The highlight of our Thai island getaway in 2017 was the exchange of wedding vows. We booked our tickets to Hat Yai months earlier, but the wedding preparation was only less than 3 weeks. We wanted things to be stress-free. The ceremony was a time to enjoy, relax, and have fun.

While searching online for a great beach wedding spot, we found a gem on sunset beach. Pitiusas Beach Resort was perfect. We were thankful for the lovely weather on our special day. It rained the previous day but not that Saturday. Our DIY beach wedding in Koh Lipe was very simple and intimate.

We first met in 2012 as colleagues but only started hanging out three years later.

Koh Lipe Full Day Scuba Diving

Do you also want to get married in Thailand? Here are the things you need to do:

Go to your embassy and request for an Affidavit of Freedom to Marry or Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage. Filipinos need to obtain first a Certificate of No Record of Marriage (CENOMAR) and Birth Certificate from the Philippine Statistics Authority and to be authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs before applying for the Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage at the embassy. Application for CLCCM costs 925 baht. The embassy releases the CLCCM after ten days. Visit the official website of the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok for more information.

The affidavit from your embassy needs to be translated to Thai. You can do it at the Department of Consular Affairs in 123 Chaeng Wattana Road, Laksi District, Bangkok. Translation usually takes an hour and costs 400 baht.

After you get the translated affidavit, bring it to the third floor and give it to the assigned person along with the affidavit in English or your native language and a signed copy of the first page of your passport. Give a signed copy of the visa page as well to be sure. Wait for your turn to pay for the whole process. If you do not want to go back and pick up the legalized translated document after 2-3 working days, inform them to send it to you via EMS.

After receiving all legalized translated documents from the Department of Consular Affairs, bring them to a local Thai government office to register your marriage together with two signed copies of the first page and visa page of your passport. The marriage certificate is in Thai. You need again to get an authenticated translation from Thai to English before reporting the marriage to relevant authorities.

In our case, the officer told us it was his first time to release a Thai marriage certificate to both non-Thai applicants. He needed to make sure first and told us to wait. He called us again to sign some papers. After less than an hour, the officer gave us both our marriage certificate. We asked if we had to pay. He smiled and told us the service was free. He then wished us a happy marriage. We thanked him before leaving the building and went back to work that day.

Koh Lipe Jungle Trekking and Snorkeling Eco Tour by Longtail Boat