Father'S Thai Name Needs Certified Translation For Birth?

[BuddhistDruid]

Apologize if this is asked and answered elsewhere. The search function on ThaiVisa appears to be malfunctioning at the moment.

I just got back from the hospital where it appears my twins are about to be born whether the rest of us are ready for it or not.

When it came to my name, they asked me for a Thai translation. When I wrote it down and tried to give it to them on a piece of scrap paper, they told me that they needed a certified translation from my embassy.

This sounds awfully strange to me. How can a Western embassy certify a translation to Thai? Did they mean I need to get something certified by the Foreign Ministry out on Chaeng Wattana? I have serious problems believing my embassy is going to take a position one way or the other on how I translate my name into Thai.

Does anyone know what they might be referring to? How did the rest of you translate your names into Thai when the time came? Is there really a lengthy procedure for this?

Again, sorry if this is a common question. I did try to look first, but it appears the site maintenance is not completed yet.

[Mario2008]

Never heard of this, to be honest. Yes, the name will need to be translated into Thai and you are advised to use the same spelling as on other official Thai documents you might have, such as in the marriage register and on your work permit. But no need for official certifies translation and certainly not required by a hospital. If you have a copy of your marriage registration or a WP or other official document from the Thai government with your name in Thai on it, I would just give them that.

[MikeyIdea]

Certified translation of your name from your embassy is not needed and it is total rubbish. As Mario2008 writes though; You Must make sure you use same name as on WP, marriage cert etc, absolutely. If you stay in Thailand long enough and have different spellings then you will sooner or later end up with having to get an official document changed, save yourself that effort and get it right = the same now.

But what to do with the hospital? If the hospital insist on having a "certified translation of the name", then I suggest telling them to leave the name of the father in Thai blank and - Very Important - make sure that the hospital understand that they are NOT allowed to register the birth at the amphur (i.e., getting the the birth certificate). The mother will do that herself, thank you very much. Why is it so important that the hospital doesn't do it? Because the amphur could issue a birth certificate with the fathers name blank and you absoutely want to avoid that. The hospital will most likely tell the mother that the child must have a father named according to law (which is rubbish and not correct) and suggest the normal Thai solution, borrow the id card of a relative (very bad idea).

The mother can go to the amphur where the child is born with the document from the hospital (showing father blank), your passport and a copy and do the registration herself. No certified translation needed at the amphur for sure. Must be done within 15 days of the birth. Penalty for being late is 1,000 bath. If you have problems, wait and take the penalty rather than getting blank name or wrong name, it's only 1,000 bath and it doesn't matter at all

Good Luck

[Mario2008]

In case you are not married to the mother, better go with the mother to the amphur and register the children yourself and try to become the legal father of the child. Otherwise you have to go to court to become the legal father of your children.

If legally married, the law will automatically assume that you are the children's father.

[BuddhistDruid]

Unfortunately none of these options are viable for me. The hospital in question is Chulalongkorn. I spent another hour today talking with the social service worker and they insist they need a stamp from my embassy. My embassy told me Thai translations have nothing to do with them and simply handed me a list of translators.

The idea of waiting is not practical. I need to get gold cards for the children immediately. Their hospital bills are over 22,000 baht per day. Until they have a gold card I have to pay this. I can not wait for the mother to be released and do it myself. I must have the birth certificate immediately. 

Not sure what is going to happen. I need a "certified translation" by 8 am tomorrow morning. Of course, since no such thing exists it is impossible for me to obtain one. I plan on doing a translation by myself and simply handing it to the hospital in the morning. If they hand it back to me and say it is not acceptable then I'm not sure what I am going to do. It is physically impossible for me to give them what they are asking for.  They can demand I make 2+2 = 5 also, but it will never happen.

It is not that the hospital is not trying to help. They just say they need this document which does not physically exist. Neither one of us knows what to do after that.

Does anyone know what a "passport translation" looks like? Is it simply a list of items like name, date of birth, etc. with one item per line? That is what I am planning on doing, but I don't know if there is an official format.

Anyone ever done this before?

[Mario2008]

Looks to me that the hospital wants to do the birth registration themselves.

A translation of your passport i simply that, a translation of your passport ID-part. Some amphurs insist on it. It is needed to establish your name in Thai, as the document will be in Thai. If you didn't record your name elsewhere in Thai, this is the Thai spelling of your name you are advised to use from now on. The tranlation can be made by everyone and you certify it usually by just signig it and acknowleding by that it is a true copy (and not fake). In case of a translation, the translator signs it.

[MikeyIdea]

Very simple answer to your problem: Stamp from the embassy does not exist and you can't get one. Well, stamp exists but they are not going to stamp anything in Thai. Embassies deliberately refuse so that nothing can come back and haunt them not their job.<BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break">

Yes I have done this before, so has a number of my friends including one for a child born at Chulalongkorn hospital (but that was nearly 10 years ago). Most common and what I did myself too is: The officer asks how the fathers name is spelled in Thai, I repeat the name a couple of times and then the officer writes it down in Thai and asks if it is OK. Another possibility is: The officer requires a note with the fathers name written in Thai on. The mother writes it and the father hands it over. A third possibility is have the mother translate the id part of the passport on a piece of paper and you sign. That's a certified translation by you. A fourth possibility is to take the passport to a translation agency and they translate for you, then sign and stamp it certified translation. That paper is certainly going to be accepted at the amphur. Try that before you go for the father blank option

You have just introduced possibility number 5… Not your fault

I don't understand where the gold card fits in. Your write as if your children already are in hospital, then it is a pre-existing condition and no insurance I know of would pay.

I agree with what Mario2008 says; Looks like the hospital wants to do the birth registration themselves.

If they don't accept what you give them You don't have authority to do it so get the mother to order the officer to leave the fathers name blank and hand over the hospital papers to her and she and the father will do the registration themselves thank you very much The hospital has no right to refuse the mother the papers, they have the right to refuse you though. The mother can temporarily leave the hospital also if she is admitted and that is what she has to do I suppose

Good Luck

Edited June 9, 2010 by MikeyIdea

[BuddhistDruid]

I don't understand where the gold card fits in. Your write as if your children already are in hospital, then it is a pre-existing condition and no insurance I know of would pay.

The answer behind this is that the children are under the mother's plan (in this case, cash) until such time as the mother is no longer a patient at the hospital. At that point, the hospital has a responsibility to deal with the children as independent entities. NICU care is considered an emergency, they can't simply throw the children into the street, and thus the government gold card scheme becomes applicable. This requires only that the children have a gold card and that the mother no longer be a patient at the hospital.

The second requirement can be met by either transferring the mother to a different hospital (her choice since she is admitted on a cash basis) or else by the doctor's discharging her. She can even check out against medical advice to meet the requirement. In any of these instances, the children become independent Thai citizens and are entitled to free medical care. The social worker at Chulangkorn was very helpful in explaining the details of the law to me.

I agree with what Mario2008 says; Looks like the hospital wants to do the birth registration themselves.

Yes, they are going to do it themselves. I do not mind. The mother and I are not married, and I have already contracted a lawyer to start the process of legalization. I want to make sure everything is above board here. From what I have been able to read on this site, the "register them yourself" option seems to be of dubious legality.

As an update to this story, I translated the passport by myself, signed it, and handed it to them this morning. It is amazing how much you can do yourself simply by looking at a Thai passport (which already has most of the translations) and letting translate.google.com take care of anything you don't know. It is surprisingly good. Translate from English to Thai and then translate the resulting Thai back to English to make sure you got the correct meaning.

In any case, the hospital tried once more to say I needed a stamp when I handed them the paperwork. I told them my embassy said it was impossible. They then accepted my documents and told me to come back at 9 am tomorrow. If all goes well this saga should be over, I should have the birth certificate in hand, and I can apply for the gold card (which I should be able to get the same day) and start the process with the lawyer to legalize the children.

It then just comes down to whether they discharge the mother tomorrow, or we have to move her somewhere else. Either way, the NICU care should be paid for by the government after that point.  I'll check back in one more time to let everyone know how it went.

BTW, the staff at Chulalongkorn really are helpful. They honestly try to help you solve problems. It is not their fault if the law is unreasonable. I have nothing but good things to say about them.

 

[MikeyIdea]

OK, very valid points. Thanks for pointing out the government gold card plan. Can you provide some more info please. Very good info to know. The normal Bupa insurances that many of us have will easily get overrun in a real emergency

Glad that you got the paper work done. Your opinion of Chula is the same as I always have heard, they're good nice and friendly. Waiting times for normal treatment is a different matter though. "It is not their fault if the law is unreasonable" - There is no law for certified translation of the fathers name, in this case it is Chula that wants to complicate things.

[BuddhistDruid]

I'm happy to report that everything went fine at the hospital today. After receiving the birth certificate, we were a little slow in getting to the ampur to get the children added to the house papers, and traffic getting back compounded the problem. With all the delays, Chulalongkorn did not get the gold cards issued for us until almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon.  The mother will be discharged tomorrow, and at that point the babies will officially be placed under the government sponsored health care scheme. This will stop the drain on my wallet, which is good since I am well past the point of being able to pay the bills. A typical day in the NICU at a government hospital like Chulalongkorn will cost about 7000 baht per bed per day.  These charges can add up very quickly for a lengthy stay, especially with twins.

As a word of advice to anyone else possibly in this same circumstance in the future. If you want to try and accomplish everything in the same day, get a very early start. If you can get the paperwork for the birth certificate in by 8am, you should have the documents by about 1 o'clock - 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The procedure to get the children added to the house papers once you have these documents only takes about 15 minutes if the office is not busy, and issuing the gold card takes about another 2 hours. It is possible to get it all done in 1 day, but only if you are well prepared, know exactly where to go at each step and traffic cooperates. 

The requirement for a "certified translation" of your passport will be relaxed if you are persistent. It is a only soft requirement. Chulalongkorn at least will eventually relent. Other hospitals may not. You can do it yourself if you have access to a Thai passport and Google or similar Thai translation program.

There is not much to say about the gold card scheme. It is available to anyone who is registered on a blue house book. That includes farangs who have obtained permanent residency. Neither ID cards nor citizenship is required.  You are required to choose a participating hospital in your home province for normal service. In an emergency situation, you can go to any participating hospital necessary. If you go anywhere other than your specified hospital however and it is not an emergency, you will have to pay cash.  There are even 1 or 2 private hospitals in Bangkok that accept the gold card, but this is extremely rare. For the most part, you will need to use a government hospital. Some of these like Chulalongkorn and Siriraj are very good. Some are not as good.  Service is of course provided Thai style. Little English is spoken. If it is not an emergency, be prepared to spend a couple of hours waiting in the queue for your name to be called.  Even if you have been admitted on a different basis, it is possible to change to a gold card if you realize your cash and/or insurance is about to run out.  Thus, you may decide to ignore your selected hospital and just pay cash at any government hospital you like. If the problem is serious and you are admitted on an emergency basis, you can then change to gold card at that point.  

Also note that in an emergency a hospital can not refuse to accept you if you walk in yourself, but they can refuse to accept you if you try transfer from another hospital. This means if you normally use private insurance at a hospital that does not participate in the government gold card scheme and you exceed your limit, it may be necessay to check out of the private hospital yourself and drive to the emergency room at a government hospital. If you try to coordinate an ambulance from one hospital to another they can legally say no. 

[MikeyIdea]

Glad that all went well

Thank you very much for the information about the gold card.

[chris5346]

hi,

yes i had to do the same when i recently registered birth in chiang mai, i got mine from an agency that do visa service and translations - 200Baht.

i had to goto 2 ampurs - first time for the birth certificate and they photo copied the translated passport and the second was to add baby to kor ror 14 book where they kept original that time.

maybe you can do everything in one day at same ampur office but i had to get some signatures from my landlord b4 adding to the kor ror 14.

if anyone needs help let me know , you can get some hospitals to do it for you but maybe better to do it yourself,

i did it myself to get my name written as the father on the kor ror 14 which will help me get a visa because were not married.

chris

[easyridercc]

I recently registered thai birth certificate at Chulalongkorn and found this post helpful.  Wanted to update it with more recent experience for other parents (I am english, girlfriend is thai).

 

In the delivery room we were given list of documents I needed as a foreigner to appear as the dad on the thai birth certificate.  One of these was a thai translation of my passport, certified by my embassy.  I phoned up the UK embassy and they said it was not possible for them to certify/stamp a thai translation.

 

I went with a thai friend to 22nd floor government counter at Chulalongkorn where births are registered.  My friend spoke to the official and she kindly explained following documents were ok:

- 2 copies of my passport, translated into thai by translation shop  (no embassy certification required)

- 2 copies of my visa page in my passport

- 2 copies of my work permit

 

When our child was born few days later we successful got a thai birth certificate from the same counter, very easy with above copies and originals.

 

It is confusing the initial list of documents hospital gives you has passport translation certified by embassy, but the government counter seen to not push for this anymore.

[BritManToo]

Nearly 10 year old thread revived.

Not to mention factually wrong,

copies of passport translated, not required, VISA page not required, work permit not required.

Birth certificate, nothing to do with the hospital, they just provide a birth confirmation document.

Edited February 17, 2019 by BritManToo

[easyridercc]

At chula there is government desk that actual issue the birth certificate right there, its not the hospital issuing the birth certificate but avoids a trip to the local ampher.

My post is a list based on recent experience at chula only, might not be there same as your local ampher.

Nearly 10 year old thread revived.
Not to mention factually wrong,
copies of passport translated, not required, VISA page not required, work permit not required.
Birth certificate, nothing to do with the hospital, they just provide a birth confirmation document.

Sent from my E5803 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, easyridercc said:

At chula there is government desk that actual issue the birth certificate right there, its not the hospital issuing the birth certificate but avoids a trip to the local ampher.

My post is a list based on recent experience at chula only, might not be there same as your local ampher.

The only legal requirements for a Thai birth certificate are, the child's name must be unique, and it must be registered at the Amphur within 2 weeks of birth.

Any other requirements are purely bogus and introduced because they don't like foreigners (or don't like the look of you) and want to be as difficult as possible.

Edited February 17, 2019 by BritManToo