The computer system at the Bang Rak district office crashed on Wednesday, frustrating couples whoflocked to register their marriage on the auspicious date -- the 12th day of the 12th month in the year 2012.
Bang Rak district director Ziachana Soodcharoen said that couples had been standing in line since early morning, because Dec 12 of 2012 (12-12-12) was considered by many to be an auspicious day to get married.
Nuntikorn Supakritpakorn and Aurelien Raymond Eugene Person is the first couple to register their marriage at Bang Rak district on the auspicious day (12-12-12). (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)
The district office started work later than normal - it usually starts at 8.30am - due to a problem with the computer system. Around 11.30am, the Bang Rak district office announced that its computer system was down. As a result, many couples had to apply for certificates in other nearby districts.
Many people register their marriage at Bang Rak district as the Thai word "rak" in the district's name means "love".
Mr Ziachana said he expected the office would issue at least 100 certificates, given that it issued 114 certificates on Nov 11, 2011 (11-11-11), last year's lucky day.
The office set up tents, fans and photo props to accommodate the love birds and also extended its operating hours to 8pm.
Wichian Chidchanoknart, a computer specialist at the registration bureau of the Department of Provincial Administration, said the computer system did not completely crash, but rather processed input very slowly due to a glitch.
Mr Wichian said that the department is in the process of installing a new system throughout the country. In the beginning it showed no signs of a problem, but started to slow down after it was installed at more than 1,000 district offices nationwide.
The delay had nothing to do with high number of marriage certificate requests on Dec 12, he added. He expected the technical glitch to be sorted out within the few days. The system developer had been contacted to fix the problem.