Mistake on Birth Certificate

[New Petchburi Pete]

We named our son Andrew. Unfortunately, the Ob/Gyn made a mistake in translating 'Andrew' to Thai ... the way it is written in Thai (on the birth certificate), it would be pronounced 'Andoo.'

 

Correct me if I am wrong; but, I think the only way here in LOS that such a mistake can be dealt with, is to file a name change form, and present the original birth certificate with the "tabian baan" (which our son is already registered in) with wife's family amphur up in Chaiyaphum. My understanding is that the original certificate cannot be changed. The name change form is carried (sort of as a 'rider') with the certificate.

[Guest]

I wouldn't even bother if I were you. I tried to make a change to my daughters birth certificate before, lots of travel and misc. expenses and it was never sorted out.

 

My kids last names are spelled wrong (or could have been spelled a lot better at least) but I've never given it more than a passing thought. Doesn't seem to make any difference that I know of. There is no exact way to transliterate English to Thai, they just try and get as close as possible to the same sound. Some are better at it than others.

 

You're correct in that no alterations to the original should be made. Happened to my daughter's. She was born before the law denying Thai citizenship to children with farang fathers was changed. Her birth certificate said "Can not be Thai". No Thai passport, had to get visas like the rest of us, check in with immigration every 90 days pay overstays etc. and she was born in Thailand to a Thai. Fuck. At one amphur office a secretary used whiteout to cover the "can not be Thai" part and entered "Thai" in red ink before I had a chance to stop her. The head of the office saw what she had done, scolded her and then started writing on the certificate himself. What a fucking mess. It was one headache after another. Fortunately the document fell into a fire by 'accident' and the headaches went away.

[Flashermac]

I had a friend in a fun situation. She was married to a Thai uni lecturer (she was an American at the same uni), and their first child was an American citizen. The second child was registered as both. The woman herself had permanent residence in Thailand, but every year she had to go to Bangkok and renew the visa for her first child. I asked her what they were going to do ... throw the kid into immigration gaol? (He was 4 or 5.) It took years before they got the nutty situation straightened out.