Thai without passport

[elfe]

my thai boyfriend does not have a passport, according to him because he did not serve in military service. can anyone confirm that and/or give info on how he could obtain a passport legally? also is it possible for thai citizens to travel to a neighbouring country without passport?

thanks

[LegalAlien]

Hello Elfe,

I'm not too sure about the passport thing... But it is possible for Thai citizens to get into Laos on a border pass (no passport necessary - only an ID card is required). The border pass allows the Thai citizen to go into the Vientienne district - no further. I'm not too sure about the exact amount of time the pass is valid for though, propably about a week. \

Hope this helps.

[elfe]

thanks LegalAlien, that sounds good, so he can at least accompany me to my next visa trip to Laos and we can spend some time up there for a change!

[lopburi3]

Below are the requirements for a Thai Passport on the official website of the ministry concerned.

Border pass may or may not be available.  It used to be only those with ID Cards issued in border provinces were allowed pass.  But do not have current knowledge.

Documents required when applying for a Thai passport

Males

Identity card.

Females

Identity card.

Minors  (under 20 years of age)

1. Birth certificate (new born -14 years) or identity card (15-20 years)

2. Marriage Registration Certificate of mother and father.

3. Identity cards of mother and father.

4. Consent of parents or legal guardian (s) Minors under 15 years of age must come to the passport office with both father and mother or legal guardian (s). In case one of the parents is unable to come , he/she must sign a letter of consent, which  must be brought to the office by the other parent and the minor.  Minors over 15 years of age  can apply for a passport with a letter of consent alone signed by both father and mother or legal guardian (s).

Other documents (if applicable)

1. Certificate of changing personal name.

2. Marriage registration certificate

3. Divorce registration certificate

4. Adoption registration certificate

5. House registration document.

Notes :

1. Application fees: Baht 1,073 for a 32-page passport , Baht 1,573 for a 64-page passport.

2. Originals of the above-mentioned documents must be presented together with one copy “certified true ” of each document.

3. The passport can be collected after 3 working days.

[alanw]

Your Boyfriend's words "......does not have a passport, because he did not serve in military service....".

Can I suggest that, if the words are his exact meaning, this needs some clarification, or perhaps he's been misinformed.

In reality for Thai men to get a Thai passport,  if they apply after reaching a certain age, have to supply proof  (to the Thai passport office) that they have:

a. Completed full national service, or

b. Have been exempted from national service, because:

b.1. They were not selected in the 'lottery process' (they have to register their name, at a certain age - about 20 or 21, then thery have to report for one by one 'lottery process' - they have to put their hand into a container and take out one stone, there are two colours - red & black.  One colour (forgot which one) means you have now been selected for national service. Take out the other colour and you are automaticaly & totally exempted.

b.2. The man has completed militrary service thru several years of part time military service, can be at high school, or technical school, not sure about university.

In reality it's now not difficult for Thais to get a passport, they must take to the Passport office:

1. Original Thai ID card

2. Documents re military - as discussed above

3. Recent photograps

4. The fee (forgot exactly, but less than (2,000 Baht)

The application process has been streamlined a lot over recent years, and there are now several passport offices across greater Bangkok.  The application, if all the documents are to hand, can be lodged within a few minutes, and, last time I heard, the process time was 5 working days.

Hope above is helpful

Please enjoy your trip to Lao.

Regards

[sbk]

Elfe, my husband was required to show his umm... whatchamacallit?? anyway, a certificate showing that he was not required to serve in the military, either was exempt or had shown up for the lottery and was not picked. don't know if that is true anymore as the draft lottery is no longer in force. his age may have something to do with it, my husband is 35 and when he was 21 he was required to report for the lottery and given a medical exemption (possible to get in those days). he had to show this exemption in order to get his passport. does your boyfriend have an id card?? if he can't get an id card then he is, essentially, awol, and would be advised to be careful even using a border pass as if he gets picked up by the police they can report him to the military authorities (remember good old chalerm's two lovely sons?? that kind of situation). we have a neighbor who didn't report to the lottery and to this day, he still can't get an id card, can't buy a car etc etc.  anyway, its not necessarily because he didn't serve in the military, that was not required, but to report to the lottery was. let me know if you have any questions in case this was unclear!

[the scouser]

my husband was required to show his umm... whatchamacallit

Never heard of that being necessary before to get a passport.    

Scouse.

[Rinrada]

"my husband was required to show his umm... whatchamacallit"

SBK-seem about right...Chitti to show not needed/selected for national service.

Khun wifes brother had to report for N.S.but was rejected on the grounds that he was a skinny wee sod (supprise they accept anyone?) and he was giving a note of excuse.

Without this he apparantly could not get his passport.

He is a H##l (I will do IT..#) of alot fatter now :laugh:

[sbk]

oh yes scouse, whatchamacallits are totally necessary!

[Boo]

Hi Elfe, was nice seeing you tonight, just got home, thankfully didn't get too wet in the rain, looks like we missed the most of it!!!!

Just asked hubby what he did to get his passport at the mfa at Chaeng wattana near the airport & he said they just wanted to see & have a copy of his id card (this was about 4 weeks ago). I think if fella has an id card they will automatically assume that he is legit for the national service thing, so therefore, he can get a passport. Hubby said they didn't even want to see the family papers, just his id card, which incidentally had run out the previous month, so he applied for a new one while he was there. He applied for the passport on the wednesday & was told to come & collect it on the following Monday but the new id card will not be ready until Novemeber!

Hope this helps & see you when I'm back from malayasia.

[elfe]

hi all, thanks for very useful advice. yes my boyfriend has an ID card, though he was sweating out his guts every time when he renewed it. as for if he did not join the lottery I do not know, I just know that some letters had been sent to his mothers house for him to show at military authorities. I can't ask him right now as I had an evening out with Boo and friends and just came back and opening the mobile whose battery gave up hours ago to listen to my boyfriend and he was searching the whole island for me...

when he gets back I'll ask him more details, but I guess him having an ID card already he might have no probs getting the pp. hopefully!

Boo, it was a treat to have a chat with you again!  

have fun in Penang and see ya soon!!!!!11 :laugh:

[keestha]

When I crossed from Nongkai to Laos in 1999 Thai nationals carrying a valid ID card, no matter from which province in Thailand, could get a border pass at the provincial administration building in Nongkai, which allowed them to stay for 3 days in Laos, maybe only in the Vientane area. I was told it was easy to extend this once in Vientane.

[samran]

Elfie,

Just on the military service. Your husband should consult a lawyer about his specific situation.

I know for a fact that if a male reports for miliary conscription after 30, he does not have to do active military service and will only have to turn up and he will get a certificate saying he is released from national service obligations. Once you have this, he can apply for passports etc.

The problem however, is that your husband initally avoided reporting himself to the military authorities when he turned 18 so that he could be considered for conscription. This may be an issue which he has to resolve and he may have to go to court over this particular issue and recieve some sort of fine.

If there was no genuine way that he could report himself to military authorites between 18 and 30 (ie he and his familiy lived overseas for this period) then that is seen as a reasonalble excuse. Saying you lost the military call up letter isn't sufficent though.

As I said, talk to a lawyer, as I am sure he is not the first person to aviod the miliary call up and need to get out of it.

For some background info though, you can check out

http://www.defence.thaigov.net/inform/soldier1.htm