@Kev ********

Ah ceremony is a bit strong. Submit documents, the book appointment. You do need to lay your right index finger on the certificate and swear an oath in front of a witness. You need to be there in person to swear it's all correct and true. The translation is done by a third party and a notary paid. MFA shuts at 3pm, 3 working days to process. British Embassy only does appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Bang Rak Amphur is what the bride would want; its liteerally "Love Village", which means its busy. Amphurs are offices. You go along, fill in some forms that are in Thai, pay a small fee, round up some witnesses (people who work in the office), and thats it, you're married. There isn't an official you stand in front of and recite vows etc. Usually, you need an Agent/Fixer to get you to miss the queue. I'm British, so I had to go through an Affirmation Ceremony at the Embassy, which had its own fees (to check I wasn't a bigamist basically). That paperwork, plus your passport needs to translated into Thai, and notarised, taken to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who will take 3 working days to approve your application to marry, then you take that stamped paperwork to the Amphur you have booked at and complete. An agent will charge 8-10,000 Baht, and will do all the translations and running around Bangkok. Its worth it, as translators can get your Western name wrong. I had my affirmation done on a tuesday morning, agent was ready to collect the paperwork, and scoot off to get everything done before the MFA shut at 3pm. I just turned up to the Amphur on the following monday, the earliest it could be done, after hanging arounf Bangkok for way too long. Your wife will want a party with her friends afterwards, including photoshoot in dress ups, Thai and Western. Leave that to her to organise, as she will get the price down, so you have more money to buy her gold. If she has been previously married, no Sin Sod, but really, you are kind of expected to give her a decent wedding gift of cash, preferably in USD or GBP anyway. Stones or farang gold won't go down well. If you want an actual ceremony, thats a bit of theatre a hotel can arrange. You could go the whole shebang, and get in a tag team of 9 monks, but in Bhuddism, marriage isn't a religious thing, so all you are really getting is a good luck ceremony, not really a marriage ceremony in the Western sense. Or you could go to a Church in Bangkok, if thats your thing. But you still need to go to the Amphur to make it legal.

@Janelle ****

Still think you are trying to game the system just to live in Thailand on your Bitcoin pile. Got a potty mouth as well. The Medical angle is creating an excuse for some people.

@Decade ***

perhaps because your first language isn't English, but it sounded to.me you were offering an applicant your portfolio to pass off as yours.

@Janelle ****

it's not an ignorant comment if you won't name it. I think you owe me an apology. The process in Thailand for any government department to enquire about a medical licence is to make an application to the provincial Ministry of Public Health. The Medical Council of Thailand is an arm of the government. The only public register is by a third party and is very partial. It is not an official register. Ok. You were lead into an office with some nice certificates hanging up, and your measure of the competence if a physician is whether they speak English or not, which saves you from speaking slowly and loudly at these pesky foreign doctors. So apparently only good doctors speak da English. You're embellishing the story a bit. You saw ther doctor in person during a beach holiday to attend to the chronic illness you have, but forgot to get official documentation pertaining to your treatment plan and are now whining that diplomats in Taiwan are not frantically on the phone calling ministries to validate your poor copies of documents, and that they had the audacity not to believe you and let you into Thailand for 180 days. You feel you are entitled to go to Thailand. You are entitled.

@Janelle ****

they've asked for that because you couldn't be bothered to bring proper documentation (which is not a printed off email, screenshot etc). They're actually trying to help you. If the dodgy clinic you had booked in with was worth anything, they would actually update their website for you. Of course, another reason the doctor isn't listed is because they don't actually work for the clinic and are just some locum rubberstamping tourist visa applications.

@Janelle ****

why should they look up a medical licence? And to check medical licences they would need to make an application to the provincial MoPH. It's not that straightforward. Again, the onus is on you to prove the veracity of your application. There is no Right of entry to Thailand. I mentioned notarized documents which you dismissed, because "they never asked for it". A notary establishes the legality of any document. It's a belt and braces approach, which if you followed you might not have felt the need to whine to Facebook strangers about it.

@Janelle ****

sus right away

@Decade ***

Isn't this literally an inducement to commit fraud?

@Jay ******

Your local UK council issues International Driving Permit? That's a first. If that's the case, this is why they gave you the wrong one. And UK licence holders can't get one outside of the UK.