Children in Thailand are legally considered solely the mother’s children unless their father goes through a process called “child legitimation.” This allows them to acquire parental rights, including custody.
This is done by making a declaration in the presence of a registrar. The mother and child must express their consent to this application within sixty days (or 180 days if they are outside of the country). The procedure is not always straightforward.
In Thailand, there is a strong culture of respect for one’s parents and elderly. Family members are expected to abide by their advice and requests, and children are obligated to care for their parents in their old age. This is a major component of the traditional Thai sense of familial cohesiveness, where the family is valued over everything else.
Despite this, families in Thailand can still experience problems if the father does not acknowledge his paternity of the child or does not follow the proper procedures for legitimation. It is important for fathers to understand the process of legitimation so that they can be confident in their rights and ensure that the kid’s best interests are safeguarded.
There are primarily three ways to establish legitimacy and parental rights in Thailand: subsequent marriage, court action, or government registration of paternity. Once a father is recognized as the legal parent of his child, he gains a variety of benefits, including the right to custody and inheritance.
A cross-sectional study design allows researchers to examine the relationship between variables at a single point in time. This method is especially useful for identifying the influences of family functioning factors on SA and phubbing among Thai Muslim adolescent students. The study’s findings indicate that nurturing a positive family emotional climate and maintaining disciplined practices are vital in reducing the risks associated with SA and phubbing.
Fathers are entitled to full custodial rights in Thailand as long as they legally establish paternity. However, merely appearing on the child’s birth certificate does not give a father any legal rights in Thailand. This is why we always suggest that non-married fathers who want to gain rights over their children legitimate their child rights in the Court before attempting to register the child at the amphur.
The process of legitimation begins by submitting a petition to the Court. It then takes a minimum of thirty days for the judgment to be rendered and becomes enforceable. Once the judgment has been rendered, the father can then register his child’s rights at the amphur.
Supporting evidence for proving paternity may include DNA test results, photographs of the father and the mother showing they were together during the pregnancy, witness statements that confirm the father publicly acknowledged that he was the father and/or proof that he provided financial support such as paying hospital bills or other expenses for the mother and the child. If the petition for legitimation also addresses custody issues, the Court will determine whether he is suitable to exercise parental power over the child in the same proceeding.
Once a father has established legitimation, he has equal parental power and custody rights with the mother unless otherwise deprived of these rights by court judgment. He can visit his children and take them abroad with the mother’s consent, and is obligated to provide for their education, health care, and welfare.
Whether married or not, a father in Thailand cannot legally obtain custody rights unless his paternity has been registered. This process, known as legitimation, grants him visitation rights and entitles him to inheritance and child support in Thailand obligations. It is also important to establish paternity in order to register a child at the amphur (residence registration office).
The best interests of the child are generally considered the main factor by Thai courts when deciding on custody cases. This is in line with most Western family law principles.
Child Custody in Thailand is a legal term that differs from terms such as parental power which has wider scope and includes control of a child’s person and property until the child reaches adulthood or marriage, entitlement to veto the issuance of a passport and to withhold consent to marriage, the right to demand the return of a child if unlawfully detained, and so on.
It is common in Thailand for one person, usually a family member, to care for a child for extended periods of time. This does not give them parental power however as they are not the legal fathers. This should be avoided if possible as it will lead to unnecessary legal issues in the future. In such situations, it is advisable to contact a Thai lawyer for legal advice. The lawyer will be able to advise the best course of action for the client.
The abuse of children is a serious and widespread problem in Thailand, with many victims being unable to access the services they need. This is often because there are too few social workers at the local level, and the systems supporting them fail to ensure that children can be identified and tracked through the system.
Family members need to be educated on how to recognise the signs of abuse in their children, and how to report it. In addition, there is a need to help adults reduce the chance that they may become perpetrators of child abuse by promoting a culture of non-violence and good parenting.
For children to be protected from all forms of abuse, a holistic approach is needed – one that involves working with communities and local government to improve child-focused services at the grass roots level, so that they are truly preventive and responsive. This includes ensuring that all health professionals, from community nurses to hospital staff, have an appropriate role in the identification and treatment of victims of abuse.
A key aspect of this is establishing the legal framework for family reunification, as well as providing better access to support services for abused and vulnerable children. This is why ActionAid, together with our partner organisations, continues to work to strengthen the legislative and policy framework for child protection in Thailand.