Daughter obtaining Thai ID while on Tourist Visa

[GroveHillWanderer]

14 minutes ago, BritTim said:

There is liable to be an issue even if an in-out is done by air. Immigration officials at the airport are unhappy when they see an unused Thai passport (issued in Thailand) being used for entry to Thailand. There have been some dramas, including officials insisting that the Thai passport cannot be used and you must again use the foreign passport. On one notable occasion, the official even destroyed the Thai passport. I think they sometimes allow the blank Thai passport to be used for entry, but not always.

Well, all I can say is that my daughter certainly didn't have a problem doing exactly that. She entered on her British passport, got a Thai passport issued while she was here and left on her British passport. She came back next time on her unused Thai passport (issued in Thailand) without any major problem. They asked her why her passport was unused, she told them and they let her in - simples.

[BritTim]

52 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

Well, all I can say is that my daughter certainly didn't have a problem doing exactly that. She entered on her British passport, got a Thai passport issued while she was here and left on her British passport. She came back next time on her unused Thai passport (issued in Thailand) without any major problem. They asked her why her passport was unused, she told them and they let her in - simples.

Glad it went well.

[kiwiaussie]

3 hours ago, ExPatInChiangMai said:

I wanted to give a close out report on my daughter. Her Thai mother brought her Thai birth certificate issued by the Thai Consulate in LA. They registered her residence at her Grandma’s house n Bangkok and received her Thai ID. At the same time she got her Thai passport.  SAME DAY! (Maybe US State Dept can learn something from Thailand). 
 

Went to Thai immigration in Chiang Mai to see how they wanted to deal with her Tourist Visa. 
 

Sure enough, as several of you suggested — she must leave Thailand and renter on her Thai passport.  So, her aunt will be taking her Mai Sai to exit and return. 
 

just a bit more nonsense: if she isn’t able to leave by June 3 (her 60 day depart date), I guess she will have to EXTEND the useless tourist visa in order to have time to depart!

 

if her aunt wasn’t nearby, I’m sure we would have just ignored it.  Going forward she is Thai. At least while she’s in Thailand. 
 

thanks to everyone for your input and help

Swapping passports at borders does not work. Repeat, does not work. Border guards on both sides look for stamp trails and don't like it if they are in separate passports. 

 

It only works in the air, so she'll need to fly down to KL, Singapore or Phnom Penh and fly back into Thailand on her Thai passport. 

 

As said, save yourself the heartburn and just front up the 1900 and get this visa. She just shows her ID card and she'll get this visa no worries. Next time she flies out she can do the passport swap.

 

About the Thai ancestry visa: https://www.thaicitizenship.com/thai-ancestry-visas/

About how dual citizens can travel: https://www.thaicitizenship.com/traveling-as-a-dual-citizen/

[Neeranam]

18 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

Well, all I can say is that my daughter certainly didn't have a problem doing exactly that. She entered on her British passport, got a Thai passport issued while she was here and left on her British passport. She came back next time on her unused Thai passport (issued in Thailand) without any major problem. They asked her why her passport was unused, she told them and they let her in - simples.

Could have been a problem, and I've heard of some. 

 

I recently left Thailand with an unused Thai passport. However, I had renewed it as I was at the Passport office with my kids and they changed it from 5 years to 10 years. Any Thai with a renewed passport has no stamps in it. 

 

 

I had no issue with immigration. However, check in at KLM gave me a problem, saying I had no visa in my UK passport so would have an issue at immigration as I don't look Asian. No, straight through electronic gates. 

[Neeranam]

19 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Also, (Thai) children can get a Passport without a Thai ID. 

 

 

Until what age?

[Neeranam]

On 5/9/2023 at 5:09 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Also, (Thai) children can get a Passport without a Thai ID. 

 

 

Children can get an ID card when 7,. 

They are not required to get one until 15, so I guess this is the age. However, they must be on the Blue House book to get a passport. 

[digbeth]

Upon exiting Thailand, couldn't she present both passport and if the io is reasonable, stamp her out on the Thai passport to prevent any problems with the 'blank' thai passport

 

If the worse come to worst, she can enter Thailand on ID card alone, thai citizen can't be barred from entering the Kingdom even without her passport, then use her Thai passport next time

[BritTim]

8 hours ago, digbeth said:

Upon exiting Thailand, couldn't she present both passport and if the io is reasonable, stamp her out on the Thai passport to prevent any problems with the 'blank' thai passport

 

If the worse come to worst, she can enter Thailand on ID card alone, thai citizen can't be barred from entering the Kingdom even without her passport, then use her Thai passport next time

Creative thinking! This makes sense, though there are no guarantees.

Trying to return with just the Thai ID card might run into the same problem of Immigration asking how you left Thailand in the first place.