Oldtiger

I suspected that might be the case. If your friends want to get married in Thailand and for that marriage to be recognized back in Australia, then they must follow the Thai legal requirements, as I outlined in my earlier post. This is also confirmed on the Australian Embassy - Bangkok website http://thailand.embassy.gov.au/bkok/Consular_P4.html

As was mentioned by Transpac (post #8), there are now a large number of firms offering so called ‘wedding services” in Thailand. Many are ‘legal’ firms who will assist with processing the paperwork needed to obtain the legal marriage certificate from the registrar at the local municipal office. Costs of such services can be high, but they save the individuals time fighting their way through the Thai bureaucratic system. A service provider may be able to do everything in about 3 days in Bangkok, whereas DIY with little or no knowledge of the Thai system is likely to take a week plus, in addition to a lot of heartaches.

I hope all goes well for them.