Consulate: 300 Malaysian couples get married in southern Thailand monthly, six in 10 are polygamy cases

Malay Mail

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — The Malaysian Consulate in Songkhla, Thailand has reportedly revealed that almost 300 couples from Malaysia get married in the country’s southern province every month.

Sinar Harian today reported the consulate saying that 60 per cent of the marriages there involved polygamy, while the rest occur without family permission, including marrying a Thai partner.

“I would like to advise all couples who get married here to come and submit their documents to the Malaysian Consulate office in Songkhla for verification.

“Failing to obtain verification can lead to the marriage of these couples not being registered in Malaysia,” consul Ahmad Fahmi Ahmad Sarkawi was quoted as saying.

He said the couples often choose cities such as Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, Songkhla, or Satun for their marriage ceremonies.

He further said that it is crucial to ensure the validity of their marriage documents and proper solemnisation according to Islamic law, warning against scams run by syndicates there.

“For instance, the couple may be, in reality, not even married and are in Malaysia, and they did not even travel to Thailand.

“But the opposite happened due to the syndicates taking advantage. Our responsibility is to reevaluate and verify,” he was quoted as saying.

Ahmad Fahmi clarified that couples can only register their marriages that happened in southern Thailand upon returning to Malaysia with the consulate’s verification.

He said that upon their return to Malaysia for registration, they would have to pay fines and additional penalties before the marriages could be verified.

Adding more, he said failure to complete this registration process could lead to various complications, especially concerning matters related to children and assets.