My son lives in the UK and has both Thai and British passports.

Next year, 2009, his Thai passport expires.

Will it be easy to re-apply for a new Thai passport in the UK?

His mother is not around to help out.

How old is your son would be the first question. For minors I believe both parents have to sign the passport application.

http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/extend_less20en.html

I think as long as he has sole custody documentation then the other parents signature is not required. After all lots of single parent thais can get their kids passports when remarrying foreigners & taking their kids abroad so as long as the op has court papers stating sole custody then it should be ok but tbh, he should call the thai emabssy in london to check as they speak English.

With sole custody the other parents signature is not required.

http://www.mfa.go.th/web/473.php?id=3167

But here it is not clear how old the son is, nor if the father is also recognized by law as the father.

Keep in mind that if your son has Thai nationality when he reaches the age of 18, he could be drafted into the Thai army.

Keep in mind that if your son has Thai nationality when he reaches the age of 18, he could be drafted into the Thai army.

That is "could" not will

as has been explained to me, having a thai passport is not an automatic inclusion into the draft, he also has to be listed on a tabien baan.

Thanks for your posts.

I do have a thai birth certificate showing me as the father but, there is no other paperwork from thailand.

The agreement between the mother and myself, to bring my son to the UK, was purely verbal.

I do now, however, have a court order in the UK stating that I have custody.

When I looked on the thai embassy website it said that I would need the mother's passport, id card etc. (originals only).

I then called the very helpful lady at the thai consulate in Cardiff who told me I should get an afidavid from a UK court that should accompany the passport renewal application.

His passport doesn't expire until June 2009 so, I have time.

As for the draft....well! Is that obligatory?

I have yet to hear of a luk krueng getting drafted, most are excluded on the basis of being luk krueng. I believe a donation on lottery day will guarantee this exemptoin