What to Bring on a Wedding Trip to Thailand

A wedding trip to Thailand is packed differently from a holiday. The items that matter most are pieces of paper. They have to survive a flight or a courier journey, and they have to reach us in good order. Everything else is the ordinary traveler's list, changed in one or two places.

If you plan to register your marriage in Thailand, our marriage registration service covers the documents, the legalization and the district office for one fixed fee.

The documents belong in your hand luggage

If you bring your documents with you, the originals travel in the bag that stays with you on board. They do not go into a checked bag. We collect the originals soon after you arrive in Thailand. A checked bag that arrives a day late delays that collection. It delays the legalization that follows. Which documents you carry depends on your two countries. Our guide on how two foreigners can get married in Thailand sets them out.

A copy of the passport page carrying your immigration entry stamp goes with them. The entry stamp is the mark that immigration puts in your passport when you land. On this way the Thai side of the legalization starts after you arrive, and the ministry checks that stamp. Legalization is the official certification that makes a document issued in one country acceptable to the authorities of another. You sign a power of attorney at the same time. A power of attorney is a document by which you authorize us to act for you at Thai government offices.

If you have sent your originals and a power of attorney to us ahead, the legalization is finished before you arrive. Your papers are then already with us, and you carry your passports for the registration day.

We suggest one flat folder for all of it, carried by one of you rather than divided between two bags. Keep a photograph of every original on your phone as well. A picture does not replace an original at a government counter. It does let us identify a document quickly if one goes missing.

Carrying a wedding dress or a suit

A dress or a suit in a garment bag is the one item worth settling before you book the flight. Airlines do not all treat a garment bag the same way. Two questions decide it. The first is whether the aircraft you are booked on has a closet in the cabin where a garment bag can hang. The second is whether a garment bag counts against your cabin baggage allowance. Read the published baggage policy of the airline you intend to fly. If it does not answer both questions, ask the airline before you buy the ticket rather than at the gate. We cannot promise what any airline will do on the day.

Power, plugs and chargers

Thailand runs on 220 volts at 50 hertz. Some guides state 230 volts instead, so treat the figure as approximate. Thai sockets are hybrid, which means that one socket accepts several shapes of plug. They generally take two flat parallel pins, the shape used in the United States and Japan, and two round pins, the shape used across most of Europe. Thailand also has its own standard with three round pins. Many visitors therefore find that their own plug fits, but not every plug does. Travel adapters are sold at both Bangkok airports.

The voltage matters more than the shape of the plug. Read the small print on each charger before you pack it. If it reads 100 to 240 volts, the charger works in Thailand, and you need only a plug that fits. If it reads 110 volts alone, the appliance needs a converter, which is a device that changes the voltage. An appliance made for 110 volts alone is generally better left at home.

Clothes for heat and humidity

Bangkok is hot and humid for most of the year. Clothes stay damp longer than they would at home. Cotton and linen let air through. Polyester and similar synthetic fabrics hold heat against the body, whatever they look like. We suggest packing more changes of clothing than the number of days would suggest at home.

One outfit for a government office

One outfit in your luggage has to look right at a Thai government counter. Your marriage is registered at a district office, which is the local government office that records a marriage. Thai government offices expect covered shoulders, covered knees and closed shoes. Pack that outfit as a whole, including the shoes, rather than assembling it on the morning. Our article on what to wear when you marry in Thailand covers the clothing question in full, for the office and for a ceremony.

What Pride Legal Thailand does with what you bring

Pride Legal Thailand was created to become the platform for the LGBTQ community around the world looking to get married in Thailand. We check and approve your documents while you are still at home. We prepare the certified Thai translation before you arrive. We arrange the handover of the originals in person or by courier, whichever suits you. If your own embassy in Bangkok needs to see you in person, we meet you there and take the documents from you. Our work is to make the marriage plannable from abroad and completable in a single trip.

Pride Legal Thailand arranges the registration of marriages in Thailand for two people of any gender and any nationality. The fee is ฿49,000 (~1,480 USD) for both partners, fixed, with VAT and government fees included; registration outside the Bangkok region costs ฿10,000 (~300 USD) more.

To register your own marriage in Thailand, tell ELSA your nationalities and your dates on the Marriage page: she lists your documents and your timeline, and our lawyer confirms the plan. The steps in order: how two foreigners can get married in Thailand.