good for you Toscano but I´d love to know more about your beliefs.

Do you love unconditionally? Do you forgive both yourself and your wife for the mistakes you both may make from time to time?

Do you support each other?

Do you bend or stand ridged?

Surely, neither of you want to control the other. If the love is true, let it go, if it never returns, it was never yours etc.

The number of couples whose relationships endure seem (to me at least) to be founded on unconditional love.

Sure they "have their moments", that´s life and those "moments" could be something to welcome, what does not break you makes you stronger and all that.

Plus, you may better appreciate each other - the making up is so important.

No problems so no make ups. Rather boring eh?

Private Dancer by Stephen Leather has been mentioned.

If I was asked to recommend a guide to Thai Ladies, I would recommend Thailand Fever.

My story is different to that of many on TV, but there are a few who know it.

I came here by accident, met the love of my life (at a Thai wedding actually) and we are living happily ever after.

Live and let live.

Love and be loved.

Litebeer said almost all that needed to be said in relation to the OP´s actual question in post #2

Why are there so many negative posts regarding marriage to a Thai Lady.

All the best to the OP. Live long and prosper.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

You can have wife buy the land and then give you a Usufruct allowing you to build a house on the land.

Info here: http://www.isaanlawyers.com/en/property/usufruct-agreement-in-thailand.html

Or form a partnership (51/49%) and buy a house as well.

Contracts made between a man and wife in Thailand are not enforceable.

Either spouse can unilaterally cancel the usufruct (or partnership) at any time within the marriage and up to 1 year after divorce.

I too was pretty surprised to see that advice from Joe about using a usufruct post marriage.

As AOA stated, from all the pages and pages of info I've read on usufructs, the one thing that clearly came thru was the ability of a spouse to cancel the agreement during the marriage or even after it -- which renders a post marriage usufruct pretty meaningless.

So I've always understood the takeaway point from this was....if you're going to do a usufruct, do it BEFORE you get legally married in Thailand. Such a legal agreement executed between two unmarried individuals cannot be retroactively canceled, from everything I've seen.

However, legal issues aside, I've also seen and read a lot of reports here of nasty breakups where the wife and/or wife's family made life a living hell for the ex husband living in the property, right up to the point of threatening their life. Life post-divorce here can be very difficult, especially in a situation where the ex's continue to be brought into contact with each other, such as through joint property interests.

[hellodolly]

My first reaction to your post is " Don't Get married " If you must be very careful as to whom you are marrying , ie no workers in the tourist trade or met in resorts .

Get yourself a Retirement Visa !!! You will be free to come and go as you please , you will not be dependent on living with a Thai wife , you will save yourself a lot of paperwork , time at immigration and having to drag your wife along for your annual visa extension . This will also give you the option to have a simple Thai wedding , which you can simply walk away from if it doesn't work out .

Remember that " Thai Love " is exclusively about " Money ". If you are marrying a previously married woman , don't pay a bride price , that is for first time virgins . You can buy gold jewellery , do up an existing home to western comfort standards ; but be wary of all the relatives hard luck stories .

You cannot get residency in Thailand as in some other countries , unless you have been a professional in Thailand for some years and then there is a quota .

You can buy a Condo in your name . I would advise against buying a house in your wife's name , better to lease a house . If anything goes wrong you can simply leave and not lose all your capital .

You might think I'm giving very pessimistic advice . I am married to an educated professional lady 52yrs , we have a good loving relationship , even so money or gold are of equal importance as love .

You would not believe the number of foreign men who have effectively been robbed of all their savings and have ended up destitute . Take Care !!!

One day I came home and she said to me something about opening a 7/11 store.. I would have to sell everything I have namely my own home and a newly bought investment property to do this. I didnt dismiss the idea but in no time flat as I was talking she just walked out of the kitcken and went back to the lounge to sulk..she said I was too negative. For 2 hours not a word was spoken and she ended up going to bed. The next day i didn`t call her during the day like I usually do but decided when I got home that she being a long way from home and alone here I was`nt going to aggravate the situation just be pleasant towards her..but i was starting to think I can`t wait for her to go home... turns out she was pregnant

It dosen't seem to make a difference in most of the relationships Thai lady's get into. Yes they may love you madly and do every thing to please you just because they love you.

But it is almost a part of their culture that they are seeking security. To them security is some thing they can hold in their hand. I refuse to buy any thing I can not walk away from be it here or back in North America. My wife and I have been together seven years and it took two years to convince her that I was not going to leave her and I was not going to buy a house or a business. I am retired and unlike some retirees I did not move to Thailand to open a new business.

In the last five years not a word said about it she knows that I am going to take good care of her.

It was mentioned that there is a lot of foreigners taken to the cleaners by a Thai spouse. This is true. I suppose to a degree the women got into the relationship with that as there only goal. But what is not said is that a lot of them are lonely old men willing to do any thing for the company of a women. Some of them think a thirty some thing year old is madly in love with them over looking the fact that they are in their seventy's.

Also many of them would never marry any one where they come from with out knowing them a lot longer.

Then there are ones like myself who have long term relationships and are very happy in them. Lucky Prudent I don't know. All I know is she is only 15 years younger than me loves me and takes good care of me. And I don't have to buy her a house or business just treat her with respect and accept there is a lot of differences in are cultures so I respect hers and she mine. Some of them spill over on to the other.

[smotherb]

Bottom line, foreigners cannot own property in Thailand (i.e., Thai land and any structure thereupon). Any work-around, even when created by Thai lawyers, is illegal. I do not understand why so many foreigners want to buy what they cannot own--and that does not even consider the Thai penchant for ousting the foreign buyer. If you want a house in Thailand, rent it and pay for it with the rental monies from property purchased in your own name in a country where you can own it, e.g., your own country. Two years ago, I purchased a 2/bdr-2/bth condo in Florida. My mortgage payments are 60% of the monthly rental--so I was making money day 1, and that 40% covers my Thai rental.

[bra]

As other posters have advised you can open a Thai bank account married or not. I opened an account at the Bangkok bank all that I needed was my passport (Thai 30 day visa) , a certified copy of it (done at the Australian embassy - 15 minutes and Bt 1500) small money to deposit. I received a Visa ATM card (not credit card) and passbook - all done in half a day.

On a similar topic to the OP's, I will be married in Thailand soon and will buy a house in my wife's name - I have read copious advice on TV about this so no more please. I can afford to loose it all but don't expect to otherwise I would not get married. What's the best advice please:

1.TT transfer the funds from Australia to my Thai account and transfer to my wife's account and she buys?

2. TT transfer the funds from Australia to her account and she buys?

We propose to live about 50% in Thailand and Australia, and I will get a Thai retirement visa. One of the conditions in obtaining an Australian resident visa for my wife is to show a long term relationship before marriage. But one of the Thai conditions for marriage in Thailand is to show not living together before the marriage. Any advice? Or do I need a lawyer?

Thanks in advance - this could be useful to the original OP as well

[JLCrab]

Just to note that under The Thai Civil Code it states at Section 1417 (in part):

The usufruct of a forest, mine or quarry entitles the usufructuary to the exploitation of the forest, mine or quarry.

Nowhere does Book IV PROPERTY Title VII USUFRUCT anywhere mention dwelling or habitat, etc.

[Maestro]

I have removed a nonsensical post.

[Maestro]

Just to note that under The Thai Civil Code it states at Section 1417 (in part):

The usufruct of a forest, mine or quarry entitles the usufructuary to the exploitation of the forest, mine or quarry.

Nowhere does Book IV PROPERTY Title VII USUFRUCT anywhere mention dwelling or habitat, etc.

Here's the full text of Section 1417 of the Civil Code:

Section 1417. An immovable property may be subjected to a usufruct by virtue of which the usufructuary is entitled to the possession, use and

enjoyment of the property.

He has the right of management of the property.

The usufruct of a forest, mine or quarry entitles the usufructuary to the exploitation of the forest, mine or quarry.

Dwelling or habitat is covered by "an immovable property"

Civil and Commercial code.pdf

[JLCrab]

Just to note that under The Thai Civil Code it states at Section 1417 (in part):

The usufruct of a forest, mine or quarry entitles the usufructuary to the exploitation of the forest, mine or quarry.

Nowhere does Book IV PROPERTY Title VII USUFRUCT anywhere mention dwelling or habitat, etc.

Here's the full text of Section 1417 of the Civil Code:

Section 1417. An immovable property may be subjected to a usufruct by virtue of which the usufructuary is entitled to the possession, use and

enjoyment of the property.

He has the right of management of the property.

The usufruct of a forest, mine or quarry entitles the usufructuary to the exploitation of the forest, mine or quarry.

Dwelling or habitat is covered by "an immovable property"

Attached Files

• Civil and Commercial code.pdf 951.1KB

As I said dwelling or habitat is not specifically mentioned.

[Maestro]

I am not qualified to argue this with you. If you have difficulties understanding section 1417 of the Civil Code I suggest that you consult a lawyer. Tilleke & Gibbins would be a good choice.

[JLCrab]

'Dwelling or habitat' is most likely not 'immovable property' as in Section 1417 -- dwelling or habitat it is an an improvement made upon the land; the immovable property most likely is the land itself which has been made subject to usufruct.

BTW at least in the USA over the last 30+ years and even currently, when the lawyers have difficulty understanding a Section of Law or arguments in a legal brief, they have often consulted with me.

[JLCrab]

BTW2 this is a picture of a house being moved in Thailand so I don't see how a house can be considered an "immovable property"

[marquis22]

Get your wife to buy a house with a home loan in her name.

You give her minimum deposit (5-15%) and make minimum repayments (over 25-30 years).

That's what I have done: Borrowed 2 million baht and pay off 20,000 per month.

Better than renting or living in hotel if not married.

( I think I am safe from falling off the balcony for a few years

[BookMan]

BTW2 this is a picture of a house being moved in Thailand so I don't see how a house can be considered an "immovable property"

normal_thai_house_pulling.JPG

Is this a case of thousands of men who have a usufruct in place believing they are covered, when in fact they are not? Perhaps both the parties to the agreement believe that that the usufruct is binding and can also be signed after marriage, not realising it can be cancelled?.

Would be interesting to hear from anyone who has had problems with the agreement after the fact

[F4UCorsair]

If you have been with the lady for ten years and have two kids with her then obviously that's a different thing.

Really, it isn'

I know I gotta keep my wits and look out for the unsuspecting friendly so called Thai ! haha.. maybe I have to get a prenuptial written up before buy a home?

I don't know your financial position, but if you're buying a house in your wife's name with cash, arrange a mortgage in your wife's name for a lot more than the buying price. If you make the mortgage for only what it cost, then it needs to upgraded with appreciating property values, and that continues to cost. If she does a bunk on you, you call in the mortgage, sell her up, and pocket the $$.

If you're not buying for cash, the best you'll be able to secure with a mortgage, and a second mortgage at that, because the lending authority will insist on first mortgage, will be the deposit you pay.

[Dork]

BTW2 this is a picture of a house being moved in Thailand so I don't see how a house can be considered an "immovable property"

normal_thai_house_pulling.JPG

By this logic you could put all the bits in a 747 freighter and say that your house can fly.

[Mario2008]

A foreigner can own a house, a foreigner cannot own land. So with a house one is subject to 30 year leases on the land the house sits on.

Upon divorce a usefruct with your wife can be anulled within 1 year of the divorce. In otherwords, a usefruct does not protect against your spouse, but it does protect in case of your spouse dying before you.

[JLCrab]

BTW2 this is a picture of a house being moved in Thailand so I don't see how a house can be considered an "immovable property"

normal_thai_house_pulling.JPG

By this logic you could put all the bits in a 747 freighter and say that your house can fly.

Houses are in fact routinely moved in Thailand either partially disassembled or in whole. There have been ads in Thailand for portable pre-manufactured dwellings that can be transported to a site, assembled, and then if necessary transported elsewhere.

When you actually have put a house in a 747, let me know.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Thais will be looking for a hefty bride price .

Not if she's already pregnant (and aged 34)!

Take your foot out of your mouth and try again.

They'll probably double it cos he's getting a baby thrown in too.

Surely that should be "buy one, get one free"