Annalisa12

Someone has asked me for ideas of where to get married in Thailand. Luxury 5 start but not absolute mega bucks. I gather they would be more places at beach locations?

Does anyone have any ideas. (It's just a guide to see what is out there)

Thank you.

Plato90s

For a destination with luxury resorts which aren't over-the-top touristy... I'd say Koh Samui.

Convenient airport, multiple 5-star resort options, and not as urban as Bangkok or as touristy as Phuket.

Annalisa12

Any names of hotels that might fit the bill?

Annalisa12

Thanks for the place suggestions. I found the Four Seasons at Koh Samui. It looks fabulous.

restlessinRNO

Hopefully wedding will occur during the dry season. Currently Koh Samui has had very heavy rain the last several days, with flooding / poor visibility.

transpac

Surfs up in Samui...

Oldtiger

Analisa12 – I trust that you (or your friend) are aware that religious weddings in Thailand are not legally recognized, and this includes weddings which take place in hotels or on beaches etc.

For a wedding in Thailand to be legally recognized it has to take place in a local municipal/district (Amphur) office. Your embassy in Thailand will no doubt provide all the details relating to the paperwork that is required but basically:

a) Any foreign national wishing to marry in Thailand must obtain an “affirmation of freedom to marry” from their embassy/consular office in Thailand. This requires a visit in person to the embassy/consular office. The affirmation document(s) cannot be obtained from a solicitor in the country in which the parties live.

b) The affirmation document(s) must be translated into Thai by a licensed translator.

c) The signed affirmation document(s) together with Thai translations must then be submitted to the Legislation Division, Department of Consular Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok for authentication of the embassy/consular signature.

d) Once the affirmation document(s) and translations have been authenticated they can then be presented to the registrar at the local municipal (Amphur) office, who provided he/she is satisfied will ask both parties if they want to be married and ask them to sign a register. The registrar will then issue two identical marriage certificates which are in Thai.

FYI a) to c) above will normally have to be done in Bangkok and the process takes about 3 days, if you are really lucky.

transpac

Getting Married in Thailand

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen...d-in-thailand/

REGISTERING YOUR MARRIAGE IN THE USA: The United States generally recognizes the validity of marriages legally registered in Thailand. However, you cannot register your marriage in the United States through a U.S. Embassy, as marriage is a state-specific responsibility. If you would like to register your marriage in the United States, please contact the Attorney General in your state of residence for requirements. Some states may require your Thai marriage certificate to be certified. To certify a Thai marriage certificate, please have it translated into English and take both documents to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Then make an appointment and bring the certified document to our office; we will authenticate the signature of the MFA officer for the appropriate fee.

Suspect each Embassy has similar information on their website?

I think there are two categories:

Thai citizen and foreigner

Two foreigners


and each represent different challenges re: documentation and "legality".

Most of the "two foreigner" marriage "events" held in Thailand, and this is a bit of an industry here, are actually legally done in a foreign country. There is no reason for the marriage to be legally recognized in Thailand.

The Thai citizen and foreigner marriage may need to be legally recognized in Thailand, especially if the couple plans to live in Thailand.

Tchiowa

I was about to make a similar comment. Outdoor weddings are dicey in Thailand. They range from sweltering hot to tropical storm. If you happen to hit the sweet spot things can be beautiful. But I'm not sure I'd risk my wedding on Thai weather.

Tchiowa

Not legally recognized in Thailand. But if you get a marriage license in the US you can exchange vows pretty much anywhere you want, including Thailand.

Annalisa12

Thanks everyone for the advice.

My part of the deal was to suggest a location. As I had no been to Koh Samui etc. I thought others might have ideas.

They have looked up the legalities of having the marriage recognised in Australia.

The place is quite wet. lol. Love the pics.

I am now thinking of staying athe the Four Seasons in Samui just for fun myself.

Annalisa12

BTW. it is two Aussies getting married.

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.

Dr. HFH

Try Le Méridien in Chiang Rai. Here's my review from a very recent stay; and here is the hotel's website. The photos you see are both accurate and representative. It's a great hotel/resort, and provides a magnificent setting for a destination wedding. They had a wedding while I was there, and I had an opportunity to see the setup. I don't think that you'll be disappointed.

Plato90s

I know of a couple who got married in the local registrar... and then flew out to do the big "wedding" with family/friends.

It's the thought that counts, and the specific legality was really not that important to the bride compared to a wedding ceremony which will make other people turn green with envy.



Four Season Samui, btw, is a beautiful resort from my impression while having dinner/drinks on site. It's not my kind of resort, but I will say it's probably a fantastic place to stay if the FS style fits your travel profile.