Thai Wife To Change Original Last Name To Middle Name

[seefah]

Now that we are married, my wife will have to change her ID and passport to reflect her new name, that being my last name.

Before doing so, what are the advantages and disadvantages or her keeping her Thai family name as a middle name?

We will be requestion a settlement visa to UK and she also has land up North.

[lopburi3]

She does not have to change her name by law - it is now optional. Don't know of any advantage to making old name middle but may help in filling out western forms which expect a middle name that Thai do not normally have. That said my wife has not had any problem with just her first name and my last name.

[Artamus]

I concur, that indeed the wife does not HAVE to change her name. I can't actually think of any advantage to her changing her name, and plenty of disadvantages (like having to change all bank accounts, IDs, passports, insurances etc etc.) Having a foreign name in Thailand makes dealing with the relevant government departments more annoying and complicated. Of course if you are intending to move outside of Thailand it might well be advantageous, but I'd like to hear of any advantages if staying inside. My wife opted not to change her name and everything to date has been without complications.

[DTiger]

Mine did change her name for mine - She wanted to -, and it went without any real trouble.

As always, there is some Thai people disliking that, but honestly these ones dislike everything which/who is not Thai, but a lot more without any trouble with it. In fact, even if we never thought about it, it helped us in many cases: immigration (Thai or else), bank, work, etc.

The only thing to remember is that "maiden name" does not exist here, so when wives change, they really change. And of course, as easy as the first part, they can then (2nd time operation) add a middle name which may be their previous "family name" (Exactly what my wife did).

Edit: Oh and by the way, we are still living here

Edited March 21, 2011 by DTiger

[bat69]

My wife changed her last name to mine after getting married. It was a bit of a hassle to do. Just went to her local Amphur to do it. It took about 3 hours all up. Most of that time was waiting. The head of the Amphur did try to talk her out of it though. My Thai language skills are very limited and I was sitting in the the head of the Amphurs office (had to get his signature) and he was talking quite sternly to my wife. I asked her after we walked out what that was all about and she said that he was asking her why she wanted to change her name, if she was sure and that it would make things more difficult in the future, plus that I would be entitled to half of what she owned etc. I was pretty angry and said I wished I had understood as I would have put him in his place.

True what a previous post says that some Thais don't like it.

[seefah]

My wife wants to change her last name to mine and has pretty much decided not to have her original last name as a middle name. Apparently there is an extra form that needs to be filled out explaining why she would take a middle name or something like that. Thanks everyone for the comments.

[DTiger]

... plus that I would be entitled to half of what she owned etc....

And lot of people in this country love to build false rumors Same as: She will lose her citizenship, or she will have no right to own a land, etc....

But believe me, my wife is still 100% Thai !!

[Maestro]

...The only thing to remember is that "maiden name" does not exist here, so when wives change, they really change. And of course, as easy as the first part, they can then (2nd time operation) add a middle name which may be their previous "family name" (Exactly what my wife did).

That's interesting, but one thing is not clear to me: does she now have a middle name only in her foreign ID documents or also in her Thai ID card (Thai script) and Thai passport (Latin and Thai script and machine-readable text)?

[DTiger]

...The only thing to remember is that "maiden name" does not exist here, so when wives change, they really change. And of course, as easy as the first part, they can then (2nd time operation) add a middle name which may be their previous "family name" (Exactly what my wife did).

That's interesting, but one thing is not clear to me: does she now have a middle name only in her foreign ID documents or also in her Thai ID card (Thai script) and Thai passport (Latin and Thai script and machine-readable text)?

The interesting part has been indeed to find a "right" way to spell my own family name in Thai ..... And so, yes, she has since then all her papers, contracts, passport, ID, etc with her full new name in Thai and/or in "English".

[beano2274]

HI, my wife moved her maiden name to be her Middle name, and adopted my surname. To do this your wife needs to go to the local Amphur and have a document made out confirming all of this, she can at the same time get her ID Card changed. Sorry I do not know if the document has a specific number or name, as cannot go searching for it.

[Badbanker]

My wife wanted to retain her family name but wanted to take my name for many reasons. So she did as the OP was suggesting.

Many Thai women have surnames that are well known and respected in the community and wish to retain this respect in the professional and private community by retaining their original family names. Some of them have university degrees, land titles and corporate identities in their maiden name and wish to retain these. Many doctors in Thailand who marry a foreign national continue to practice in their Thai names

Of course our wives also love us and want to respect us and take our family names. As such my wife has her original name with my family name tacked on. So her name is now Suthinee Bunnag Badbanker!

The Amphur will happily give the name change as your wife wishes.

Badbnaker

[rishi]

In any case, names of Thais don't have to be forever. She can always change back or change to something third. The only thing that'll last forever is - at least inland - that there'll be more documents ("name change cetificates") to provide copies of in about all of the situations where copies of ID an house book are required.