Tabien baan: Thai house registration if you were born abroad

What is a tabien baan?

A tabien baan, ทะเบียนบ้าน (tha-bian baan), is a Thai house registration: the official record of who is registered at an address in Thailand. For someone born abroad, getting your name into one is the step that gives you a place in the Thai population database.

The Chicago consulate puts it plainly. Adding a child’s name to the household register is “required to obtain a person’s entry and a 13-digit ID number in the national population database.” It adds that this is linked to rights and duties “such as voting and applying for a passport.”

You’ll see the term in our glossary too.

Blue book, yellow book: which one is yours?

If you’re Thai, it’s the blue one. Thai business paper Thansettakij describes the blue book, form 14, as the house registration for Thai nationals and for foreigners who hold an alien identity certificate. The Washington DC embassy calls “Tor Ror. 14” the “regular house registration”. The yellow book, form 13, is for foreigners without that certificate. A municipal guide from a municipality in Ayutthaya province shows that a foreign passport holder in Thailand on a valid stay can be added to this separate register.

So a family can have more than one kind of book, depending on each person’s nationality and status. If your parents aren’t sure which one you’d go into, the district office will say.

Why does it matter if you live abroad?

Because so much of the rest of the Thai paper trail hangs on it.

• The 13-digit ID number. This is how you get one, per Chicago and Washington DC.
• A second Thai passport for a child. Washington DC says a child born in the United States can’t get a second passport until the name is in a Thai house registration. Parents then bring the updated registration to the appointment.
• The Thai ID card. Your first card is made in Thailand, and you need to be on a house registration first (see our ID card guide).
• An adult passport. How this fits with your first adult Thai passport is in should I get my Thai passport?.

For men, the house registration can also matter for military service. For students, Washington DC says education-deferment requests go to the military recruitment office in the area “where their name is registered in the household register.” The details, and what we couldn’t confirm, are in our guide to Thai military service for luk khrueng men. Ask your embassy early if this applies to you or your son.

How does a child born abroad get added?

It starts with the Thai birth certificate, สูติบัตร (suu-ti-bat), from the Thai embassy or consulate where the child was born. Our guide to registering a birth at a Thai embassy compares the posts.

Straight after the certificate, the name may sit in a central register. Canberra says: “After the issuance of Thai Birth Certificate, the child’s name will be registered in Central House Registration.” It advises the Thai parent to register the child in their own house in Thailand afterwards, through the district office where that house is registered.

Then the name moves into a regular house registration. Washington DC says: “Parents can contact the district office or the district chief’s office where they have their permanent residence in Thailand.” In practice this is usually the Thai parent’s house, at the district office (อำเภอ) or a municipal registration office.

Who goes to the counter. Washington DC says: “Parents can either complete this registration themselves or grant power of attorney to another person to do it on their behalf.” Its page links to how to certify the signature on that document.

What papers do district offices ask for?

We couldn’t find one national checklist on an official English page. What we did find are published citizen’s manuals from Thai municipal registration offices, written under the Interior Ministry’s civil registration rules. The one from a municipality in Ayutthaya province for a Thai national born abroad lists:

• the birth record: a birth registration from a Thai embassy or consulate, or a birth record from the country of birth translated and certified by Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• the passport of the person being added (original and copy)
• the house owner’s copy of the house registration
• a Thai ID card, if the applicant has one
• at least two witnesses who can confirm who the person is

The registrar also checks that the head of the household agrees to the name being added. That guide lists no fee and about 30 days in all: up to 60 days if the registrar needs to check the facts, or 90 days if the case goes to the Central Registration Office.

It’s one municipality’s 2015 guide, marked as still awaiting final approval, so treat it as a starting list only. Call the office that holds the house registration before anyone travels.

Can an adult born abroad do it from abroad?

Sometimes, but it’s a separate case. The same municipality’s guides cover a Thai person born abroad who has a necessary reason they can’t travel back to Thailand. In that route, the house owner (or the person) files at the office where the person’s parents, relatives or guardian live. The registrar interviews the house owner and people who can vouch for the person about their background and why they can’t come. Listed documents include the house registration, the birth record and other official papers such as school or military records, if any.

For an adult who can travel, the usual route in those guides is to go in person, with the two witnesses. Ask your embassy which route fits your case.

What if your name is stuck in the central register?

This matters if you were registered as a child and nobody moved the name on. Washington DC explains that people in the central house registration can’t apply for a Thai ID card in the United States. It recommends asking the registration office to remove the name, so the person can be on a temporary registration for people living abroad. That can be done in person or by authorizing someone else.

Its FAQ also says Thai nationals who live abroad for a long time can report a change from the regular house registration to that temporary registration for people abroad, and keep the right to apply for an ID card abroad.

There is one harder case. If a name has been removed from the house register altogether, Washington DC calls it “Tor Ror. 97” and says this must be fixed in person, not by someone else. The Washington DC embassy offers to check whether your name is in the central registration.

How do you move to a different house registration?

Moving is a separate, shorter process. A municipal guide from Yaring says the person moving, or someone they assign, reports the move at the new address’s registration office within 15 days of moving in. It lists the reporter’s ID card, the move-out form from the old address, the owner’s copy of the new house’s registration, and the owner’s ID card copy with written consent if the owner doesn’t come. That guide lists a 20 baht fee. Rules can differ by office, so ask first.

What we couldn’t confirm

We only publish what an official page, published government guide or established news source says. We found no clear answer to:

• one national list of documents that every district office uses for people born abroad
• whether every district office accepts a power of attorney for adding an adult’s name
• whether a foreign birth certificate needs a Thai translation if you already have a Thai embassy birth certificate
• how long a name can stay in the central register before it is removed

We re-check this guide at least every 90 days.

Thai words on this page are a draft until a native speaker has reviewed them.