Does a baby need Thai passport?

[poosmate]

A Thai birth certificate is required for a Thai passport. The birth if in the UK needs to be registered with the Thai embassy. A birth certificate can be applied for at the same time as the passport.
To get a Thai passport in Thailand for a child born overseas the birth needs to be registered at the embassy in the country of birth.

[Khundon1975]

kendo

No, not such a big deal but we would not do it in a day, we would stay for a few days and, as I said before, do a bit of sight seeing and visit friends. I have been to the NHM and it is a good day out, but he is a bit too young (9 weeks) to take it in at the moment.
It should not be a problem booking a return flight, as she will be renewing her Thai passport in BKK. Several friends have done it this year already and just sailed through Thai Immigration with no hassle. I believe that they (Thai Imm) view it as "returning to your country of birth" and let you through, even if you have children with you.

Yes Pete and BigBoy, the translation is a problem, our marriage certificate is in Thai so that bit is OK. I think as you say, that I would have to be in Thailand to sign that document if we decided to go that route. I seem to remember the same question being asked about a year ago on HHAD. If I don't go with them, I will ask the Embassy if they allow a notarized copy of his BC, so that if my wife decides whilst there to apply for a Thai passport for him, she can present it to the relevant department in Thailand.
If they allow that, then fine, if not, we have not lost anything. Either way she will be taking all the relevant English documents with her and have them translated and notarized in Thailand to save getting it done in London. Then we can apply for his Thai passport at a later date in the UK.

Strange that I was reading (on another forum ) that the Thai government are considering making English there second language. You would think that staff at their Embassies would, at the least, be proficient in English, and that would save a lot of hassle all round.

As we stand, it looks like we will forgo getting him a Thai passport in the UK and go with the UK passport plus 60 day tourist visa, as suggested by BaaBaa earlier. I picked up the UK Passport application pack yesterday and it seems that a child under 16 (before a passport is issued) is not required to have an interview before a passport is issued.
So, a lot less hassle.

[cozza]

Khundon1975,

Sorry, just read this post...My wife just took my daughter for 6 months on Australian passport to Thailand, no problems. She took birth certificate and marriage cert. just in case because she booked the tickets at the last minute without time to arrange Thai passport. There were no questions asked at Sydney airport and none at BKK. As long as your little one has their own passport should be fine. Babies need their own passport these days though, they cannot travel on parents passport.

[Khundon1975]

Cozza we have also been away, so thanks for that.

The little one now has his own passport and will be going on a 60 day tourist visa.

[Jaime]

Forgive me for stating the obvious here but once he does get his Thai passport and you start using it, make sure he always travels with his UK one too or he won't be able to get back in upon your return!

[Khundon1975]

Thanks Jamie, that issue has been covered on another thread, but always good to give it a bump.