Marriage are made underwater

Published in The Kathmandu Post in 2000

All you need is love… a certified scuba diving license, a Thai Airways air ticket and an aqualung. These were what needed to couples to get tied the knot in the wet wedding. The biggest underwater wedding ever held in the world to be recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. On marriage, one wise sage says, "Marriage is like twirling a baton, turning handsprings or eating with chopsticks. It looks easy until try it." But for the couples, who were to get married on St. Valentine's Day, it seemed that the marriage under the azure waters off a tropical island was more than what sage has said about it.
For many, wedding underwater sounds quite a fairytale story of Alice in the Wonderland or for others it's a crazy or weird idea of a few people who wish to get into the record book. But the fact that unveiled shortly I reached Trang is that it's a humble effort of Thai Airways to celebrate the marriage of couples underwater. Trang is a small charming city located 800 kilometre further south of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. It takes only an hour and forty minutes to reach Trang from Bangkok. Situated in half way between Phuket and the Malaysian border, Trang is the newest province, which is open to divers in the Andaman Sea, with abundant marine life inhabiting reef-walls, fringing reefs and caves to tempt tourists and locals alike. Like many people who thronged into Trang to witness the most spectacular wedding of the new millennium, I, too, was inquisitive to know what it's after all- a real drama or just a gimmick to attract people's attention. To my surprise, it turned out to be a drama in a real life that celebrated with lots of fanfare.
The wedding extravaganza, in fact, started the very day when the 30 couples from 28 countries stepped down from a special charted plane flown from Bangkok on February 13. These couples were selected from all over the world and their all air ticket and other expenses were borne by Thai Airways and other sponsors. The only proviso for couples was that both bride and groom should be qualified scuba divers. Attired in traditional Thai dress, a bunch of beautiful Thai girls welcomed them with orchid flowers garland, which was followed by traditional Thai dance and music. Boarded in a bus, they reached the city hall for other ceremonies to be followed. The sixty lovers rode to their weddings on 30 elephants brought in from outside spearheaded by the Thai government officials and Thai Airways' vice president in two elephants. The caravan of elephants led by traditional Thai marriage procession was greeted by the citizens of Trang with flowers so enthusiastically that as if it's a royal wedding. They were lodged in Thumrin Thana Hotel giving separate room to individual, as it is not allowed in the Thai custom for a couple to stay together until they get married. For these couples, it's a mixture of excitement and anxiety because they had never heard of such marriage before.
Waking up early in the morning, all couples headed to the wedding site known as Koh Krandan Island in the Andaman Sea. It took them about 40 minutes from Trang to reach Pakmeng Jetty in a bus. Koh Krandan is Trang's most beautiful island covering an area of 600 Rai. One of the highlights of the island is its beautiful beach of very fine white sand as fine as powder and its crystal clear blue water through which one can see beautiful coral reefs on the north side of the island, together with colourful fish moving gracefully. Waited them at the jetty was a beautifully decorated long-tailed boat which took them to Koh Krandan. On the idyllic beach of Koh Krandan, they were greeted by locals and officials with respect. The couples dressed up in the traditional Thai marriage wearing were blessed by Thai elders and the relatives with holy water according to Thai wedding rituals. After the end of rituals, ten couples in scuba gear wearing wetsuits and oxygen tanks took the plunge off the coast of Koh Krandan through a ceremonial bamboo arch that showed two fish kissing symbolising "Sea of Love." Exchanging vows among tropical fish in front of an uniformed Thai official sitting at a table 10 metres underwater, they showed identification and shook hands with the presiding Thai official. In the wilderness of sea, they exchanged rings, got marriage certificate signed by Thai officials and kissed through their facemasks. After almost thirty minutes, they surfaced up holding marriage certificate in the cheerful mood. " We have found new depths of intimacy within us after this wedding," said Thongchai and Yaibua, a beautiful couple from Thailand unmasking scuba gears.
"Everything is beautiful, perfect," said dripping bride Heidi Lundjoergensen from Denmark as she came back to shore with Danish spouse Jens Bloch clutching a plastic-sleeved marriage certificate. Another two group of couple took turns to trudge in flippers across the sand and dived into the beneath the waves of Andaman Sea. Among the newly married couples was an Indian couple settled down in Thailand- Hardish Singh Sachdev and Beauty Lertnamwongwan. They had Sachdev's parents to bless them in the sea. Hundreds of local fishing boats and pleasure cruisers filled up people sailed past in a flotilla. They watched the underwater wedding ceremonies on closed circuit television on the beach.
In the wedding night, a grand barbecue dinner at Raimongkol beach was organised to celebrate the ceremony, which was followed by firework display. The last ceremony left for newly couples was tree plantation, which took place on the next day of wedding. Thus the most fascinating wedding of the new millennium organised by Thai Airways International in cooperation with the Trang Chamber of Commerce, Thumrin Thana Hotel, Grand China Princess Hotel and Asian Diver magazine ended with a vow to bring their children to Trang again and again to commemorate the underwater wedding ceremony.