Daughter travelling with me/will I have difficulty leaving Thailand with her?

[Clive]

Hello Everyone.
I am after some advice if you could please help.
I am a single dad living in the uk and my daughter is aged 9 who is half Thai living with me in the UK also. I want to travel Thailand with her for a 3 week holiday  next year but i have heard rumours that Thai children need a letter from their mother to exit Thailand so am rather concerned that I may have difficulty returning to the UK with her.
I was planning on entering Thailand with UK passports for both of us but as. lets say I have not always got on with her mother don't want any problems.
Can anyone please advice...thank you very much....Clive 

[Kwasaki]

Sorry but don't understand your concern are you trying for browney points or something. 

[iancnx]

A just concern I should have thought.  

 

I recently left with my wife and son for a holiday in Europe. My missus got a real grilling as to who our son was.  My son has my surname, my wife has retained her maiden name.  Immigration were intimating my wife might not be his mother and we were somehow leaving without the 'real' mums consent.  In other words an abduction.  My son has a British and Thai passport.  Next time we will travel with birth certificate and marriage certificate and house books.

 

I intend to travel to UK with my son at Xmas (mum has to work, no hols).  I am wondering what problems immigration will give us without mum present? 

[claffey]

2 hours ago, iancnx said:

A just concern I should have thought.  

 

I recently left with my wife and son for a holiday in Europe. My missus got a real grilling as to who our son was.  My son has my surname, my wife has retained her maiden name.  Immigration were intimating my wife might not be his mother and we were somehow leaving without the 'real' mums consent.  In other words an abduction.  My son has a British and Thai passport.  Next time we will travel with birth certificate and marriage certificate and house books.

 

I intend to travel to UK with my son at Xmas (mum has to work, no hols).  I am wondering what problems immigration will give us without mum present? 

 

Why doesn't your wife change her name to yours? It would make your life a lot easier and is not that difficult to do. My wife did and we've never had any difficulties traveling anywhere with our son....

[Donutz]

Sharing the same family name isn't exactly watertide evidence either, a child could still be abducted by say the father and a sister or the mother and a brother of hers. Sadly child abduction is an international thiing so many countries pay attention to it, not only Thailand but also in Europe. I know that both the Dutch and Thai immigration/border security may request evidence that their is parental consent when traveling with minors and/or evidence that the two adults are indeed the mother and the father. This also applies to a family of mum, dad and their children. So it's best to keep a copy of the birthcertificate at hand. As this should list the names of both parents it should not matter if one parent adopted the surname of his/her spouse or not. When only one parents travels with the child(ren) then some signed parental consent form would be wise to take with you. 

 

As far as I know if atleast one parent is living in Thailand then you can get the consent form via the local Thai townhall. But if both are lving in the UK (or whatever other country) a UK consent form should work just fine when confronted by either UK or Thai authorities:

https://www.gov.uk/permission-take-child-abroad

 

Short version: due to child abuction any person traveling with children should carry evidence that leaves no doubt or beyond reasonable doubt that the child is no traveling without the knowledge and consent of both the legal guardians/parents. 

 

 

[Clive]

Thank you for all your replies.

I have no intention of letting my daughter anywhere near her Thai mother as there's a history of abuse there.

We just want to have a nice holiday in Thailand but have concerns being stopped by the Thai authorities upon leaving thailand.

I'm assuming if we both enter Thailand on UK passports and have the relevant stamps then there shouldn't be a problem???

[iancnx]

I don't have the answer. On the face of it you would think no problem, but if you daughter was born in Thailand on her passport immigration might well raise a red flag.  IF she was born in Thai, I am assuming she originally had a Thai passport? If yes, then she will be in the system........

[MikeyIdea]

Read this one, there are some similarities

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/948637-obtaining-replacement-copy-thai-birth-cert-and-thai-passport/#comment-11241369

 

It should depend on how obvious it is that your daughter is half Thai. You should be quite OK if your daughter travels on a British passport and looks like a living question mark when the immigration officer speaks Thai to her. If she answers in Thai, then it's unlikely that she will be allowed out

 

[ffm]

I have travelled in and out of Thailand with my now 9-year-old son who has his mother's surname for many years, but never encountered any problem with Thai immigration.

 

The British authorities are the ones who are most likely to ask questions - they were the only officials who ever asked for my son's birth certificate, and for his mother's permission to travel with me. 

 

Things might be a bit different with younger kids, but a nine-year-old travelling with one of her parents does not raise any flags nowadays. Not in Thailand, at least.

[MikeyIdea]

11 hours ago, ffm said:

I have travelled in and out of Thailand with my now 9-year-old son who has his mother's surname for many years, but never encountered any problem with Thai immigration.

 

The British authorities are the ones who are most likely to ask questions - they were the only officials who ever asked for my son's birth certificate, and for his mother's permission to travel with me. 

 

Things might be a bit different with younger kids, but a nine-year-old travelling with one of her parents does not raise any flags nowadays. Not in Thailand, at least.

 

I was denied exit with my then 10 year old half Thai daughter who has my surname in February last year, hand written legally signed and witnessed parental agreement to travel abroad was rejected, should be the one from Amphur.

 

My daughter explained and called her mother on her phone and handed it over to the immigration officer and there was an embarrassed smile from him when he talked to mummy, she was obviously drunk... And we were let through

 

The main warning sign for an immigration officer is a blank passport. I didn't bring my daughter's old passport with stamps in, the new one was blank.

 

Thailand immigration is doing a pretty good job nowadays and I think it is great that they do

 

[iancnx]

Mikeyidea.  Thanks for sharing that.  Do you have the title/ number of the form needed from the Amphur? Thanks.

[MikeyIdea]

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 5:58 AM, iancnx said:

Mikeyidea.  Thanks for sharing that.  Do you have the title/ number of the form needed from the Amphur? Thanks.

 

I don't know the title, form number, sorry 

 

I asked Mummy yesterday and she said that she went in to the amphur and asked for "Form guardian give permission father take child out of country ". It was a quick job, no hassles

 

[Tim16]

My experience this week -

My Thai GF and I were going to take her 14 year old grand-daughter to Laos for a few days. Mukdahan to Savannakhet. We have taken her twice previously so we did not anticipate any problems. They had their border passes  but the girl was refused permission to leave by immigration. They explained that due to abduction and human trafficking immigration have tightened up on requirements to take children out of the country.

They wanted:-

Consent letters from both parents with copies of ID,s and house books plus copy of girls birth certificate.

 

[MikeyIdea]

      

 

Bravo Immigration

[NoshowJones]

On 10/18/2016 at 1:13 AM, ffm said:

I have travelled in and out of Thailand with my now 9-year-old son who has his mother's surname for many years, but never encountered any problem with Thai immigration.

 

The British authorities are the ones who are most likely to ask questions - they were the only officials who ever asked for my son's birth certificate, and for his mother's permission to travel with me. 

 

Things might be a bit different with younger kids, but a nine-year-old travelling with one of her parents does not raise any flags nowadays. Not in Thailand, at least.

The British authorities will not be answering questions now, there are no IOs checking the passports. you put them through a machine by yourself, though if the machine does not accept the passports, then I suppose that's a different story.

[gjoo888]

A friend of mine recently left Thailand with his half-Thai son. He has sole custody of his son and is divorced from his Thai ex-wife/mother. As he no longer is in contact with his ex-wife and didn't want her to know he was leaving Thailand, he shared your concerns. He contacted his Thai lawyer who told him that the divorce decree granting him sole custody of his son was needed to show immigration at the airport. 

 

If you have documents granting you sole custody, his lawyer was correct in my friend's case and he was able to take his son out of Thailand by showing the sole custody document. 

 

Btw, this is not just a Thailand law, many, if not most countries require parental consent signed by the non-traveling parent to prevent child abductions. You should probably contact the appropriate embassies or consulates and/or a lawyer even if you do have the proper documentation, and especially if you do not.

Edited October 22, 2016 by gjoo888

[Docno]

On ‎15‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 1:25 AM, claffey said:

 

Why doesn't your wife change her name to yours? It would make your life a lot easier and is not that difficult to do. My wife did and we've never had any difficulties traveling anywhere with our son....

Why should she change her name to the man's (or vice versa)? This is the 21st century, after all.  

[spermwhale]

Well I live in Thailand and am a divorced dad with two half-Thai kids. I take them to the US every year on vacation (just me and the kids) and they've never questioned me. I've had with me a note from their mom saying that she approves of them traveling with me, but I've never had to produce it. And I've been doing this for six years so far. 

[HooHaa]

On 10/14/2016 at 9:58 PM, Kwasaki said:

Sorry but don't understand your concern are you trying for browney points or something. 

 

No he is trying to figure out if he will have difficulties travelling with his daughter.

 

I am unclear as to why you cannot understand that.

[khunPer]

Do your daughter have your family name..?

 

With a British passport, and an entry stamp – same as in your passport – for a 3-week holiday, and same family name, I would think you'll have no problems; i.e. is it stated anywhere your daughter is Thai. 

 

However "horror stories" have been posted. Do the mother know you and your daughter are coming, and do you expect any problems from the mother's side..?

 

I left Thailand alone with my half-Thai daughter, 10-years old, earlier this year – she has my family name, but a Thai passport – we brought her mom with us to airport, waiting outside in case of any questions from Immigration (just me and daughter a short trip to Singapore/Legoland), so she could be called in, but no questions asked.

[BlindMagician]

On 10/15/2016 at 0:25 AM, claffey said:

 

Why doesn't your wife change her name to yours? It would make your life a lot easier and is not that difficult to do. My wife did and we've never had any difficulties traveling anywhere with our son....

Well done. But that's not the described problem.

[JohnC]

IMHO if you are foreseeing problems I would have a rethink and have a holiday somewhere else.

[yooyoo]

Normally you are required to carry a certified copy of her birth certificate and an affidavit from her mom approving her travel..

[performance]

On 10/21/2016 at 10:07 AM, Tim16 said:

My experience this week -

My Thai GF and I were going to take her 14 year old grand-daughter to Laos for a few days. Mukdahan to Savannakhet. We have taken her twice previously so we did not anticipate any problems. They had their border passes  but the girl was refused permission to leave by immigration. They explained that due to abduction and human trafficking immigration have tightened up on requirements to take children out of the country.

They wanted:-

Consent letters from both parents with copies of ID,s and house books plus copy of girls birth certificate.

 

Yes IMO up to there old tricks it's called rubbish and wasting time. A quick chat and some professional conduct from the officer to both parties especially considering the kid speaks Thai..But no they want talk there crap about abduction. Thai IMO so smart.

[performance]

On 10/15/2016 at 3:13 AM, Clive said:

Thank you for all your replies.

I have no intention of letting my daughter anywhere near her Thai mother as there's a history of abuse there.

We just want to have a nice holiday in Thailand but have concerns being stopped by the Thai authorities upon leaving thailand.

I'm assuming if we both enter Thailand on UK passports and have the relevant stamps then there shouldn't be a problem???

If you came into Thailand on UK passports and only holidaying have return tickets !

There will not be any problem. She holds a UK passport. Enough said. Also if you encounter a racist IMO officer. Simply say how nice your vacation  was and it was good for my daughter to see her country and pay tribute to his majesty. NEXT

[4MyEgo]

On 15/10/2016 at 2:05 AM, iancnx said:

A just concern I should have thought.  

 

I recently left with my wife and son for a holiday in Europe. My missus got a real grilling as to who our son was.  My son has my surname, my wife has retained her maiden name.  Immigration were intimating my wife might not be his mother and we were somehow leaving without the 'real' mums consent.  In other words an abduction.  My son has a British and Thai passport.  Next time we will travel with birth certificate and marriage certificate and house books.

 

I intend to travel to UK with my son at Xmas (mum has to work, no hols).  I am wondering what problems immigration will give us without mum present? 

 

My wife has kept her surname, we have 2 young children and have travelled from Australia to Thailand on many occasions, the kids have my surname on both Australian and Thai passports, never ever had a problem, but I can see immigration having a concern with different surname, probably doing their job correctly in your case ?

 

[4MyEgo]

On 15/10/2016 at 7:13 AM, Clive said:

Thank you for all your replies.

I have no intention of letting my daughter anywhere near her Thai mother as there's a history of abuse there.

We just want to have a nice holiday in Thailand but have concerns being stopped by the Thai authorities upon leaving thailand.

I'm assuming if we both enter Thailand on UK passports and have the relevant stamps then there shouldn't be a problem???

 

I don't think you have provided enough information to be able to answer your questions.

 

Your are a single dad with a child living in the UK. 

 

1) Were you legally married in the UK ?

 

2) Was the child born in the UK ? assuming the answer is yes because you are thinking of both travelling on UK passports

 

3) If married did you seek full custody through the family law court ?

 

I would suggest if you don't have some form of custody orders from the family law court, you do not step outside of the UK, regardless if the child has your surname or not.

 

When I departed Australia twice with my daughter to take her on a holiday to Thailand, (X being Australian born and Citizen), I had to have a letter of consent from her mum as per the court orders. 

 

The X did try to stop me at the airport on the 2nd occasion, but as I said to immigration, here are my court orders, read section bla, it says I can take my daughter overseas if I have provided my X with 60 days notice, here is a copy of the notice signed by her, and here is the signed consent form, if she wishes to change her mind and stop me, then she should go through the correct process, e.g. through the courts, I have followed procedure, she has given consent, I am on my way, and you don't want to be spoiling our holiday because of an idiot X, who has agreed and then changed her mind because she wants to be spiteful, see you in 4 weeks, and they let us go.

 

Thailand as you know is not the UK, if you don't have court orders, would strongly suggest you contact a family law specialist, they usually have an initial meet with you to discuss, free of charge, then is you wish to proceed, then they charge.

 

Edited October 23, 2016 by 4MyEgo

[Paul Catton]

 

55 minutes ago, performance said:

If you came into Thailand on UK passports and only holidaying have return tickets !

There will not be any problem. She holds a UK passport. Enough said. Also if you encounter a racist IMO officer. Simply say how nice your vacation  was and it was good for my daughter to see her country and pay tribute to his majesty. NEXT

Would concur with "performance".

Yours is not a problem of trying to remove a perceived resident Thai child from Thailand without hall pass from mum.

You and your daughter are UK citizens and are legitimately seeking entry into Thailand for a short holiday after filling in arrival card will be acknowledged by an entry stamp in your passports declaring by what date you both must depart by.

There should further be a departure card affixed in the passports that reinforces your intended purpose.

Only problem I could see would be that Murphy is not otherwise engaged elsewhere and Mother, against any realm of possibility finds out the child is there and becomes an abductor.

That would be enough for me to take her to Malaysia and tell her Thailand is closed for mourning.

[Kwasaki]

16 hours ago, HooHaa said:

 

No he is trying to figure out if he will have difficulties travelling with his daughter.

I am unclear as to why you cannot understand that.

 

Bit late on reply to my post addressed to OP,  his probably here already.  

Maybe l should of asked OP for more info because l didn't see why the concern if his researched it for himself and carries any paperwork that maybe required. 

I understood more when he gave reply in post ID6.

 

[jippytum]

I can understand your concern .If your daughter's Thai mother is made aware of your holiday she could make trouble for you and your daughter.It would seem you are not divorced and have not been awarded  sole custody of the child from the family court either in Thailand or the UK .You are worried about this so please think carefully if a holiday in Thailand is worth the risk at this time .