The Effects of Marriage Registration in Thailand

The Effects of Marriage Registration in Thailand

Getting married in Thailand

Marriage in Thailand performed in a romantic island resort When two foreigners get married in Thailand, would the marriage be under this country’s law or under the law of their homeland?

I have been receiving a lot of questions about the effect of choosing this country as the place of marital union as a lot of foreigners come to this country to get married, whether to another foreigner, or to a Thai national. If both foreigners are from another country and they choose to get married in here, couples are often confused which law would govern their wedding. On this topic, we will talk about the effects of wedding registered in Thailand between foreign couples.

Registering one’s mariage in Thailand makes the nuptial knot subject to Thai laws. From the moment of registering your marital union, the Thai Civil and Commercial Code provisions on Family Law can be deemed as governing law of your pair off. In this case, it doesn’t matter if the couple came from Australia, or one of the couples came from UK, or in any other foreign countries. As such, once the union has been held in the Kingdom, the matrimony is under the provisions of marriage code of Thailand.

Foreign couples often ask, can a foreigner officiate or solemnize a wedding in Thailand or is it only a Thai national wedding celebrant allowed to do this? To emphasize a point, marriage in Thailand is about registering the wedding in the Amphur (Register Office). The rites, rituals, themes and kind of wedding ceremony are different from the legal aspect of the marriage. It means that a couple can choose any type of wedding they wish to have, whether a traditional Thai, Christian, Chinese, Muslim, or Secular wedding. The legalities of the marriage registered in Thailand will be recognized in your home country. So as long as the matrimony is registered in an Amphur, your union is legal and valid. The ceremony part could be tailored in accordance to the celebrant’s style. In connection with this, yes a foreign wedding officiant, such as Catholic priest or a pastor, may officiate a wedding held in Thailand. Please note that if a foreign civil celebrant officiated a wedding ceremony in this country, the binding law of your nuptials is the marriage code of Thailand.

In the same regard, the said law applies to the parties whose union is registered in the Kingdom of Thailand in the event of marital obligations, property sharing and administration, and even child custody. As the Thailand marriage registration is protected by the provisions of marriage code of Thailand, its dissolution is protected by that law as well.

Rachel Pachica blogs about legal issues, Thailand law and legal updates, current events, as well as blogging in general. She is a consultant at Siam Legal International , Thailand’s Premier International Law Firm http://www.siam-legal.com