There may come a time when you have to travel outside of Thailand with your Thai children but not your Thai spouse. For example, you might want to take your children back to your home country for a short visit but your Thai spouse can’t get a visa. Or maybe want to take your children on vacation to another country but your Thai spouse can’t get off from work.
As you might expect, you can travel outside of Thailand with your Thai children and not your Thai spouse, but you have to follow some guidelines to prevent Thai immigration officials from preventing you from leaving Thailand.
By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly which documents to prepare and what to expect when you get to the immigration officer when leaving Thailand by land or air with your Thai children.
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Key Takeaways
- You need an official letter of consent to travel out of Thailand with your Thai children, although not all immigration officials at the airport will ask for it.
- You should apply for the letter of consent at least three to four weeks before traveling out of Thailand.
- The letter of consent is free of charge, but does take some time to apply for at the local district office.
- Only non-Thai parents of Thai children have to apply for the letter of consent.
Why You (Sometimes) Have to Show a Parental Consent Letter
Child abductions happen in Thailand just like they do all over the world. But most of these abductions aren’t classified as kidnappings or human trafficking. They’re mostly domestic disputes between parents, one of whom takes the children out of Thailand without the other knowing.
To combat all of these scenarios, Thai immigration officials usually question parents traveling with their Thai children if only one parent is present at the airport. This happens whether that parent is Thai or not and the child is leaving Thailand on a Thai passport.
But as long as you have the right documents, you won’t be held up for too long when immigration officials pull you to the side for questioning. This is what happened to me in 2024 when I traveled out of Thailand with my younger daughter.
My wife heard of parents being denied exit before, so she wrote a letter for me to show to Thai immigration officers at the airport. Luckily she did, because after I went through Suvarnabhumi Airport immigration checkpoint, an officer pulled me and my daughter aside and questioned me.
I answered a few questions, the immigration officer checked the documents, and then we where free to go on our way. I only later found out that although my wife wrote a parental consent letter, what we actually needed was an official document from the local city office. Luckily, Thai immigration officials accepted my wife’s letter.
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Is This a Legal Requirement?
As far as I can tell from research, there are no written laws in Thailand stating that you must provide certain documents when leaving Thailand with your Thai children but not your spouse. Instead, it’s more of a practice put into place by Thai immigration officials and is carried out at the discretion of the officer at the airport.
Having said that, it’s likely that you will get pulled aside when leaving Thailand with your Thai children, so it’s best to prepare the right documents so you can go on your way and enjoy your time outside of Thailand with your children.
Required Documents
The documents you need to leave Thailand are very simple to get, but it’ll require a trip to your local district office. Bring the following documents with you about three to four weeks before you plan on leaving. Staff at the district office will process your paperwork and ask you to pick up your official parental consent letter after 15 days.
- Letter of consent form (PDF)
- Signed copy of your spouse’s ID card or passport
- Signed copy of your children’s birth certificates
- Signed copy of your children’s passports
The parent who is giving permission must photocopy his or her ID or passport and sign and date the copy as well. If you want to be extra prepared, you can even bring:
- Your Thai marriage certificate
- Court orders (if applicable)
Keep in mind the first document above isn’t always necessary and the court order is only necessary if the parents are divorced but one of them has been given permission to travel out of Thailand with the children.
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Emergency Travel Situations
If you have to leave Thailand in an emergency and don’t have 15 days to wait for the official letter of consent, you can do what my wife did and write your own letter.
As long as you have the correct documents signed by your Thai spouse, I can’t see immigration officers denying you the right to leave Thailand with your Thai children.
Here’s a copy of what my wife wrote when I traveled with my daughter:
- Where you wrote the letter (you can put the name of your condo or muu baan)
- Child(ren’s) name(s)
- Home address
- Thai parent’s name
- Child(ren’s) name(s)
- Name of parent traveling with children
- Child(ren’s) name(s)
- Address in destination country
- Address in destination country (I visited two countries with my daughter)
- Thai parent’s name and signature
Special Situations
You might face a different situation than the one I’ve mentioned above. What if you’re single? What if you’re married to a Thai but separated? What if one parent is unreachable? What if one parent passed away? What if your children will be traveling alone and they’re under the age of 18?
If you’re single or married but separated, you’ll still need to get the other parent’s permission to leave Thailand with your Thai children through a parental consent letter. There is no way around this.
When your spouse can’t be reached for whatever reason, you’ll have to go through the courts to get sole custody of your children. This can be time consuming, so plan well in advance before you make traveling arrangements to leave Thailand.
If your spouse passed away, you’ll have to present the official Thai death certificate to the immigration officer at the airport.
Lastly, there may come a time when your children have to travel alone and they under the age of 18. This recently happened to my neighbor, who had to send his children to the U.S. What happened in this case? Both parents had to sign the parental consent letter. But if there is only one parent in the family, then he or she would need to sign the letter.
What to Expect at the Airport
After you check in for your flight at the airline kiosk, you’ll then pass through the Thai immigration checkpoint. At this stage, an immigration officer might bring you and your Thai children to a nearby desk and ask the following questions:
- Where are you going?
- How long will you be gone for?
- Are you coming back?
- When are you coming back?
- Does the Thai children’s mother/father know?
You can answer the questions and provide the documents you prepared. Once you do that, the immigration officer will let you continue on your way. The whole process shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this apply to leaving Thailand at land borders?
Yes, if you leave Thailand at the land borders with your Thai children, you will have to present the same documents.
How long is the parental consent letter valid?
I never came across any information about when a parental consent letter expires. That said, I would apply for the letter at least three to four weeks before traveling out of Thailand.
What if the other parent is not Thai?
If one parent is Thai and your children are traveling on Thai passports, the parent traveling with the children will need the parental consent letter from the other parent, whether he or she is Thai or not.
Now, on to You
I’ve lived in Thailand since 2014. Since then I’ve met many parents who’ve traveled outside of Thailand with their children while the other spouse stayed in Thailand. Some of these parents were Thai, others weren’t. Some of them were questioned by Thai immigration officers, others weren’t.
There’s no telling what you’ll face when you travel outside of Thailand with your Thai children when your spouse isn’t there. But to avoid any complications, make sure you prepare the documents in this guide so that you can continue to your destination and enjoy your travels with your children.
