Can anyone enlighten me here. A Thai grandmother I know is trying to adopt her own grandson who has been effectively abandoned by the parents and into her care. She has been looking after the boy for some 4 years now with no contact from his parents. She is not married but has some income from rental property left her by previous boyfriend who died. Can she legally adopt the boy without consent fron the boys parents?

Consent is not necesarry, but simplifies the process. if the parents don't agree, the court can give permission in their stead if their refusal is unreasonable.

http://thailawonline.com/en/family/children/adoption.html

If adoption is refused, she can always ask the court to be awarded guardianship over the child, as the child is abandont by the parents. It gives her legal responsibilty over the child. The difference with adoption is that it doesn't give family ties, which matters for things like inheritence and support when she is older.

Thanks Mario but is there a requirement to actually contact the parents and I am also hearing about some form of "physcological" testing required for the granmother concerned. She is trying to organise this testing but apparently the earliest appointment is in August and this was told over 3 months ago - seems a bit strange to me.

She must at least try to contact the parents, to satisfy social services and the court.