Want to wed in Phuket? Sorry, not now

PHUKET: -- Want to get married in Phuket City? Thalang? Then you’re out of luck. Both offices have run out of marriage certificates. The only district office that still has supplies – now in very limited numbers – is Kathu.

An official from the Muang District Registration Department, who asked not to be named, admitted that her department ran out of certificates two weeks ago.

“If anyone wants to get married, they will have to wait until we get fresh supplies of certificates from Bangkok,” she said. “Alternatively, they might ask the Kathu District Registrar to register their nuptials.”

She added that the shortage of certificates is not confined to Phuket but is a national problem – the entire country is gradually running out.

“We have many couples coming here [wanting to marry], but we have to tell them they must wait or register somewhere else because we have to wait for new ce rtificates to come from the Department of Local Administration in Bangkok.”

An officer at Thalang District Office, who also requested anonymity, said that his office, too, had run out of marriage certificates.

“We ran out last week, and now we are telling people who want to get married that they should go to the Kathu District Office. We are waiting for fresh supplies, but we can’t say how long that will take.”

Suksan Siang-Ake, Chief of the Kathu District Registration Department, said he still has some forms left.

“People can come here to get their marriage registered until we, too, run out of certificates; we have only a limited number left.”

Asked why he could not hand some of his certificates to the other districts, he said this was impossible because each certificate has a unique code number, part of which indicates the district in which the marriage is registered.

Due to government holi days, no one at the Department of Local Administration could be reached for comment.

Oh, and before we forget: The official at Muang District said that her office has also run out of the spiffy new “smart” ID cards for Thais. Anyone living in Muang who wants to upgrade from the traditional “dumb” card will also have to wait until fresh supplies arrive from Bangkok.

--Phuket Gazette 2006-08-14

Update:

Marriage certificate shortage ‘being fixed’

BANGKOK: -- Mali Satiworaman, Chief of the Registration Printed Forms Department of the Bureau of Registration Administration, has admitted that the shortage of marriage certificate papers countrywide has been a problem for more than a month now.

In Phuket, marriages may currently be registered only in Kathu District. Both Muang and Thalang Districts have run out of marriage certificates and the Gazette has learned that many other districts around the country have similar problems.

K. Mali explained, “The reason we are short of marriage certificates is that the printers couldn’t print the amount we needed in time. They said that they needed more time because each certificate has to be printed with a unique number.

“Another problem is that many provinces send their orders in late. Every three months the Registration Departments of each p rovince are supposed to tell us the number of certificates they need. If they don’t do this on time them we don’t know how many to order.”

“We have now received the certificates from the printers and we will send them out to the provinces as quickly as possible,” she told the Gazette.

--Phuket Gazette 2006-08-16

Unbelievable--what a way to run a country! And these are the yo-yo's who are winning the war on drugs, tackling bird flu and the violence in the South! Truly sad.

I can't believe they couldn't figure out some way to solve the problem--even a temporary (locally printed) marriage certificate and then an original sent later. The lack of creativity is outstanding, not to mention the lack of problem solving ability.

Pathetic in deed.

Can't the call someone at Panthip plaza?

KS Road could have them available by lunchtime

In Thai-English, the explanation one would receive is, "Sorry, marriage certificates finished."

I saw someone renewing a national ID card and the info was written in a ledger. I wonder, when did they stop using stone tablets?

Update:

Marriage certificate shortage ‘being fixed’

BANGKOK: -- Mali Satiworaman, Chief of the Registration Printed Forms Department of the Bureau of Registration Administration, has admitted that the shortage of marriage certificate papers countrywide has been a problem for more than a month now.

K. Mali explained, “The reason we are short of marriage certificates is that the printers couldn’t print the amount we needed in time.

--Phuket Gazette 2006-08-16

So have all you ex-pats in Phuket been running off to get married then!