New passport name impact

[ThaiWai]

My current US passport has a short version of my first name ex; Jon.  Because I will be issued dual citizenship and a second passport in a European nation in my full birth certificate name ex; Jonathan, I am considering changing my US passport to have the same full birth name.  How will it impact my retirement extension, banking and drivers licenses in Thailand if at all?  Should I not poke the bear and just have two passports with different names? I am concerned my new EU Nation will have issues when I need to present my US passport for parts of their process hence the concern.

[dddave]

A Thai woman friend changed her last name, last year...one of those Thai "Good Luck" efforts.

She has had nothing but problems with banks and especially PayPal since as they see different names attached to a single ID number.  She works in the travel industry, had different bank accounts in different cities and uses PayPal a lot for foreign payment.  Her PayPal account has been locked for the last 6 months and she keeps going in circles with CS, they demanding new and different documents at every turn.  She had to go to the office of the original bank branch for each of her accounts and each had their own list of paperwork demands.  

My late brother-in-Law's name was Willem. It got frequently mistyped as William on many official documents.  Caused him no end of trouble including twice being denied boarding of flights.  

I suggest you let the bear sleep but be very careful any documents you fill out, match the passport those documents are related to, especial airline tickets and financial services.

[observer90210]

If they spell the name wrong on say on a leasehold document for exemple, does that mean one is plainly and totally f...... ed ?

[LikeItHot]

18 hours ago, dddave said:

A Thai woman friend changed her last name, last year...one of those Thai "Good Luck" efforts.

She has had nothing but problems with banks and especially PayPal since as they see different names attached to a single ID number.  She works in the travel industry, had different bank accounts in different cities and uses PayPal a lot for foreign payment.  Her PayPal account has been locked for the last 6 months and she keeps going in circles with CS, they demanding new and different documents at every turn.  She had to go to the office of the original bank branch for each of her accounts and each had their own list of paperwork demands.  

My late brother-in-Law's name was Willem. It got frequently mistyped as William on many official documents.  Caused him no end of trouble including twice being denied boarding of flights.  

I suggest you let the bear sleep but be very careful any documents you fill out, match the passport those documents are related to, especial airline tickets and financial services.

Farangs can't have PP accounts anymore anyway (they squashed mine) but it's true what you say. My Thai friend has been run around by them for months and it actually kills her income.  I agree it's perilous to mess with my name.  As far as banks I suspect it would be starting from scratch.  I've had KTB and BKK accounts for ten years and I am sure I could get it done but not without significant hair loss.  As far as license it's don't ask don't tell until renewal time but risky for sure.  Getting my DLs was the worst two weeks of my life. Luckily in Samui there is a guy at the DLT who can be accommodating with the proper motivation.  I met him when I asked for a Thai international drivers permit and he initially said I could only get it in Surat.  I said half joking "You go do it for me".  He said Ok.  A week later he met me at a 7-11 with my passport and my shiny new motorbike and car Thai IDPs legit from Surat Thani DLT.  I've heard there is a way to add an AKA to a US passport so both names would be there but the Embassy in BKK is not responding to my inquiries.  Tonight the bear sleeps.

[jayboy]

9 minutes ago, LikeItHot said:

Farangs can't have PP accounts anymore anyway

Not true.I have one.

[TheFishman1]

I have a friend with the same problem

[Red Phoenix]

In my new passport the issuing authorities did shorten my 2nd middle-name from Lodewijk to L.  Surname, given name and first middle-name are still same.  

Have not encountered any problems with that, except when I needed to change my mobile phone number for the 2-step verification for my WISE account and had to provide a selfie of me holding my new passport.  It was rejected first time, probably because they use automated comparison of names, but when contacting the Help-desk the issue was quickly solved.  

[Homburg]

Don't poke the bear.  I have this problem with TTB due to one forename missing from my account.  Their staff are so friendly and helpful every time I ask them to correct this and every time I go to the branch I spend about half a day there whilst they work on it and take multiple copies of my passport etc.  I am then told that the change will be sent to head office and be corrected overnight, but it never happens. I suspect that it is the usual Thai problem of not knowing how to do something but being unable to admit that or to ask for help.

[LukKrueng]

22 hours ago, dddave said:

My late brother-in-Law's name was Willem. It got frequently mistyped as William on many official documents.  Caused him no end of trouble including twice being denied boarding of flights.  

I suggest you let the bear sleep but be very careful any documents you fill out, match the passport those documents are related to, especial airline tickets and financial services.

I have 2 passports in which my family name is spelt differently (only 1 letter). All my documents\bank accounts are spelt using passport no.1. I use the other passport for traveling to some destinations where it has advantages using that other nationality. My frequent traveler accounts using passport no.1 as well. Once I booked a flight ticket using passport no.2 and couldn't get the miles for that flight. Ever since then I always use the spelling of no.1 and never had any problem boarding.

[Captain Monday]

Women change their name due to marriage. Not a big deal just make a list and go step by step updating every id, account, and card with actual legal name. Takes a while.  Not sure why the OP has a US passport with what sounds like a nickname. 

[LikeItHot]

10 hours ago, jayboy said:

Not true.I have one.

Registered business accounts only.  It's not news. If you slipped through a crack I am happy for you but the rules are no new or old accounts in Thailand without a Thai ID.

[LikeItHot]

3 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

Women change their name due to marriage. Not a big deal just make a list and go step by step updating every id, account, and card with actual legal name. Takes a while.  Not sure why the OP has a US passport with what sounds like a nickname. 

Actually the country in EU I am referring to does not use married names for women and a US passports can be issued with versions of a name and even and "add on" name.  Not really the point of the thread though.If you think a name change in Thailand won't be a problem you haven't been here long.

[LikeItHot]

7 hours ago, Homburg said:

Don't poke the bear.  I have this problem with TTB due to one forename missing from my account.  Their staff are so friendly and helpful every time I ask them to correct this and every time I go to the branch I spend about half a day there whilst they work on it and take multiple copies of my passport etc.  I am then told that the change will be sent to head office and be corrected overnight, but it never happens. I suspect that it is the usual Thai problem of not knowing how to do something but being unable to admit that or to ask for help.

When I first got to Samui from Phuket I went straight to Bangkok Bank with the necessary Immigration address proof form my new address and asked them to change my address.  Naturally they fought like dogs then finally did it.  I realized they were still charging me for ATM withdrawals and large deposit and statements etc.  I asked why and they said it was still a Phuket account so I had to pay for everything.  No less than two dozen times I asked them to look in their computer and tell me the address.  Finally they relented and saw my Samui address.  They were baffled beyond believe but still said to avoid the fees I needed to close the Phuket account by traveling all the way there (or letting it die) and open a new account with yet another address certification from Samui Immigration despite them having the same address in their computer. You can't win. Even when you win, you don't win.  Same basically happened at KTB and they said it was absolutely impossible to open a new account in Samui before cancelling the Phuket account by traveling to Phuket.  I firmly explained in Thai how insane the policy was and all the Thais in the bank started cheering me on and then suddenly the impossible was possible and they did it with the obligatory forty signatures.  

Edited August 26, 2023 by LikeItHot

[Captain Monday]

2 hours ago, LikeItHot said:

Actually the country in EU I am referring to does not use married names for women and a US passports can be issued with versions of a name and even and "add on" name.  Not really the point of the thread though.If you think a name change in Thailand won't be a problem you haven't been here long.

I just went thru the list after I did the legal name change in US and got a new US passport. It was not a problem. I was told by my bank manager that in Thailand people also change their names a lot!  Starting with bank accounts, then land office condo registration, drivers licenses, 3bb, etc.  Even changed my name on The One Card. 

 

To amend officially my condo Chanote I had to go to the US Consulate and swear an affidavit in English, and get an official Thai translation to present to the land office

 

Copies of that were helpful with other offices and institutions. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Captain Monday

[LukKrueng]

8 hours ago, LikeItHot said:

When I first got to Samui from Phuket I went straight to Bangkok Bank with the necessary Immigration address proof form my new address and asked them to change my address.  Naturally they fought like dogs then finally did it.  I realized they were still charging me for ATM withdrawals and large deposit and statements etc.  I asked why and they said it was still a Phuket account so I had to pay for everything.  No less than two dozen times I asked them to look in their computer and tell me the address.  Finally they relented and saw my Samui address.  They were baffled beyond believe but still said to avoid the fees I needed to close the Phuket account by traveling all the way there (or letting it die) and open a new account with yet another address certification from Samui Immigration despite them having the same address in their computer. You can't win. Even when you win, you don't win.  Same basically happened at KTB and they said it was absolutely impossible to open a new account in Samui before cancelling the Phuket account by traveling to Phuket.  I firmly explained in Thai how insane the policy was and all the Thais in the bank started cheering me on and then suddenly the impossible was possible and they did it with the obligatory forty signatures.  

It's not a win\lose situation. You simply don't understand how the banking system works in Thailand. Simply said, the registered address has nothing to do with inter provincial banking. The location of your branch is what counts. A person might have multiple bank accounts in different provinces while a person can only have 1 registered residential address. When I moved from 1 province to another, at first I paid a fee for ATM withdrawals and also bank deposits while I was at the new province. I later opened another account in the new province and used the bank's online system or app to transfer money between my accounts for free. 

[hotandsticky]

4 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

It's not a win\lose situation. You simply don't understand how the banking system works in Thailand. Simply said, the registered address has nothing to do with inter provincial banking. The location of your branch is what counts. A person might have multiple bank accounts in different provinces while a person can only have 1 registered residential address. When I moved from 1 province to another, at first I paid a fee for ATM withdrawals and also bank deposits while I was at the new province. I later opened another account in the new province and used the bank's online system or app to transfer money between my accounts for free. 

 

Same here. I have 3 accounts across 2 provinces and all appear on online banking and the app.

[sandyf]

10 hours ago, LikeItHot said:

Registered business accounts only.  It's not news. If you slipped through a crack I am happy for you but the rules are no new or old accounts in Thailand without a Thai ID.

Your original statement was incorrect

"Farangs can't have PP accounts anymore anyway (they squashed mine)"

 

You should have been more explicit regarding the account, had mine over 20 years and never a problem.

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

It's not a win\lose situation. You simply don't understand how the banking system works in Thailand. Simply said, the registered address has nothing to do with inter provincial banking. The location of your branch is what counts. A person might have multiple bank accounts in different provinces while a person can only have 1 registered residential address. When I moved from 1 province to another, at first I paid a fee for ATM withdrawals and also bank deposits while I was at the new province. I later opened another account in the new province and used the bank's online system or app to transfer money between my accounts for free. 

Exactly. I have 2 in the same province, original and main account is in Pattaya but when I came to Chonburi I couldn't pay the PEA with an account outside the area so had to open another. Don't have a card for the second account as both available with online banking or the app.

Only time I ever go near a bank is to pick up the paperwork for immigration and that can be at any branch.

[BritTim]

15 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Your original statement was incorrect

"Farangs can't have PP accounts anymore anyway (they squashed mine)"

 

You should have been more explicit regarding the account, had mine over 20 years and never a problem.

To open personal PayPal accounts in Thailand you now need a National Digital ID. Those are only available for Thai nationals.

 

I presume it is possible to open PayPal accounts abroad and use them when in Thailand (probably with restrictions) but the PayPal account I opened years ago, tied to a Thai bank account, was terminated.

[sandyf]

6 minutes ago, BritTim said:

To open personal PayPal accounts in Thailand you now need a National Digital ID. Those are only available for Thai nationals.

 

I presume it is possible to open PayPal accounts abroad and use them when in Thailand (probably with restrictions) but the PayPal account I opened years ago, tied to a Thai bank account, was terminated.

The statement made was arbitrary and basically incorrect, no mention of the location of the account.

My account is registered in the UK long before I came here but has worked here for the last 15 years without a problem as it has no connection to Thailand.