Is Athai National Legally Required To Change Her Name After Marriage?

[Mobi]

Simple question.(hopefully)

Is a Thai woman required to change her name to her husband's name or state that she is married ('Mrs') after marriage?

I believe there was a change in the law a few years back which made it optional, but I am not sure.

It's such a hassle having to change passport, ID card, car ownerships documents, bank account name and God knows what else....

Thanks for any informed replies.

[beano2274]

I remember my wife had the option, and when she changed her name she needed another form.

When she went to change her ID Card, she had to fill out a piece of paper saying that she had changed her name legally upon marriage to me, she used this to get her passport done as well.

Edited March 18, 2013 by beano2274

[Mario2008]

Indeed the law was changed and it is no longer required to change the name or maritial staus displayed on the ID-card.

[Mobi]

Thanks Mario

[billd766]

I have been married to my Thai wife for 12 years next month and she never bothered to change her family name to mine. Oddly enough our son has my family name but he can change it iff he wants to and it won't bother me.

[bostonboy]

I have been married to my Thai wife for 12 years next month and she never bothered to change her family name to mine. Oddly enough our son has my family name but he can change it iff he wants to and it won't bother me.

why wouldn't you change it?

i think it has nothing but advantages for her to take your western name

wether we want to believe it or not, people are biased

she hands over her passport with a name someone can't pronounce, they are going to have some sort of pre-concieved notions

it is just natural

when we were flying to Canada this last time, my wife only had a one way ticket and the check-in at Cathay was giving us a hard time

they called over a manager and all he asked was what her name was on passport

my wife says she gets treated infinitely better with her western name now when checking into hotels, airlines, etc....

i just see it as an advantage

he asked what was the name on the passport

[colinneil]

When we got married my thai wife kept her thai name. We did not want problems about her having an english name regarding her job(school director)

She uses ms not mrs life is easier this way, so to answer your question no lady does not have to change her name.

[meatboy]

my wife changed her maiden name to mine 23yrs ago it made life a little easer[no embarrasment at hotels] lived in the uk.british citizenship,and passport,with the gb.passport most places we visited didnt need a visa,only downfall i can recall was when we moved back the shipping agent in bkk.tucked her up.

[Sophon]

why wouldn't you change it?

i think it has nothing but advantages for her to take your western name

wether we want to believe it or not, people are biased

she hands over her passport with a name someone can't pronounce, they are going to have some sort of pre-concieved notions

it is just natural

>snipped>

But for the people who choose to live here in thailand after marriage, that "name someone can't pronounce" would be the western name. So why would you change it?

Sophon

[bostonboy]

why wouldn't you change it?

i think it has nothing but advantages for her to take your western name

wether we want to believe it or not, people are biased

she hands over her passport with a name someone can't pronounce, they are going to have some sort of pre-concieved notions

it is just natural

>snipped>

But for the people who choose to live here in thailand after marriage, that "name someone can't pronounce" would be the western name. So why would you change it?

Sophon

as i said, my wife says she get treated infinitely better in Thailand with a western name

if you live in Thailand, you would know that Thai's don't tend to treat each other very well

my wife travels back and forth w/o me or ahead of me quite often and is often checking into hotels/flights in Thailand and feels much more comfortable doing so with a western last name

she actually questions why some of her friends don't bother to chnage their name

[Sophon]

why wouldn't you change it?

i think it has nothing but advantages for her to take your western name

wether we want to believe it or not, people are biased

she hands over her passport with a name someone can't pronounce, they are going to have some sort of pre-concieved notions

it is just natural

>snipped>

But for the people who choose to live here in thailand after marriage, that "name someone can't pronounce" would be the western name. So why would you change it?

Sophon

as i said, my wife says she get treated infinitely better in Thailand with a western name

if you live in Thailand, you would know that Thai's don't tend to treat each other very well

my wife travels back and forth w/o me or ahead of me quite often and is often checking into hotels/flights in Thailand and feels much more comfortable doing so with a western last name

she actually questions why some of her friends don't bother to chnage their name

I do live in Thailand, and I don't believe for a second that Thai people that don't treat other Thai people nicely will treat them any better just because they have a western name. On the contrary, I believe having a western name will expose them more to being taken advantage of by such people because of the more obvious "farang" connection. I'm not (yet) married to my girlfriend, but there are still situations where it's better that I stay out of the picture.

I can see that there can be some advantages in having a western name if doing a lot of international travel, but I doubt that many people would let that be the deciding factor.

Sophon

[Mickey Cohen]

'bostonboy'

if you live in Thailand, you would know that Thai's don't tend to treat each other very well

Hahahaha Dou you have any clue?

Maybe people didnt treat your wife very well for other reasons than her being thai.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Mickey Cohen

[bostonboy]

'bostonboy'

if you live in Thailand, you would know that Thai's don't tend to treat each other very well

Hahahaha Dou you have any clue?

Maybe people didnt treat your wife very well for other reasons than her being thai.

just my opinion

i think thai's treat each other like shit in Thailand

all the petty face crap and who is highre than who

i've seen it countless times

[bostonboy]

'bostonboy'

if you live in Thailand, you would know that Thai's don't tend to treat each other very well

Hahahaha Dou you have any clue?

Maybe people didnt treat your wife very well for other reasons than her being thai.

one thing i don't have a clue about is how to edit posts!! 555

a lot of timesbwhen i give an opinion it is based on also getting my wife's and other thai's opinions

although, i have my own opion, it is good to get their perspective, of course

my wife says it all the time, that she feels people treat each other much better here in Canada than they do each other in Thailand

and from my time living there and now frequently visiting, i wholeheartedly agree

[pkspeaker]

yea screw changing names; the whole thing is sexist-why is it the woman that has to change the name, and my GF thai name is way prettier than mine

[Johnniey]

I have been married to my Thai wife for 12 years next month and she never bothered to change her family name to mine. Oddly enough our son has my family name but he can change it iff he wants to and it won't bother me.

Very odd, especially if you have a child.

I wonder has she been married before and not got a divorce?

I've heard of a few cases where this has happened, the husbands suspecting nothing as they either got married abroad or just got the informal Buddhist ceremony.

There must be a reason why she didn't want your surname!

It would bother me very much if my son or daughters changed their name. Would show how much respect they have for me!

Ever thought of hiring a detective?

Edited April 13, 2013 by Johnniey

[Johnniey]

why wouldn't you change it?

i think it has nothing but advantages for her to take your western name

wether we want to believe it or not, people are biased

she hands over her passport with a name someone can't pronounce, they are going to have some sort of pre-concieved notions

it is just natural

>snipped>

But for the people who choose to live here in thailand after marriage, that "name someone can't pronounce" would be the western name. So why would you change it?

Sophon

as i said, my wife says she get treated infinitely better in Thailand with a western name

if you live in Thailand, you would know that Thai's don't tend to treat each other very well

my wife travels back and forth w/o me or ahead of me quite often and is often checking into hotels/flights in Thailand and feels much more comfortable doing so with a western last name

she actually questions why some of her friends don't bother to chnage their name

Quite. I've been married over 20 years and it would be very inconvenient, embarrassing and suspicious if my wife wanted to keep her name.

[7by7]

We live in the 21st century, not the 19th!

If a woman wants to keep her name upon marriage that is her affair and choice, no one else's.

OP, you have your answer; there is no legal compulsion in Thailand for a woman to take her husband's name upon marriage. Ignore the antediluvian posters and their ridiculous comments.

[bostonboy]

We live in the 21st century, not the 19th!

If a woman wants to keep her name upon marriage that is her affair and choice, no one else's.

OP, you have your answer; there is no legal compulsion in Thailand for a woman to take her husband's name upon marriage. Ignore the antediluvian posters and their ridiculous comments.

actually i wouldn't care about my wife not taking my name over any sort of customs

but i would have been disappointed that she wasn't taking advantage of advantages i precieved

did not matter

the day after we got married, she jumped in a taxi with her mom 3hrs each way to Petchaburi to change her ID to my last name

wether is was because felt it was advantageous to her or she loved me so much, either way i was happy she did that........although i have never asked her to

she has subsequently told me she likes having my last name because it is the same name as my mom, brothers and what my sister's last name used to be

makes her feel more part of the family

i can't see anything wrong with any of that

[7by7]

Bostonboy, you seem to have misunderstood me; it was not you nor your posts that my antediluvian comment was directed towards.

I said "If a woman wants to keep her name upon marriage that is her affair and choice, no one else's." To which I should have added that if she wishes to take her husband's name then that, too, is her choice.

I have no problem with women choosing to take their husband's name upon marriage; my wife did.

But it was her choice, not mine.

[Johnniey]

We live in the 21st century, not the 19th!

If a woman wants to keep her name upon marriage that is her affair and choice, no one else's.

I disagree, you make it sound like this is normal. It is far from normal!

If your Thai wife wants to keep her name it is very much your affair in 99 percent of cases.

There is something going on that she is hiding from you. This I'd worth investigating.

And, if she doesn't want to get married legally at the amphur perhaps its better to find another.

Edited April 15, 2013 by Johnniey

[bostonboy]

Bostonboy, you seem to have misunderstood me; it was not you nor your posts that my antediluvian comment was directed towards.

I said "If a woman wants to keep her name upon marriage that is her affair and choice, no one else's." To which I should have added that if she wishes to take her husband's name then that, too, is her choice.

I have no problem with women choosing to take their husband's name upon marriage; my wife did.

But it was her choice, not mine.

i didn't think you were directing it at me

and i tend to agree with you that customs/thoughts have changed

i am pretty progressive in my thoughts

i am just happy she chnaged her last name because i do think it is advantageous to her

[bifftastic]

We live in the 21st century, not the 19th!

If a woman wants to keep her name upon marriage that is her affair and choice, no one else's.

I disagree, you make it sound like this is normal. It is far from normal!

If your Thai wife wants to keep her name it is very much your affair in 99 percent of cases.

There is something going on that she is hiding from you. This I'd worth investigating.

And, if she doesn't want to get married legally at the amphur perhaps its better to find another.

You are, of course, entitled to disagree, but people get married all the time without changing their names. One of my best friends recently did exactly that. If she had changed her name, all her business cards, the name on her office door, bank account, ID, passport etc. etc. ad infinitum would have had to be changed as well!

She's perfectly entitled to keep her own name, and doing so has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on her character. Nor does it suggest that she should be 'investigated' or that she is, somehow 'hiding something'.

I will, however, pass on your concerns to her husband and suggest that he hire a private detective. I'm sure that that will help to give them a good start to their life together.

[Sheryl]

Yes, for professional people there is every reason not to want to change name, at least for business purposes.

In any case I fail to see why the strong feelings on this, pro and con. Let the people involved make their own choice, for their own reasons.

[Mickey Cohen]

My wife took my name but she kept "miss". Pretty cool I think

[Khunangkaro]

My wife changed her ID Card, bank account etc. into Mrs.and our family name right away after we married at ampher. We both are very happy with that. For us it is mutual respect.

It looks like we are treated with more respect by family, friends and officials. So it makes life easier. Anyway it feels complete.

It is not compulsory by law but by feeling.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Khunangkaro

[fredob43]

I got married last year I left all the arrangements to the G/L I have just confirmed with her if she changed her name because she wanted to or for any other reason well it turns out that the Amper told her she was now married so she would have to change her name to mine regardless seem's that it's where you are and what rules their working on.

[simple1]

When we married in Australia my Thai wife kept her Thai name. In Australia all her official documents such as employment contracts, Medicare Card, bank accounts and her Australian passport are signed in Thai script. She have never had any issue within Australia or when traveling overseas.