RedCardinal

Is this visible in Unifi Controller?

In fairness to drivers unfamiliar with the area, that sign is placed only in one place on either side - the final pilon before you enter the tunnel. It's also far too small and hard to read. Once it becomes visible to drivers there's no way to turn back (source):

Both parents have rights, regardless of nationality. The problems you'll most likely encounter is the enforcement of those rights and the bias in local enforcement towards the Thai national in mixed couples. Read back over the archives here, and you can find horror stories of farang parents granted full custody, but unable to enforce court orders due to local officials taking no interest. As the father you're most likely entitled to petition government agencies for information about your daughter. So you may be able to locate her school records this way. This may also assist in locating her. FWIW my advice is to find one of the larger, more reputable law firms who have Family Law experts, and pay for some initial advice. The reply above, although well-meaning, probably is not going to help your predicament. One thing that the reply mentions that often does come up (and can be leveraged) is money. Taking a transactional approach to this may at least yield information and temporary access. Offer to support your daughter's upkeep. See if this can gain you information/access. Can you contact your wife's family - can they be approached to at least start a dialogue about helping your daughter? Earning some trust with the family may provide dividends down the road. FWIW I've been through something very similar. It's not easy, but try to keep a positive outlook. Also, take care of yourself and good luck.

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https://www.facebook.com/phuketinfocenter/posts/629779372697430 (above is FB translation)

Interesting translated Facebook post regarding this story: Source

Yep. They require TM30 for "sole guardianship" visa.

I think they've changed this yet again, and now require 2 sets of external photos - one with full body of both parent and child with house number visible, and the other waist-up of parent and child with house number visible. All photos must be printed upright - they rejected any printed photos that required them to turn the page 90 degrees (go figure...). They also wanted photos or parent and child in bedroom, sitting room and kitchen from me. This was 1 month ago. They do a video walk through via Line. Additional items: I applied for 1yr extension on a 90-day Non-O, and they wanted at least 15 working days remaining on current visa. When I asked, they told me I could apply up to 45 days before visa expiry. They didn't like that my current rental agreement finished soon after I tried to apply first (living same house 11 years), and insisted that I needed to have a lease with at least 6 months remaining. So I had to go get a new lease contract from my landlord. Hope this helps.

They accepted my second application, but the IO at the time kept telling me he thought "not have enough time to complete". He then gave me the runaround for the Video Tour of my home for 5 straight days, each day saying "maybe tomorrow", after he missed the appointed time he gave the first day. Being honest, I was waiting for some sort of tea money request to make sure it all worked out. My visa was approved late last week, after 28 days under consideration. I think this is the point I was hoping to try to make - it's not as simple as rolling up any time before your Non-O expires in some provinces. Simply reporting my experience. Phuket IOs seem to make their own rules a lot of the time. Another example - they insisted that my rental lease agreement must have at least 6 months validity remaining (I've been at the same address for 11 years, but still had to get a new lease for a further year), which makes absolutely no sense at all. My best guess is that they don't want to deal with applicants directly as it gives them less time to bank funds from the insane number of agents operating in the Phuket office anytime I visit. C'est la vie.

I entered visa-exempt. I then applied for Non-O visa in-country giving me 90 days. 2 weeks before those 90 days expired I applied for, and was declined, 1yr extension with reason given by Phuket Immigration insufficient time remaining on current visa. I then applied for a 60-day extension as advised by Phuket Immigration to overcome the time issue. When I returned with 27 days remaining on that extension I was again told that this might be problematic due to multiple national holidays and insufficient time. So perhaps Phuket Immigration has their own rules relating to this? I'm trying to help others by simply reporting my recent experience. You can tell me all day that I can apply for the 1 year extension at any time during the final 30 days. That won't change the fact that Phuket Immigration declined my first application despite having 2 weeks remaining, and then seemed unhappy on attempt 2 with 27 days stay remaining. As I noted previously - YMMV.

I've just gone through this process in Phuket, and my initial application was declined due to insufficient remaining time on original visa Non-O SE. The Non-O was valid for 2 further weeks. I then had to get a 60-day extension, and even though I re-applied for the 1-yr extension 27 days before the new extension expired, there was resistance due to approaching national holidays. So clearly YMMV, due to IO on the day, location, the prevailing direction of the wind etc. Hopefully might be useful to someone.

I think the question here may be whether you can get an extension after the visa has expired. An extension is only available if you have a current Non-Immigrant O visa, and most offices will require that you have sufficient time remaining on the visa for the application process to be completed. Here in Phuket it's 15 working days now I believe. If you entered visa-exempt you can also apply in-country for the initial Non-O based on Thai dependent (TM86 or TM87 - can't remember), and then for an extension. Might save you some travelling expense and stress.

This all started with a single agent video which clearly stated they were pure guesses.

I think the fact that they are going to permit members to upgrade to packages that will no longer be available to purchase, in addition to an upgrade path to the new yet-to-be-announced packages, most probably indicates they'll honour the current prices for the legacy upgrade packages. Best guess of course, and only time will tell I suppose.

Found on a Facebook group, with the following comment: "I’m at the Elite offices now. All upgrades have been extended with your original upgrade price locked in." Can't vouch for authenticity, but looks legit:

Quite correct. Excuse my error.

I think they will request Naturalization papers from the Family Court. You may also be able to get this doc from the local OrBorTor. Your name on Birth Cert won't be sufficient when not married. It's either marriage or court-ordered Naturalization. At least, this is my experience with the Thai family member visa extension.

Might want to check the small print:

Happy it worked out (thanks for updating), but was interested to learn if this was just an administrative misunderstanding or not. As others stated, I think they should have allowed you to apply for the passport based on the court order for sole custody.

Clearly written with zero knowledge of how dimly most countries (esp. developed) look on international child abduction. The Hague Convention provides a robust framework to hold international child abductors responsible. Not to mention, obvious lack of experience of a single parent trying to take a 4yo child through Thai airport Immigration without the other parent's consent (regardless of passport issuing country). Follow this advice and you're running a reasonable risk of ending up in prison and/or losing access to your child.

Surprised nobody here has questioned this statement. I think a farang father may be in for a very rude awakening if the mother has the wherewithall to go to the police and report a child abduction. Aliens are usually the easiest for Thai authoriities to track, and it's quite likely that they will believe whatever the mother chooses to tell them. Especially so if the father absconds with a young child. Even if you do manage to abscond with your son, you'll very quickly run into Thai bureaucracy whenever you need anything official related to your son. Thai passport of ID card? Need mother's permission or proof of sole custody awarded by the court. Want to travel with son outside Thailand (assumes he has passport from father's homeland)? Immigration will likely request consent from the mother. Want to enroll son in Thai school? School may ask mother's consent or court order showing sole custody. Need a Non-O visa based on Thai family/child? Need mother's consent or sole custody from court. The list goes on. I had to leave my son when he was 2. Very similar. Violence, diagnosed mental health issues, plenty of police reports (handy to have, so keep reporting). Mother was exceptionally good at behaving in front of police, and who are they going to believe? Legally, I was informed that I could take a case to Family Court and request sole custody, but there would be a "he-said, she-said" situation, and no guarantees of success. Thai courts generally leave children with the Thai mother in family break-ups. Only things I can suggest - each case will be different, but getting some real legal advice is warranted. If you can negotiate with wife, try. She may need medical help to deal with her anger (doctor's will most likely want to uncover the root cause and treat this). Thai's generally go via family when things break down completely, so if you have contact with her family try to open some dialogue this way. Other posters have said that you may need to leave your son and then use the court system to get sole custody. The sad realty is that this may be your best option. But it will take time. If you do leave, I suggest you keep maintaining them financially in some way so you can show that you have not abandoned your son. Also bear in mind that removing her trigger for anger (you) may also make life better for your son. Find a decent Family Lawyer. Relying on advice here (despite posters being well-intentioned) is probably NOT the best solution. Also, good luck. Hopefully things will get better.

Confirmed with the consul there - no more ME based on Thai family. Only SE and told to apply for extension if needed.

I fit this description. I asked about this previously, and @ubonjoe told me long ago that the immigration act makes no reference to a family unit, and that so long as you could show that the child does stay with you at times it should be sufficient. I've told IOs about my son living in a different region, and I've never been told directly that Non-O (Thai Family) requires fulltime care. I have had to jump through some hoops to satisfy the requirements, but so far I'm still here. Having an accommodating mother is a must-have though (I pay for everything, so it's in her interest to help).

So your Legitimization document from the Family Court states that she is the sole custodian? It seems very odd that a Legitimization process would result in this outcome, but perhaps it is the case. How did you confirm the guardianship outcome you detail please? Some good info here already, and I'm just going to add 2 possible pieces of info that may help: 1. If the child is 7 or older, and the mother/child cooperate, you may be able to fix this an the local Amphur. They can also process the Legitimization once the child is 7. But I'm not sure what would happen when you already have the Family Court doc. A trip to the Amphur might be a good start. 2. The Family Court process is going to be very dependent on the cooperation of the mother. If she cooperates then (as stated above) you can do this yourself. Depending on the region, you may or may not need a translator. If the mother is not cooperative it's a different ball game, and you're likely facing some considerable costs, time and stress to achieve your goal. So probably the most important question to ask is how cooperative will the mother be? That's key here.

Same boat as others - I have a 10yo son and we fly out together once or twice a year. IOs always requested information, often questioned son in Thai, and more times than not called his mother from the airport. Sometimes sent to a higher-up to have docs checked. I've always had a letter signed by mother with copies of her ID. So YMMV. Probably no harm trying to have mother near a phone at departure time should IO choose to be extra fussy. I can attest it can happen.