Thailand Beach Wedding

Thailand offers the perfect ingredients for a romantic wedding, with a rich variety of picturesque locations to tie the knot, from the white beaches of Ko Samui, Phuket and other island gems of the Andaman Sea, to the tranquillity of Chiang Mai and the temples and saffron-robed monks of bustling Bangkok.

Legendary throughout the world for its friendly and welcoming people, Thailand also boasts some of the world’s finest hotels and resorts, great cuisine and beautiful weather – basically everything you need for an unforgettable wedding (and holiday) experience.

After the big day, laze on a palm-fringed beach, relax in a luxurious Thai spa, explore the tropical rainforest atop an elephant or discover hill tribe villages, cooling waterfalls and ancient ruins of past civilisations.

Wedding venues
Once you’re ‘officially’ married in Thailand, the choice of ceremony and location is entirely yours. You can get married on a beach at sunset in the south or in a colourful lush garden in the jungle-covered hills of the north. You can personalise your ceremony to suit your concept of the perfect wedding: consider Thai dancers, a fireworks display and sitting atop an elephant with a ‘just married’ sign. Could that be the perfect wedding photo?

Obtaining a marriage licence
While you can have a wedding ceremony almost anywhere in Thailand, you do need to be in Bangkok to complete most of the documentation before the ceremony; a religious ceremony on its own is not sufficient. Under Thai law, marriages must be registered with Thai authorities to be legally recognised.

If you do not register a marriage with Thai authorities, you are not legally married in Thailand or Australia. You can do this yourselves, through a wedding planner or your hotel as part of your wedding package. For documents needing translation and authentication, allow two to three working days.

Here’s what documents you need
• Original birth certificates
• Valid passport including copies of your entry visa and main pages
• Statuary Declaration, both originals and one copy each of native and Thai versions. This is simply a declaration from both of you that you are free to marry, written in your native language. This letter is then witnessed and certified in the presence of a consular officer at your embassy in Bangkok. You must be at least 18 years old to marry in Thailand.

Certification
Once all your documents have been translated into Thai, (easily done by a private translation agency), they are then authenticated (for a fee) by the Department of Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Once you have completed the above requirements you can visit a local Amphur office to register your marriage.

Marriage Certificate
Simply show up at a local government Amphur Office unannounced, anywhere in Thailand during normal office hours with all the relevant documentation, and you’ll be issued with two marriage certificates within 30 minutes. The certificates are in Thai, including Thai numerals that record the date and year under the Thai calendar.

You may want to have this translated into English and have it notarised at your embassy in case you need it for any legal purposes in the future. You are now officially married under Thai law and free to have a religious ceremony of your choice anywhere in Thailand.

Best time to get married in Thailand?
Thailand is warm all year round with three seasons: hot – March to May, average 35°C; rainy – June to October, average 32°C; and warm – November to February, average 28°C. Bangkok is best visited between November and February.