Hi, my name is Craig

me and my partner are looking to get married in Thailand next march/april on the island of Koh samui or Koh phangan, my question to you is, is it possible to come to Thailand in November this year just to get all the paper work and legal stuff done then return in march April to get married on a island without having to do anything else in Bkk

thank you look forward to hearing from you

Craig

By 'legal stuff' I assume you mean the following:-

Any foreigner wishing to marry in Thailand, even if marrying another foreigner, needs to complete an Affirmation of Freedom to Marry and sign it in front of a consular official at their embassy.

This then needs to be translated into Thai and the translation authenticated by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok.

Both of you will need this, so both of you will have to go to the embassy; though many translation services will do the MFA bit for you.

For the marriage to be legal in the UK, it needs to be legal in Thailand. A ceremonial marriage alone is not a legal marriage in Thailand, for it to be legal the marriage must be registered at an ampur (a sort of combination of town hall and registry office).

See Information for British nationals intending to marry in Thailand

I am not sure about how long the AFM is valid for; I recall reading somewhere it's three months, but can't find it now.

Hopefully someone else can confirm.

valid 3 months, so answer is no