Malaysians Flock to Thailand for Secret Islamic Weddings

Thailand’s far south is hopping as a hub for secret Islamic weddings, drawing Malaysian men who go there to marry second, third or even fourth wives without their other spouses knowing about it, officials say.

By the hundreds already-married men from neighboring Malaysia cross over each year to tie the knot with other women in Thailand’s predominantly Muslim southern border region, exploiting a loophole that allows them to get around the law in their home country, Islamic leaders say.

The Central Mosque in Songkhla, a border province inside Thailand, is a hive for such weddings.

Many of the weddings there involve married Malaysian men who take on other brides, according to Sakriya Binsaela, chairman of the Islamic Committee of Songkhla. Relatively few of these marriages involve first-time grooms, he said.

“Today, Aug. 31, there are 10 Malaysian couples coming for weddings. Some days there are more,” Sakriya told BenarNews.

As many as 30 Malaysian couples marry in Songhkla every day and, last year, 4,500 couples from Malaysia were wed in the province, according to local Islamic authorities.

Imams – Muslim preachers – are compelled to perform such marriages because Muslim law permits them. In Islam, a man can take as many as four women in wedlock as long as he can provide for and maintain each of his families equally.

“To not perform the wedding ceremony at the request of the bride and the groom that we know are going to share their lives as husband and wife is sinful,” Sakriya said.

Potential problems

Crossing the border to marry in Thailand is an old practice, according to a Malaysian man who spoke to BenarNews in Songhkla.

“This has been around for decades since Malaysia has a strict law. A man who wants to marry a second wife must obtain permission from the first wife, must have financial stability and must follow the religious tenets,” Mokem Abdullah said, adding that men who do not meet those requirements leave the country to skirt Malaysian sharia law.

Government records support claims that Thailand is a destination for Malaysians to tie the knot. During an 18-month period that ended in June, more than 6,000 Malaysian couples were married in Thailand, Mohammad Afandi Abu Bakar, the Malaysian Consul-General in Songkhla, told state-run news agency Bernama.

But this number only includes couples who registered their marriages.

“Couples who do not register their marriages with the consulate will face difficulty validating them in Malaysia,” the consul-general said.

Full story: BenarNews

BenarNews Staff, Songkhla. Haireez Azeem Azizi in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.