RockerC

I have been through this process, but we were living outside Thailand at the time.  My son only had a Thai passport at the time.  The Thai Adoption Centre uses the services of a non-Governmental Organisation in other countries, to prepare all the paperwork/interviews etc, and then does a full review themselves.  The whole process took about 3 years and was very complicated and, at times, confusing. 

Regarding name change on the birth certificate - we decided not to do this given my sons age (by then early teens), but my understanding is that this is potentially difficult also.  It will depend upon the type of custody agreement your wife has over her son. 

Regarding recognition in other countries.  Yes, generally, a Thai adoption is not recognised, or only recognised under certain conditions.  However, if the adoption is done under the provisions of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption and an Article 23 Certificate is issued at the completion of the process, then it is generally recognised and certainly was in our case (it would not have been if we had not obtained the Article 23 Certificate).  Thailand is a signatory to the Hague Convention.  However, when we went through our odyssey, the Thai Authorities knew very little about the Hague Convention and even less about issuing an Article 23 Certificate (which is not issued from the Thai Adoption Authorities but from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).  But as your son already has a British passport and if you carry out the adoption in the UK this would not be an issue, as long as the Thai Authorities recognise a UK adoption.

I remember the relief we all felt when it was finally over - 3+ years and then my son's new citizenship and passport were issued within one week!

So, let's just assume for one minute that this is a serious question. The words "not an institution to be entered into lightly" come to mind and this type of purchase could have similar disasterous end results. My wife's family used to be in the elephant business - and had about 30 of them. My understanding is that they are very difficult to look after - very sensitive to food and can get sick easily. And what do you do with it? Put it in the back yard? All that means that you have to know about elephants before you have any - they are clearly not like buying a cat or dog. And one other small thing - they kill people - my wife's grandmother lost her husband and two sons in separate events. Far better to buy a Kwai if you want an exotic pet to bring up in casual dinner conversations...

Having traveled on the high speed rail networks of Europe, Japan and China I wonder if the Thai authorites will ever get around to building a high speed network (or even a single main trunk line). Imagine getting on in Bangkok and getting off in Chiang Mai 3 hours later after having had a very comfortable and scenic trip. Alas, it will not happen in the lifetimes of most, if not all, of us reading this topic I fear.

As a regular on the overnight train between Bangkok and Uttaradit and the daytime so-called "sprinter" (more aptly named "Rock and Roller") I long for a Japanese Shinkasen type experience. If China can do it with their new high speed trains, why can Thailand not do it???