Having Children

[johnsurin]

hi everybody. i'm looking for help and advice as to have my child who was born earlier this month registered with my surname as upto now it seems to be a bit of a nightmare as i here conflicting stories from my girlfriend's advice she has been given and my uk friends who have children in thailand.

i am single but intend to marry when i return to thailand in the very near future but as for now i have sent copies of passport to g/f she has shown to hospital and called amphur but they say i have to give baby a thai christian name and cant register with my surname without all kinds of paperwork or have to marry first, yet my one of my friends had no apparent problem with either even though he was not married he still gave his daughter an english christian name and his surname at the hospital and amphur with no problems what so ever. my g/f doesnot speak perfect english for me to understand and i donot speak perfect thai to understand the meanings of births, registrations and other stuff she is trying to explain! i am at a complete loss to find out exactly what the position is and would be most grateful to anyone who can give me a detailed (BUT IF POSSIBLE) simple explanation of what i need to do or/and have to make this as easy and stressless as possible (ALTHOUGH IN THAILAND THIS IS NOT ALWAYS EASY DEALING WITH BEURACRATIC AFFAIRS) p.s. ANY HELP DEALING WITH THE SELF-RITEUOUS,ARROGANT,UNHELPFULL BRITISH EMBASSY WOULD ALSO BE MOST WELCOME.

[JacknDanny]

hi everybody. i'm looking for help and advice as to have my child who was born earlier this month registered with my surname as upto now it seems to be a bit of a nightmare as i here conflicting stories from my girlfriend's advice she has been given and my uk friends who have children in thailand.

i am single but intend to marry when i return to thailand in the very near future but as for now i have sent copies of passport to g/f she has shown to hospital and called amphur but they say i have to give baby a thai christian name and cant register with my surname without all kinds of paperwork or have to marry first, yet my one of my friends had no apparent problem with either even though he was not married he still gave his daughter an english christian name and his surname at the hospital and amphur with no problems what so ever. my g/f doesnot speak perfect english for me to understand and i donot speak perfect thai to understand the meanings of births, registrations and other stuff she is trying to explain! i am at a complete loss to find out exactly what the position is and would be most grateful to anyone who can give me a detailed (BUT IF POSSIBLE) simple explanation of what i need to do or/and have to make this as easy and stressless as possible (ALTHOUGH IN THAILAND THIS IS NOT ALWAYS EASY DEALING WITH BEURACRATIC AFFAIRS) p.s. ANY HELP DEALING WITH THE SELF-RITEUOUS,ARROGANT,UNHELPFULL BRITISH EMBASSY WOULD ALSO BE MOST WELCOME.

My son was born here in Thailand. Thai mother, we were not married. He received my family name on the Birth certificate when he was born at Bangkok Nursing Home. We gave him 2 Christian names, one Thai the other English. Absolutely no problems at all on the Thai side. It is paramount that you ensure your name is on the Birth Certificate, otherwise you will not be recognised as the father

[cdnvic]

Make sure the birth is also registered at your embassy so that her dual citizenship is recognised.

Good luck with the registration. Just because one official causes trouble does not mean the law isn't (eventually) on your side. One thing I would do is get there as fast as you possibly can. Your new family needs you, and you'll have an easier time dealing with the legalities when you aren't half a world a way.

[johnsurin]

Make sure the birth is also registered at your embassy so that her dual citizenship is recognised.

Good luck with the registration. Just because one official causes trouble does not mean the law isn't (eventually) on your side. One thing I would do is get there as fast as you possibly can. Your new family needs you, and you'll have an easier time dealing with the legalities when you aren't half a world a way.

at the hospital they left left the fathers name part blank and just walked away!any ideas why?

[Maestro]

at the hospital they left left the fathers name part blank and just walked away!any ideas why?

From what I’ve read so far in this thread, the difference is that the other unmarried fathers who had no problem were physically present in Thailand for the birth registration, while you were not. Perhaps fatherhood by telephone is not acceptable but if it is, you probably need a lawyer in Thailand to represent you. However, if the birth is already officially registered, it may get quite complicated.

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Maestro

Edited November 13, 2006 by maestro

[Nawtilus]

Yes, it depends if you are on the birth certificate or not. If you are travelling here soon you may be able to go to the hospital and have it changed...or added if it was not as stated.

I also have a child born here, no problems with western names, both first and family as long as you are on the birth certificate.

Look at it from their angle...were you here for the birth, I presume not or you would be on the certificate....but if you were not here and the mother had no real proof of who the father is, she could say anybody.... she might have stolen some UK guys passport and now claiming it is his black child with striking Isann looks....then get UK citizenship, travel to England, marry a Lord and become queen of the estate.

[saraburioz]

mmmmm strange situation.

Can I ask why you weren't present at your child's birth? Must have been something important you had to do.

You can't speak to you wife? She didn't check before having the baby about all these matters, and neither did you?

I hate to sound nasty but are you sure it's your kid?

Have you planned anthing about your future re. country of abode etc.?

I can understand the way the British Embassy feel.

[t.s]

mmmmm strange situation.

Can I ask why you weren't present at your child's birth? Must have been something important you had to do.

You can't speak to you wife? She didn't check before having the baby about all these matters, and neither did you?

I hate to sound nasty but are you sure it's your kid?

Have you planned anthing about your future re. country of abode etc.?

I can understand the way the British Embassy feel.

i just went through it as well. It sounds like it happened were at a thai (govt) hospital. at bumrungrad all i had to do was fill out a form and hand over my passport. birth certificate details are usually supposed to be complete before the mother is discharged.

In addition you fill out a form that states you give permission for the baby to use your surname

For the person who asked why you werent present, what business is that of yours? if you cant answer the question perhaps not posting would be a better option.

if your wife cant explain, why not contact a lawyer who can?

As for the british embassy, i doubt they will be of any real help until you have your name on the birth cert.

[smartecosse]

Can I ask why you weren't present at your child's birth? Must have been something important you had to do.

perhaps his terminally ill mother was taking her last breath and having discussed it with his g/f they decided that as he was gonna has his whole life to be with his kid the extra few days with his mother were more important?

what an incredibly judgemental thing to write without knowing why.................

[johnsurin]

as for why i wasnot at the birth perhaps the reason being was some of us guys are still quite young when deciding to have children and still need to work hard for a living and i actually work ###### hard to provide the best for my family! unfortuanately sacrifices have to be made at times and taking these decisions is not easy and should not be patronised by people who donot no the reasons why i wasnot there, still you havenot seen the house and brand new car i have provided for my family to ensure a nice comfortable upbringing! however enough on that post (perhaps with a comment like that you should apply for a job at the british embassy! )

on other comments the baby was born in a private hospital, where i had met the doctor previously so he knew the situation. anyway thanks for the help to the majority of you's, i think i will be able to get it sorted when i arrive in the next week or so but any other help from anyone would be greatly appreciated..

[Maestro]

Johnsurin, I can’t be sure but time may be of the essence here.

I mentioned that you might benefit from the assistance of a lawyer, and while I am generally loath to make a particular recommendation I feel quite safe in this case to put forward the name of Sunbelt Asia, a sponsor of ThaiVisa and known for reasonable fees. I don’t even know if they handle birth registrations, but I can’t see why not; from reading this forum I gather that they are experts in the fields of immigration and company formation.

My suggestion would be that you invest a few pence in a call to them. Looking it up now, I see that their website is http://www.lawyer.th.com. Take it from there, look up their phone number and email address and contact them post-haste. In some posts of Sunbelt I have seen a man named Greg or Gregor say that if one wishes to speak to a farang, ask for him. So don’t be too shy to ask for Gregor.

I can feel that it means a lot for you to have your name on your child’s birth certificate and I hope that you will succeed without much difficulty. If left too late, I fear that you may be left only with the option of adopting the child.

Best wishes!

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Maestro

[Nawtilus]

Seeing as your back in a week, just go see the doctor first, ask why it was not done and can it be done now. Start from there, no cost and then proceed with whatever means necessary after that.

[johnsurin]

thank you maestro and nawtilus for your advice and help i am truely grateful! after reading your replies my girlfriend went to see 2 of our friends wives who have had baby's in the last year and they went to the hospital. after talking everything through the hospital have put my name on birth certificate and now she just has to go to the amphur with me when i arrive, which hopefully will now be on sunday as it looks like i might be finishing work here in south korea then, if all goes to plan on systems testing on friday, fingers and toes crossed!!! so on monday morning my first job is to go to british embassy and start proceedings to get my clearance for marriage then everything hopefully will be plain sailing after that, hopefully !!!!!

once again thank you for all the advice, and if your ever in the surin area please drop by the farang connection pub and restaurant (THE LANDLORD MARTIN WILL BE PLEASED WITH THE PLUG FOR THIS) and a steady flow of beers will be coming your way courtesy of me!!! thanks again....... john

[Nawtilus]

No problem, glad it helped.