House Registration, Moves, and the Yellow Book for Foreigners

The Civil Registration Act B.E. 2534 requires a birth to be reported within 15 days of delivery. The duty falls on the house-master of the house where the child was born, or on the parents. For hospital births the hospital issues a certificate of birth (T.R.1/1), which is then presented to the district or local registration office covering the place of birth.

Typically the hospital certificate of birth, Thai ID cards of the informant and the parents, the house register the child will be added to, and the parents' marriage certificate if any. Where the father is a foreign national, the passport plus a certified translation is requested. Requirements vary by office, so call the office you will visit before travelling.

A death must be reported within 24 hours of the time of death or of the discovery of the body, to the registration office for the locality. For hospital deaths the facility issues a certificate of death (T.R.4/1) for the family to present; the registrar then issues the death certificate and removes the name from the house register.

A death at home must be reported by the house-master or the person who found the body within 24 hours. Where the death is unnatural under the Criminal Procedure Code — accident, violence or unknown cause — an inquest by the investigating officer and a physician takes place first, and the death certificate follows the inquest findings.

Normally the registrar removes the deceased's name from the house register at the same time the death certificate is issued. Still, request a fresh certified copy of the house register: banks, the Land Office and the courts usually want the register showing the removal alongside the death certificate.

T.R.14 is the house register for Thai nationals and for foreigners holding permanent residence. T.R.13 — commonly called the yellow book — is the register for non-Thai nationals staying temporarily or without permanent residence. Both evidence an address, but the rights attached to each differ.

At the local registration office for the address, once you genuinely reside there and the house-master consents. Offices commonly ask for a valid passport and visa, a certified translation of the passport, a lease or title/condominium ownership document, the house-master's house register, and witnesses. Practice differs between districts, so confirm in advance.

In practice it evidences your address when opening a bank account, supports condominium purchase and title transfer at the Land Office, helps with a Thai driving licence application at the Department of Land Transport, and lets you register vehicles or utilities in your own name. It grants no right to stay and never replaces a visa or work permit.

The house-master must report a move out within 15 days of the departure and a move in within 15 days of arrival; failure to do so carries a fine. Many offices now accept destination-side notification, meaning you report the move in at the new office without returning to the previous one.

The central register holds people without a fixed address or whose names were removed from a previous house — for example someone who moved out and never reported a move in within the deadline. Names in the central register often face restrictions on certain transactions, so report a move in at your real address promptly.

Not necessarily. The house-master under civil registration is the person heading occupation of the house as owner, tenant or caretaker. Ownership is proved by the title deed or condominium ownership certificate at the Land Office. Being listed as house-master creates no ownership, and owners need not be the house-master.

At the district or local registration office where your name appears in the house register, under the Person Name Act B.E. 2505. The registrar issues a certificate of change of given name (Chor 3) or of surname (Chor 5), which is the document that links your former and current names in every later filing.

Update the whole set: ID card, house register, passport, driving licence, bank accounts, vehicle registration, insurance policies and educational records. If any foreign document or visa is in the former name, always keep the name-change certificate with a certified translation to present alongside it — otherwise the receiving authority treats you as a different person.

Present the divorce certificate or the final judgment at the registration office to revert to your former surname, then update the house register, ID card and passport. If the divorce took place abroad, the foreign judgment or divorce record must first be legalised and recorded as a change of family status in Thailand.

Some Thai embassies and consulates-general issue ID cards to Thai nationals overseas, provided your name is in a Thai house register and your biometric data is already in the system. Check with the mission covering your area whether the service is offered and whether an appointment is required.

No. The 13-digit number stays with the individual for life — changing a given name, a surname or a house register does not change it. That makes it the strongest link when proving that documents in an old name and a new name belong to the same person.

Thai nationals request a family-status or single-status certificate at the district or local registration office for their house register. Foreign nationals obtain a status affidavit from their own embassy or consulate in Thailand, then have it translated and certified by the Department of Consular Affairs before filing a marriage registration at the district office.

At the Thai embassy or consulate-general whose district covers the place of birth. Bring the legalised foreign birth certificate with a translation plus the parents' passports and marital-status documents. The mission issues a Thai birth certificate, which then supports a Thai passport application and adding the child to a Thai house register.

Present the Thai birth certificate issued by the mission, or the legalised and translated foreign birth certificate, at the registration office where the parents are registered. The registrar assigns the child a 13-digit personal ID number, which is needed for schooling, healthcare and a future ID card.

It certainly is, for visa filings, Land Office transactions and opening bank accounts, because authorities treat it as inconsistent identity data. Fix it at source: correct the civil registration record first, then issue a new passport — or attach the name-change certificate with a certified translation to explain the link.

Tor Ror 14 is the blue house book for Thai nationals and permanent residents. Tor Ror 13 is the yellow book for lawfully resident non-Thai nationals. Both prove your address in practice, but holding a yellow book does not change your immigration status: 90-day reporting and visa extensions continue exactly as before.