Thread: Pro's and Con's of registering marriage

Originally Posted by Mr Pot

Don't change her last name on her ID card or Passport to your surname and she will be able to own land still.

Years out of date, mate.

Created a big fight between me and my Mrs. because I didn't want her to change her name in case that was true again. Hasn't been true in years. Married to a farang doesn't change her right to own land.

The biggest plus that I've found so far...


She can't borrow money from a bank without your signature. My wife told me this 5 minutes after we were registered.

Originally Posted by chinthee

Every time my wife had to produce her ID, she got "oh, you're married to a farang," and lots of follow up useless questions. It annoyed her greatly, and got to be a real pain in the ass, or so she says.

Don't know where you live...but in Hat Yai that is never a problem. Maybe in Patong or Pattaya where there are more farang/thai 'marriages' but in our town nothing of the sort ever happens.

JJ, congratulations. I also didn't have to pay a sinsod, but the wife would like a 'party' at home for family and friends. As I work out of Thailand it will have to be on my next vacation...but we will have it. Nothing major, just some good food, and drink and hopefully lots of smiles and laughs.

I'm happy for you...sounds like a good one.

And I thought I got the last good one around.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

The other grounds for divorce:
(3) one spouse has caused serious harm or torture to the body or mind of the other,

My wife frequently insists on watching Thai soap operas - so can I now divorce her as I am being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment?

Well, perhaps not unusual, but certainly cruel.......

Originally Posted by Texpat

Yes, I agree. Only get married when you're sure.

But don't pretend that you're married if you're not.

I suspect that's where the wonky term missus comes from. Never really heard it until I moved to Thailand.

Guys trying to make their girlfriends feel like more than girlfriends. They're not.

Don't think missus has anything to do with Thailand specifically, nor that it implies somebody you're pretending to be married to.

In all the English-speaking countries I've been it's understood to refer to your significant other, generally someone you are married to. Unless you're just trying to get a rise, I guess it is not used in the US (at any rate not where you've lived).

Originally Posted by Texpat

You're not legally married until you register the marriage.
You can have a different buddhist ceremony every week until the cows come home.
You still ain't married.

OOooo. Now there's a big deal.

I'm in the exact same position as the original poster by the way, right down to the years since our 'marriage' and employment status. Interesting topic.

Our main reason for not registering is actually that we don't feel it's any of the government's business; not my government and certainly not the Thai government. In the case of Western governments I profoundly disagree with the way the legal system deals with marriage and especially divorce;

Currently in Thailand laws seem to be reasonably fair to Thais married to foreigners, but in a country where even the constitution can get torn up on a whim, I'm not putting about as much faith in a Thai law as I do in a sheet of that thin pink tissue paper you sometimes find on tables in very cheap restaurants.

* Note that it wasn't an issue securing a mortgage without being legally married.

* Note that it wasn't an issue having a kid, being on the birth certificate, giving the kid my last name and getting both Thai nationality (passport) as well as my own. (Required some hoop-jumping at my embassy though; zero issues on the Thai side)

* Also my wife runs a company so that's another potential can of legal worms I don't like to stir.

Ultimately though, I don't think 'love' is any of the government's business; the less they know about me the happier I am. We know, and God/Buddha/TheFlyingSpaghettiMonster knows; the government can go play its games elsewhere but not with our lives.