Betrothal is an engagement or a mutual promise or contract for a future marriage. It takes effect only when the man and the woman completes their seventeenth year of age. However, if a minor will conclude a betrothal, he or she should get consent from any of the following:
The Betrothal is not valid until the man gives the property called “khongman,” which shall then be the property of the woman after the betrothal has taken place.
If the woman is a widow or divorced, the marriage in Thailand can only take place after expiry of 310 days from her husband’s death or termination of the marriage. The exceptions are when:
Whoever commits a breach of the betrothal agreement after the betrothal has taken place, he or she shall be liable to make compensation.
When the woman commits a breach of the betrothal agreement or where there is an essential event happening to the betrothed woman that makes it unsuitable to marry her, the man can renounce the betrothal agreement. Therefore, the woman shall return the khongman to the man. In the case where there is an essential event happening to the betrothed man that makes marriage unsuitable, the woman can renounce the betrothal agreement and the woman must return the khongman to the man.
If the marriage in Thailand does not take place on account of any circumstances that makes the woman responsible for making the marriage unsuitable for the man, or for making the man unable to marry that woman, the man may claim the return of the sinsod.
In case where the woman can claim a compensation, the court may decide that the khongman which has become her property is the whole or a part of compensation she will receive, or the court may order payment of compensation without regard to the khongman that has become the property of the woman.
Foreign nationals marrying another foreign national or a Thai citizen has to submit the following:
• Passport, including copies of entry visa
• Authenticated Affirmation of Freedom to Marry (Original and certified translations)
• Original death certificate or original divorce certificate (if there was an earlier marriage), together with its certified Thai translations
Requirements from Thai nationals at the Local District Office:
• Citizen identification card; and
• House registration document
