Does anyone have any experience changing a thai wife’s surname to her married western name? 
 

what documents would be needed by the district office? 

As we were married in the UK my wifes name is the same as mine,when we came back to live here she uses her maiden name  much easier,as far as i know all my friends wives use their Thai surname , 

Not visa or extension related. Moved to here.

We looked into it but decided just easier to keep her name as it is, same for the daughter. We have a new bub on the way so will maybe look into it again.

An update would be handy if you follow through, Cheers.

17 minutes ago, kiwiaussie said:

what documents would be needed by the district office? 

Just her ID card and House book.

Costs 30bht at the Amphur office, she can pick any name she likes, and choose Ms or Mrs.

You should probably take your Passport and Marriage cert so the spelling matches.

As stated, just a visit to the local Amphur. I suggest you drop in there and ask first as usual things can vary.

In very general terms its the ID, Tabien baan marriage cert and passport.

BUT CHECK FIRST.

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Just her ID card and House book.

Costs 30bht at the Amphur office, she can pick any name she likes, and choose Ms or Mrs.

You should probably take your Passport and Marriage cert so the spelling matches.

Ditto.

 

Easy peasy.   At least at our Amphur.

 

Being TIT there may very well be horror stories about.......

48 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Just her ID card and House book.

Costs 30bht at the Amphur office, she can pick any name she likes, and choose Ms or Mrs.

You should probably take your Passport and Marriage cert so the spelling matches.

Same experience with us in Sakon Nakhon. It was a very simple process.

 

Agree about taking your own passport to confirm spelling on her new ID and CHECK it! They got the spelling wrong the first time around and had to print the ID card again.

It’s easy to change the name. Sometimes Thais even change their given name. But then you have to get many new documents:

Id-Card, housebook, passport, driving license, bank books, ownership of vehicles, …

If she has children: documents concerning the motherhood and for the school …

If she will ever inherit something in Thailand it might be a lot of paperwork or/and witnesses required to prove that she is really the legitimate heiress.

Wife did it on her own and whatever was needed she arranged it. She didn't say much, so it can't have been a big deal.

 

I find it is best not to get too involved in these things and just let them sort it out.

19 hours ago, sherwood said:

We looked into it but decided just easier to keep her name as it is, same for the daughter. We have a new bub on the way so will maybe look into it again.

An update would be handy if you follow through, Cheers.

Not related to the question but as you mention children, when our daughter was born here in Thailand I wanted her to have her mother’s family name so that she wouldn’t have a mix of Thai and Anglo names.

We were advised that because we were legally married ( in Australia) she had to take my surname.

So we had her mother’s family name as her middle name.

21 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

As we were married in the UK my wifes name is the same as mine,when we came back to live here she uses her maiden name  much easier,as far as i know all my friends wives use their Thai surname , 

at Amphur, immediately after registration, all documents on hand, her name was changed and a certificate issued. ID card changed thereafter, then Bank accounts; DL on renewal.

Which reminds me. Not a pressing issue considering Covid but I hope to take wife a Stepdaughter to the USA in 2023. Wife changed her Thai ID card but we will need to change the Passport.

Best and easiest for them to keep their surname. That way they don't have to change it back later. 

1 minute ago, BTB1977 said:

Best and easiest for them to keep their surname

Also there is no requirement (or advantage) for a Thai woman to change her surname after marriage  for anything in Thailand..there maybe some advantages for her in other countries  not to have a foreign

(Thai surname) ???

We didn’t change her name when we registered our thai marriage in Thailand, we should have, we would like it.

She later changed her thai ID to my/our surname but didn’t get time to change her passport before getting the go ahead to join me in Australia.

All her Australian documents are based on her passport, thus all Australian bank acc, drivers license etc are in her maiden name… She can’t find, and her daughter in Thailand can’t find the document to change her passport, so until we can get back she’s running two names.

Just depends where your living I got married in the uk and live here with my wife it's a lot of hassle renewing visas changing passports etc better off her keeping her maiden name 

1 hour ago, SERGERAMOS said:

Just depends where your living I got married in the uk and live here with my wife it's a lot of hassle renewing visas changing passports etc better off her keeping her maiden name 

Much better,its not a problem here,in The UK we have joint bank accounts in my surname ,and in the UK have alwsys used my surname ,its on our marriage cert,but here in Thailand far better to use her Thai surname.

On 8/18/2021 at 9:11 PM, Moonlover said:

Same experience with us in Sakon Nakhon. It was a very simple process.

 

Agree about taking your own passport to confirm spelling on her new ID and CHECK it! They got the spelling wrong the first time around and had to print the ID card again.

Always good to hear advise from another Sakon Nakhon native!

On 8/18/2021 at 8:01 PM, kiwiaussie said:

Does anyone have any experience changing a thai wife’s surname to her married western name? 
 

what documents would be needed by the district office? 

Easy pessy Thais can change their name to almost anything in 10 min, just need their ID card (and maybe their house book) Their ID Number remains the same, maybe 50 baht for new card.

When we married in 95 she had no choice to keep her own name, the amphur changed it just after the marriage papers where completed. My home country did not allow us to marry over there, you had to do it in THailand first.