Yorkshire retiree Paul Tattersfield is giving a huge sigh of relief after his marriage was finally annulled following a protracted struggle with the Thai local authorities lasting eight months. “I had heard that divorce in Thailand is straight forward provided that both partners agree, but the devil is certainly in the bureaucratic detail,” he concluded.
Paul married his Thai wife in York, UK, when both were in the country on vacation in 2017. They moved back to Pattaya, but matters did not turn out well and they mutually agreed to divorce here. The first problem was proving the marriage certificate was genuine to satisfy Thai legal requirements. “We were told by a lawyer to go to the British embassy in Bangkok for a confirmatory stamp, but they can’t certify any UK-issued documents except passports and driving licences,” he said.
The process of document legalization for UK nationals living here is a complex one. The marriage certificate has to be confirmed by three separate bodies: the British government’s special ‘apostille’ office in Milton Keynes, the Thai embassy in London and Bangkok-based Thai foreign affairs ministry. “It’s virtually impossible to handle the procedure by post as the Thai embassy says on its website that they can’t guarantee to send the document on. It needs to be collected.”
The safest bet seemed to be to appoint a courier agency in London which completes the UK side for a sizeable fee. The marriage certificate with two certifications were then sent back to Paul in Pattaya who gleefully took it to the Thai foreign ministry in Bangkok expecting it be stamped for the third and final time. That’s when the pace quickened up.
The lady at the ministry said no-can-do as Paul needed to have his British passport translated into the Thai language. Another wasted day-return trip from Pattaya to Bangkok. But, several weeks later, the ministry did validate the marriage certificate after scrutinizing the British passport against the Thai translation. Paul and his wife then confidently visited the local amphur office to complete the one-stop procedure which would set them both free.
Sorry no-can-do. The local amphur office needed to see the official receipts of all the work done so far in order to make absolutely sure there were no fakes in the bundle of papers. “The problem here is that neither the Thai embassy in London nor the foreign affairs desk in Bangkok issue receipts for payments made. We needed to hire a Pattaya lawyer to insist that every document carried its own official reference number rather than a receipt.”
Paul then made a special visit to the amphur office, without his wife, simply to inquire if all the documentation was finally in order. But he was told that it was impossible to discuss the matter without his wife being present and was urged to contact headquarters in Bangkok as local amphurs were less powerful. So they did.
But not there yet. They were informed in Bangkok that they needed to be legally married in Thailand to qualify, as well as in the UK, and also must bring along two Thai witnesses to sign the final termination order containing the cash and assets settlement which is part and parcel of any legal divorce. More meetings and delays. And so, finally, after no fewer than eight wasted journeys, the divorce papers were finally issued. Three cheers!
“It cost me just 50 pounds to marry in England, but the divorce ended up costing more than 50,000 baht in fees alone, not to mention the two million baht in the divorce settlement,” confided Paul, adding that he hoped his description might assist others in the same boat. “I have just read on the internet that Thailand is set to introduce marriage for same sex couples,” he said, “and I just wonder if they know what they could be getting into.” Probably not.
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