Guidance

Thailand: Knowledge Base profile

Published 9 July 2025

About: Thailand

This document contains useful information about Thailand which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff to process passport applications.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the document and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the document has factual errors then email the Guidance team.

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Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 4.0
• published for Home Office staff on 3 July 2025

Changes from last version of this document

This document has been updated with formatting changes.

Thailand: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in Thailand.

Names in Thailand consist of:

• 1 forename
• 1 surname

If a child has a British parent, it is common for a middle name to be included.

The father must give consent for the child to use his surname and apply for a Thailand passport, if he is named on the birth certificate.

Change of name

A change of name can only be done in person at a district office in Thailand. The new name will be registered and a new Thailand identity card and birth certificate will be issued.

A Thailand national can give power of attorney to a relative to act on their behalf and change their name at a district office in Thailand.

Once the new name has been registered the customer can apply to change their passport at a Thailand embassy.

A change of name after marriage to take their spouse’s surname cannot be completed without the spouse giving consent.

Child changes of name can only be done by a parent in Thailand at a district office (power of attorney cannot be given to a relative to do this). Parents who are not resident in Thailand would need to travel to Thailand and stay there until the process was completed.

Name alignment

Customers from Thailand will not be able to align their Thailand passports if:

• they have more than one forename, as Thailand passports are not issued with additional forenames
• the customer’s title (Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms) is included in the forename field
• the surname on the Thailand passport is not hyphenated but the British passport does show a hyphen
• a spouse, partner or ex-partner is unable to give consent of their married surname due to either being:
  • deceased
  • separated with no contact
• they were adopted outside of Thailand

HM Passport Office will not add an observation to the customer’s British passport if the only difference is the addition of the customer’s title in the forename field of their Thailand passport.

Thailand: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about nationality in Thailand.

Dual nationality is allowed in Thailand.

Thailand: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in Thailand.

Legitimacy

Thailand does not recognise a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births.

All children are born legitimate whether their parents are married or not.

Parental responsibility

In Thailand, a person is considered to be a minor until the age of 20 years old.

Where a child is born to married parents in Thailand, both parents will have parental responsibility for the child.

Where a child is born to unmarried parents in Thailand, the mother will have full parental responsibility for the child.

Thailand: adoption

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in Thailand.

Adoption is legal in Thailand.

Thailand: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in Thailand.

Surrogacy is legal in Thailand.

Thailand: gender recognition

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in Thailand.

Transgender citizens are not recognised in Thailand.

Thailand: civil partnerships and marriage

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnerships and marriage in Thailand.

Civil partnerships and same sex marriages are legal in Thailand as of 23 January 2025.

Thailand: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents in Thailand.

Birth certificates

Birth certificates are issued following the registration of all births in Thailand. All births must be registered within 15 days.

Dates on the birth certificates reflect the Thailand calendar. For a year in the Thailand calendar, you must add 543 years onto the present year. For example, if the child was born in 2025, their birth certificate will show the year 2568.

A replacement birth certificate can be obtained from Thailand. If the customer is in the UK, the Thailand Embassy cannot issue a replacement of the original birth certificate. However, the Embassy can get a certified copy from the original which is kept at the district office where the birth was registered.

A person can appoint a relative power of attorney, to act on their behalf and apply for a replacement birth certificate in Thailand. Appointing power of attorney can be done through the Royal Thailand Embassy. The process will take approximately one month.

The original Thailand birth certificates cannot be amended.

Marriage certificates

Marriage certificates are issued following the registration of marriages in Thailand.

There are two types of weddings in Thailand, a:

• traditional Thailand wedding ceremony (for religious, cultural and traditional reasons). These are not legally recognised
• legal marriage, performed in a Thailand Amphur. These are legally recognised

Original marriage certificates cannot be replaced; however the customer can get a certified copy of the certificate equivalent to the original document. This can be obtained from the local office where the marriage was registered.

There are two types of marriage certificate in circulation in Thailand. These include:

• a smaller, blue document
• an A4 sized white document with pink roses

Death certificates

Death certificates are issued following the registration of all deaths in Thailand. There is only one type of certificate in circulation, and records of the deaths are all held in one central register.

Identity documents

Under Thailand regulations, citizens must carry their original passports at all times. 

Thailand passports are issued with the customer’s title (Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms) in the forename field. This is not a part of the customer’s forename and is a design feature of the passport.

Mandatory identity cards are issued to Thailand citizens by the province and are renewed every 5 years until the person reaches 60 years old.

If a father is named on the birth certificate, he must give consent for the child to apply for a Thailand passport.