Holiday with Thai stepson

[Marky_Mark]

Hi All
Just wondering if someone has experienced the same situation and if it all went smoothly.

I live in Australia with my thai wife and thai/farang daughter and are planning a holiday to Bali, my wife has a 12 yr old son who lives in Hua Hin and we would like to include him and take him to Bali too for a holiday.

He already has a Thai Passport and ID card.

I will travel to Bangkok and overnight there, then meet him at Suvarnabhumi for the flight to Bali, where we will meet my wife and daughter.

Will i experience any problems during check in/immigration at BKK as we have different surnames at the moment?
Do i need to do anything prior to the holiday that will prevent any dramas at Suvarnabhumi?

Obviously the ideal situation would be for my wife to go and collect him and me wait in Bali, however with our baby it’s better for me to travel and collect him.

Would like to hear from someone who has departed Swampy with their wife's child.

Rgds
M&K

[Spitfire]

I would hazard a guess that it will depend on how old your step son is. If he's under 16 then I wouldn't be so sure of the easy of which it would be to just meet up and just both of you jump on a plane to somewhere, might need a consent form from a parent/guardian filled in.

In all honesty, if he's under 16 (even though I know not the exact truth on this one), it wouldn't surprise me if you did get questions/pulled aside as it does look slightly unusual as there is no Thai woman present.

However, I could be completely wrong.

[Marky_Mark]

Thanks Spitfire
Thats exactly what i want to avoid...looking dodgy, I guess if we get a consent form or letter from the Amphur by the biological father which will be fine and a letter from my wife stamped by the Thai Consulate Australia or something to that affect.

[Nereus]

I did this a few years ago with a step daughter, but she was going to OZ with me so had a visa.

How come the boy has both a Thai passport and ID card?
Does he have a legal guardian in Thailand? If so you should get them to either give a written letter of consent, or go to the Airport and check him in themselves.

The other way that may work is to have the airline check him in and travel as "unaccompanied minor". That way you would not be involved, just going along for the ride.

[Marky_Mark]

Cheers Nereus
The lad has a Thai Passport as we will be bringing him to Australia for a holiday next year, we applied for it when we were last in Thailand (April '11) and he received it in the mail.
As far as I knew they had to be 15 to get the ID card but things have changed and he now has one at 12yrs old.

I’m thinking of along the lines of having his biological dad check him in, there is no bad blood there he is pretty helpful when things need to be done.

I guess i could just call the airline and get a copy of this release & Imdemnity form

As we will be travelling Air Asia they don’t have unaccompanied minor service only YPTA
http://www.airasia.com/mo/zh/unaccompan ... eller.html

Thanks again for your comments.