Travel to Thailand with expired Thai passport

[elephant_beer]

We are travelling to Thailand for a holiday/visit the grandparents in July.  Will my son be able to enter Thailand with an expired Thai passport (we will renew it when in Thailand)?  He has a valid UK passport which we will use to travel.  His mother is Thai and father British.  Will this cause any problems?

Ta

[hathairat2711]

The short answer is, yes you can.

 

 

[sumrit]

He can exit the UK on his UK Passport and enter Thailand on his expired Thai Passport but MUST renew it while in Thailand and exit on that new Thai passport. He won't be able to exit using his UK Passport if he entered on a Thai passport (regardless if whether it had expired) then use his UK Passport to enter the UK again.

[Eff1n2ret]

1 hour ago, sumrit said:

He can exit the UK on his UK Passport and enter Thailand on his expired Thai Passport but MUST renew it while in Thailand and exit on that new Thai passport. He won't be able to exit using his UK Passport if he entered on a Thai passport (regardless if whether it had expired) then use his UK Passport to enter the UK again.

I suppose I'm a bit pedantic, but maybe your second sentence isn't what you intended. If the OP enters Thailand on his expired Thai passport and renews it, he can only use that one to leave Thailand. On arrival in the UK he presents his UK passport.

 

It is of course vital that on arrival in Thailand with the expired Thai passport he doesn't show the IO his UK passport. If necessary, he could say that he had previously held a UK passport but that had expired as well, so he had left it behind. The so-and so can't very well put a visit stamp in a non-existent passport.

[elviajero]

If the Thai passport was issued in the UK or your son exited Thailand using the passport then there should be no problem using the passport to enter Thailand. Otherwise the immigration officer might insist on using the British passport.

 

If they insist on using the British passport then don't renew the Thai passport in Thailand but renew it when back in the UK.

 

If your holiday is less than 60 days then using the British passport is not a big deal as your son would get 30 days on entry that could be extended by 30 days.

[ubonjoe]

18 minutes ago, elviajero said:

If the Thai passport was issued in the UK or your son exited Thailand using the passport then there should be no problem using the passport to enter Thailand. Otherwise the immigration officer might insist on using the British passport.

If that was to happen taking the issue up a level should resolve the problem. There is no legal requirement for the stamp out of the country to use the passport for entry.

[PETERTHEEATER]

My daughter, now aged 44 with dual Thai/British nationalities entered Thailand on holiday using her British Passport and whilst here renewed her expired Thai ID Card and expired Thai Passport without problem but she does have her name on a Tabien Bahn.

[elephant_beer]

Thanks for the replies.

[kiwiaussie]

The child must already be registered on the tabieen baan and have an ID card (if over 7) to be able to renew it in Thailand. 

[IMA_FARANG]

As another post said it is my understanding a Thai national can enter Thailand even on an expired Thai passport as long as the expired Thai passport was legitimately and legally obtained when issued.

I am not an expert on this, but it is what I was previously told.

 

[BritTim]

The only complication I could imagine (apart from the possible need to involve a senior official) is if immigration decided that your son was not the person named in the expired Thai passport. If he was traveling alone, this could be a legitimate concern, as his appearance has likely changed since the passport was issued. Surely, though, no official is going to be so block headed as to believe that when your son is traveling with his parents.

[dentonian]

5 hours ago, BritTim said:

The only complication I could imagine (apart from the possible need to involve a senior official) is if immigration decided that your son was not the person named in the expired Thai passport. If he was traveling alone, this could be a legitimate concern, as his appearance has likely changed since the passport was issued. Surely, though, no official is going to be so block headed as to believe that when your son is traveling with his parents.

Oh don't you believe it!

Some of these block heads as you refer to them don't even know their own Nationality Act, or use common sense.

 

It appears more than a few Thais have fallen foul of exiting/re-entering on a foreign passport and are now subject to Immigration laws as if they were not Thai nationals. I suggest the OP read this recent thread and ensure both his wife and son not only enter, but exit on their Thai passports to avoid being caught in a similar situation.

Anyone can travel and enter their home Country on an expired Passport.

Children have to renew Passports every 5 years as they grow and change appearance.

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, dentonian said:

Anyone can travel and enter their home Country on an expired Passport.

However they may not be permitted to exit the country they are in if they only have an expired passport.

 

Case in point a Thai friend was not permitted to exit Japan as her Thai passport had expired. She had to forfeit her flight and renew her passport in Japan before she was permitted to leave. Thai air was happy to take her but Japanese immigration would not let her exit.

[ubonjoe]

18 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

However they may not be permitted to exit the country they are in if they only have an expired passport.

 

Case in point a Thai friend was not permitted to exit Japan as her Thai passport had expired. She had to forfeit her flight and renew her passport in Japan before she was permitted to leave. Thai air was happy to take her but Japanese immigration would not let her exit.

Correct

If a person is on a a permit to stay from a visa in the country they are departing from they must maintain a valid passport in order to remain in the country which means they are illegally in that country if their passport expires.

[sometimewoodworker]

13 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Correct

If a person is on a a permit to stay from a visa in the country they are departing from they must maintain a valid passport in order to remain in the country which means they are illegally in that country if their passport expires.

I'm not so sure about it always being illegal. As Japanese immigration will always arrest illegals and put them in the immigration jail and in her case she was not arrested as her existing permission to stay had several years to run, only the passport had expired.

 

For "permanent" residents of Japan their permitted stay is 10 years so the passport almost always expires before the permit to stay.

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

For "permanent" residents of Japan their permitted stay is 10 years so the passport almost always expires before the permit to stay.

Not sure about Japan  but in many countries (including here)  if a person has permanent residency they do not have to maintain a valid passport. Some may even allow a person to leave on an expired passport.

[elviajero]

People continue to confuse the right of a Thai to enter their home country with Immigration's protocol regarding the passport use of dual nationals.

 

No one here is privy to all the orders, rules or regulations that the Immigration Bureau ask immigration officers to follow.

 

It is evident from many reports over many years that immigration officers are asked to follow certain procedures when processing dual nationality Thais holding two passports. I am sure there is discretion within those rules, but if you get an officious IO they are likely to want to follow the book.

Edited April 2, 2017 by elviajero

[TerryLH]

"Children have to renew Passports every 5 years as they grow and change appearance."

 

It's the same 5 years for adults.

[sometimewoodworker]

On 02/04/2017 at 9:46 PM, TerryLH said:

"Children have to renew Passports every 5 years as they grow and change appearance."

 

It's the same 5 years for adults.

For Thai adults yes. For other countries mostly not.