Marriages in Thailand from Kota Setar district up 15 pct a month

Iklan
Kota Setar district religious officer Datuk Syeikh Ahmad Faisol Omar said most of the marriages involved singles and polygamists who have not obtained permission to marry.
YAN - Cases of couples getting married without permission in Thailand from the Kota Setar district have now increased to 15 per cent a month after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kota Setar district religious officer Datuk Syeikh Ahmad Faisol Omar said most of the marriages involved singles and polygamists who have not obtained permission to marry.

"Among five to six per cent who perform the ‘nikah’ (marriage ceremony) in Thailand are found to be invalid, among them, due to uncertified guardians or they marry other people's wives," he told reporters here today.

Earlier, Ahmad Faisol attended the launching ceremony of the Kedah State Zakat Board’s (LZNK) large-scale Smart Padi Field (Smart SSB) programme by Kedah state secretary and LZNK chairman Datuk Norizan Khazali.

Faisol said there were indeed cases of unauthorised marriages in the neighbouring country involving women who were still in their ‘iddah’ period - a period a Muslim woman must observe after the death of her husband or after a divorce, during which she may not marry another man

Meanwhile, he urged couples who had married in Thailand to immediately register their marriages in Malaysia if they have not already done so to avoid any complications in the future.

"The penalty for each offence (those who marry out of the country without permission) is as much as RM1,000, whereas those who engage in polygamy without permission can be fined up to RM3,000," he said.

Ahmad Faisol advised young individuals not to marry in the neighbouring country without their parents' knowledge, while husbands should also not turn their backs on their first wives for mutual well-being. - Bernama