Expat Children.

[Inuk]

Good afternoon. My son, 12 yrs old, born in the UK, parents British and Thai, and holder of his own UK passport. We have been living in TH for some years and I had not given the following much thought until now. My son is taking his O-NET exams in a few days and one of the registration criteria is that he must hold a Thai id card. So off my son and I go the amphur armed with every conceivable document in the appropriate Thai language including my wife's id, signed, and the house book which registers my son's name and family name (non thai). My son is informed by some oversized lady bouncer that it is his mother that must present the documents not the father as I am a foreigner and so is my son. My wife is unable to attend as she is a rep for a Thai company and is away.

Effectively, I unwillingly have to allow a Thai person to take over my son's general welfare. I am now thinking what rights does an ex pat father have over his children whilst living in Thailand if I am not able to vet and sign paperwork which affects his future? Experience and comments welcome please.

[ubonjoe]

Moved to here.

I think the lady is giving you the runaround. His mother should not have to be present to get the ID card. I think the ID card can be issued at any Amphoe. Perhaps try another one.

Our niece took our granddaughter to get her ID card.

[80sboy]

Hi, my family and have just been through the process..... just smile as usual. Below are the docs you need, I would suggest your wife takes a week off to get it done and also a good idea for you to visit the Brittish Embassy, the Embassy staff are very knowledgeable and happy to help, I visited my countries embassy and they politely were able to move the process of the ID card to one day rather than three, here is what you need: 

1.       Father’s passport

2.       Mother’s passport and Thai ID card

3.       Children’s birth certificates and their British/ Thai passports

4.       Marriage Certificate

5.       Family photo with mother, father, and children in the photo

6.       House Owner, with their Thai ID card and House Registration

7.       2 Witnesses – Thai national, be 20 years of age or older.

 

Good luck and it sounds like you are a caring Dad.

 

[Rally123]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Moved to here.

I think the lady is giving you the runaround. His mother should not have to be present to get the ID card. I think the ID card can be issued at any Amphoe. Perhaps try another one.

Our niece took our granddaughter to get her ID card.  

I'm sure the mother does have to attend to get a Thai ID card for the children. The ID card is issued at the Amphur to where the Blue Book is registered. Can't be just any Amphur. 

[Inuk]

Thank you all for your comments. My son has been attending the same well established school where we live for over eight yrs but admin could only confirm the house book requirement. He has been registered in the house book for the same period. To 80sboy the only item I did not take was the happy snap (5) and (7) witnesses. (6) does not apply. The O-NET exam is being held this Saturday but we were only made aware of the requirement 48 hrs ago - a situation not unknown by school admin. There are over 8 million children between 7 and 15 yrs and at THB110 per id card, that is a nice little earner for local government.

 

The point I was really trying to make was, that as his father, what rights in Thailand do I have regarding my son's welfare especially when it comes to signing documents.

[80sboy]

Your wife being Thai has signing authority. Your wife would have to sign a power of attorney document giving you rights to sign on her behalf, the power of attorney can be limited to certain documents. Definitely talk to the Embassy, they may expedite the exam situation. 

[ubonjoe]

12 hours ago, Rally123 said:

I'm sure the mother does have to attend to get a Thai ID card for the children. The ID card is issued at the Amphur to where the Blue Book is registered. Can't be just any Amphur. 

A ID card can obtained at any Amphoe. It is done all the time now. 

When they first started issuing ID cards at 7 years old they even had it set up to issue them at some schools.

[HHTel]

I took both my daughters for their first ID card without their mother.  No problems whatsoever.

It's also true that you can get an ID card at any amphur.  My eldest daughter when renewing her Thai passport realised that her ID card had expired.  She renewed it at the nearest amphur to the passport office.  Again, no problems.

[baansgr]

Personal experience of three luk kruengs where mother has abandoned them....very little to no rights whatsoever. Even owning my property/condo with blue book, was not allowed to enter the kids without a Thai housemaster name. Registering at schools, hospitols, anything is an absolute nightmare. Basically we are stuck here, cant get passports without mothers consent, cant get sole custody....its the way it is and no one cares....oh..lawyers do for hundreds of thousands baht.

[Inuk]

Thank you everyone. Good ending to the ID card. I went with my son this morning to the city main amphur office with full chapter and verse, explained my wife was away and the exam tomorrow, Saturday, but as additional baggage I took my Thai mother in law as guarantor. All that was requested was the house book, copy my wife's signed ID with our family name, my son's Thai passport, translation of his British birth cert. and Mother in law with her docs. Result - one Thai ID card and no unexpected questions.

Regs, which we should all recognise, can change from city office to city office, never mind province to province. 80s boy's suggestion on power of attorney is one which I will follow up, which may ease a little my concerns. My wife worked (proper job) in the UK for a number of years. For us it has facilitated our relationship in understanding better the quirks of British and Thai everyday living experiences.

P.S. Sometimes it is better to offer as few docs. as possible as a pile of papers can only confuse the issue. In this case a little help through TV, as much supporting info. as neccessary to hand and the mother in law, is all I needed!!! Cheers.

[OneMoreFarang]

On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 2:51 PM, Inuk said:

My son is informed by some oversized lady bouncer ...

That comment shows your attitude. Don't be surprised if people treat you the way they do.

[Otis Cribelcoblis]

20 hours ago, Rally123 said:

I'm sure the mother does have to attend to get a Thai ID card for the children. The ID card is issued at the Amphur to where the Blue Book is registered. Can't be just any Amphur. 

Wrong. 

[Otis Cribelcoblis]

20 hours ago, Inuk said:

Thank you all for your comments. My son has been attending the same well established school where we live for over eight yrs but admin could only confirm the house book requirement. He has been registered in the house book for the same period. To 80sboy the only item I did not take was the happy snap (5) and (7) witnesses. (6) does not apply. The O-NET exam is being held this Saturday but we were only made aware of the requirement 48 hrs ago - a situation not unknown by school admin. There are over 8 million children between 7 and 15 yrs and at THB110 per id card, that is a nice little earner for local government.

 

The point I was really trying to make was, that as his father, what rights in Thailand do I have regarding my son's welfare especially when it comes to signing documents.

Has his birth been registered in Thailand, and are you listed as the father?

[Otis Cribelcoblis]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

That comment shows your attitude. Don't be surprised if people treat you the way they do.

For all you know, she is a bouncer and as most are, over-sized.  

[Otis Cribelcoblis]

21 hours ago, 80sboy said:

Hi, my family and have just been through the process..... just smile as usual. Below are the docs you need, I would suggest your wife takes a week off to get it done and also a good idea for you to visit the Brittish Embassy, the Embassy staff are very knowledgeable and happy to help, I visited my countries embassy and they politely were able to move the process of the ID card to one day rather than three, here is what you need: 

1.       Father’s passport

2.       Mother’s passport and Thai ID card

3.       Children’s birth certificates and their British/ Thai passports

4.       Marriage Certificate

5.       Family photo with mother, father, and children in the photo

6.       House Owner, with their Thai ID card and House Registration

7.       2 Witnesses – Thai national, be 20 years of age or older.

 

Good luck and it sounds like you are a caring Dad.

 

At an Ampur?  I sent the little misses with the girl at 10 to go get her Thai ID so she could also get a Thai Passport.

 

The little misses went with a copy of her Thai birth certificate and that's it.  No photos of playing volleyball on the beach, and no ID out the ying-yang required.  Done at an Ampur where there is no family book registration and has nothing to do with where she was born.  The entire process I'm told, took 5 minutes.

[shy coconut]

11 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

A ID card can obtained at any Amphoe. It is done all the time now. 

When they first started issuing ID cards at 7 years old they even had it set up to issue them at some schools.

Last year my sister in law and her daughter flew from Ubon down to BKK, the daughter 

had left her ID at home in Chon Buri but was able to have a photo taken at the airport

and head off to the local Amphoe, get a new ID and back in time for her flight.

 

Not really useful for the OP I'm afraid, but does illustrate that ID can be issued anywhere

and pretty quickly.

[mrfaroukh]

Probably none

[Inuk]

We have a good result and thank you again to those who wrote sensible replies and I did state that my son has a Thai passport. His birth is registered.

In reply to the one comment from '.... Farang', you should have counselling for your unhelpful holier than thou attitude problem.

 

[80sboy]

On 1/31/2019 at 5:05 PM, Otis Cribelcoblis said:

At an Ampur?  I sent the little misses with the girl at 10 to go get her Thai ID so she could also get a Thai Passport.

 

The little misses went with a copy of her Thai birth certificate and that's it.  No photos of playing volleyball on the beach, and no ID out the ying-yang required.  Done at an Ampur where there is no family book registration and has nothing to do with where she was born.  The entire process I'm told, took 5 minutes.

It's good to have know it alls around the place, nice work buddy

[80sboy]

7 hours ago, Inuk said:

We have a good result and thank you again to those who wrote sensible replies and I did state that my son has a Thai passport. His birth is registered.

In reply to the one comment from '.... Farang', you should have counselling for your unhelpful holier than thou attitude problem.

 

Well done and good luck, hopefully your lad aced his exams today!

[FritsSikkink]

On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 7:36 PM, 80sboy said:

Hi, my family and have just been through the process..... just smile as usual. Below are the docs you need, I would suggest your wife takes a week off to get it done and also a good idea for you to visit the Brittish Embassy, the Embassy staff are very knowledgeable and happy to help, I visited my countries embassy and they politely were able to move the process of the ID card to one day rather than three, here is what you need: 

1.       Father’s passport

2.       Mother’s passport and Thai ID card

3.       Children’s birth certificates and their British/ Thai passports

4.       Marriage Certificate

5.       Family photo with mother, father, and children in the photo

6.       House Owner, with their Thai ID card and House Registration

7.       2 Witnesses – Thai national, be 20 years of age or older.

 

Good luck and it sounds like you are a caring Dad.

 

The embassy has nothing to do with it and it doesn't take a week. My daughters one was done in less than an hour, can't remember the exact time.

[Sheryl]

On 1/31/2019 at 1:06 PM, baansgr said:

Personal experience of three luk kruengs where mother has abandoned them....very little to no rights whatsoever. Even owning my property/condo with blue book, was not allowed to enter the kids without a Thai housemaster name. Registering at schools, hospitols, anything is an absolute nightmare. Basically we are stuck here, cant get passports without mothers consent, cant get sole custody....its the way it is and no one cares....oh..lawyers do for hundreds of thousands baht.

You can be awarded sole custody by a court, and there are farang fathers here who have been.

 

the reports I've seen from people who have been in family court are pretty positive regarding the process and fairness. Not always necessary to have a lawyer.

 

But of course, if you are seeking sole custody and the mother does not agree, you will need to show grounds for it.

 

 

[80sboy]

On 2/5/2019 at 1:31 PM, FritsSikkink said:

The embassy has nothing to do with it and it doesn't take a week. My daughters one was done in less than an hour, can't remember the exact time.

Every situation is different buddy

[kwonitoy]

On 2/5/2019 at 1:38 PM, Sheryl said:

You can be awarded sole custody by a court, and there are farang fathers here who have been.

 

the reports I've seen from people who have been in family court are pretty positive regarding the process and fairness. Not always necessary to have a lawyer.

 

But of course, if you are seeking sole custody and the mother does not agree, you will need to show grounds for it.

 

 

Yes,  I did it 4 years ago, go to Child Protective Services for an interview and they will forward to the courts

Yes,  very, very, very true, they are after one thing. What's best for the child

Yes,  get your paper work in order, easily done.

 

Sensibly posted Sheryl. In my case the above statements have been successfully done with minimal cost for lawyers.

[BobbyL]

oversized lady bouncer ????

[NCC1701A]

On 1/30/2019 at 2:51 PM, Inuk said:

he must hold a Thai id card

does this make him eligible for the Thai military "draft?"

 

just curious.

[80sboy]

On 2/11/2019 at 7:36 PM, NCC1701A said:

does this make him eligible for the Thai military "draft?"

 

just curious.

I understand they may be asked to draw a card, but if they 1/2 Thai boy can speak but not write the military would not waste their time with training them.

[BritManToo]

On 1/31/2019 at 5:05 PM, Otis Cribelcoblis said:

At an Ampur?  I sent the little misses with the girl at 10 to go get her Thai ID so she could also get a Thai Passport.

 

The little misses went with a copy of her Thai birth certificate and that's it.  No photos of playing volleyball on the beach, and no ID out the ying-yang required.  Done at an Ampur where there is no family book registration and has nothing to do with where she was born.  The entire process I'm told, took 5 minutes.

School did our daughter, they asked for the birth certificate then shipped the entire year down to the Amphur office.

No parents were present.

[soalbundy]

On 1/30/2019 at 8:40 PM, Inuk said:

Thank you all for your comments. My son has been attending the same well established school where we live for over eight yrs but admin could only confirm the house book requirement. He has been registered in the house book for the same period. To 80sboy the only item I did not take was the happy snap (5) and (7) witnesses. (6) does not apply. The O-NET exam is being held this Saturday but we were only made aware of the requirement 48 hrs ago - a situation not unknown by school admin. There are over 8 million children between 7 and 15 yrs and at THB110 per id card, that is a nice little earner for local government.

 

The point I was really trying to make was, that as his father, what rights in Thailand do I have regarding my son's welfare especially when it comes to signing documents.

I have never come across problems like this, at the schools I have always signed for various things regarding the children, not only for my own son but also for my two stepdaughters, was never a problem. I even signed a form for a small OP at the hospital for one of my stepdaughters before they would go ahead.

[80sboy]

6 hours ago, soalbundy said:

I have never come across problems like this, at the schools I have always signed for various things regarding the children, not only for my own son but also for my two stepdaughters, was never a problem. I even signed a form for a small OP at the hospital for one of my stepdaughters before they would go ahead.

Depends on where you live mate