{"id":1791,"date":"2026-04-18T17:01:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/glossary\/child-custody\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T19:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T12:34:35","slug":"child-custody","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/child-custody\/","title":{"rendered":"Child Custody in Thailand: Meaning and How It Is Decided"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>garde d&#039;enfants<\/strong> (\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e1b\u0e01\u0e04\u0e23\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e1a\u0e38\u0e15\u0e23, in the Code <em>pouvoir parental<\/em> ou <em>amnat pokkhrong<\/em>) is the bundle of rights and duties a parent holds over a minor child: residence, schooling, medical decisions, discipline and management of the child&#8217;s property. Thai law does not use the word custody; Sections 1566 to 1567 of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/thai-civil-and-commercial-code\/\">Code civil et commercial<\/a> speak of parental power, held by both parents during marriage and allocated between them at divorce or separation. The allocation is made by a written agreement registered at the district office or by the Juvenile and Family Court, on one test: the best interests of the child.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table des mati\u00e8res<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#what-the-code-says-about-parental-power\">What the Code says about parental power<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#how-custody-is-decided-in-practice\">How custody is decided in practice<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#sole-custody-joint-custody-and-relocation\">Sole custody, joint custody and relocation<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-the-code-says-about-parental-power\">What the Code says about parental power<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>During the marriage<\/strong> both parents hold parental power under Section 1566. Section 1567 lists its content: fixing the child&#8217;s residence, reasonable discipline, requiring suitable work, and demanding the child back from anyone who keeps the child without right. Section 1571 adds management of the child&#8217;s property, and Section 1574 requires court approval before a parent sells or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/mortgage\/\">mortgages<\/a> the child&#8217;s land.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p><strong>At divorce<\/strong> Section 1520 requires spouses divorcing by consent to record in writing who exercises parental power over each child; failing agreement, or in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/contested-divorce\/\">divorce contest\u00e9<\/a>, the court decides, and may give parental power to a third person if the child&#8217;s welfare requires. Section 1521 lets the court change the arrangement if the parent exercising it behaves improperly, and Section 1582 allows it to be withdrawn from a parent who abuses it. Maintenance under Section 1564 continues whoever has custody.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-custody-is-decided-in-practice\">How custody is decided in practice<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>The cheapest route is agreement. In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/uncontested-divorce\/\">uncontested divorce<\/a> the amphur registrar records a short clause on parental power, contact and maintenance; parents who want a workable arrangement bring their own signed agreement and have it referenced. Where the parents cannot agree, or were never married, the case goes to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/family-court\/\">Tribunal pour enfants et pour la famille<\/a>, which orders a social worker&#8217;s report on each parent&#8217;s home, income and relationship with the child, and pushes the parties to mediate before trial.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>The court weighs the child&#8217;s age and needs, continuity of home and school, each parent&#8217;s conduct (violence, addiction and abandonment weigh heavily), ability to provide, the emotional bond, keeping siblings together and, for an older child, the child&#8217;s own wishes. Nationality is not a factor. Young children are often placed with the mother where she provides daily care, but foreign fathers who show a stable home obtain custody regularly. An unmarried father has no parental power until <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/legitimation\/\">l\u00e9gitimation<\/a> under Section 1547; the mother holds it alone under Section 1546.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sole-custody-joint-custody-and-relocation\">Sole custody, joint custody and relocation<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Joint parental power leaves each parent with a veto on major decisions, including moving the child abroad. Sole parental power removes that veto but not the other parent&#8217;s right of contact under Section 1584\/1. Under Section 1567(1) the right to decide where the child lives belongs to whoever holds parental power, so a parent with shared power who takes the child out of Thailand without the other&#8217;s consent, a registered agreement or a court order risks an international child abduction case.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Thailand acceded to the 1980 Hague Convention in 2002, with the Office of the Attorney General as Central Authority, but the Convention operates only with countries that have accepted the accession, and foreign custody orders are not enforced in Thailand as such; the matter must be brought before the Thai court.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/h2>\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-1\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Can a foreigner get custody of a child in Thailand?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Yes. The court applies the best interests of the child, and nationality is not one of the factors. A foreign parent who shows a stable home, income, involvement in the child&#8217;s schooling and daily care, and a plan for the child&#8217;s future can be given sole or shared parental power, and foreign fathers regularly obtain custody where the Thai mother has left or cannot care for the child.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-2\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Does the mother automatically get custody in Thailand?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Only where the parents were never married: under Section 1546 the mother alone holds parental power until the father completes legitimation. Between married parents both hold parental power, and at divorce the court decides on the child&#8217;s welfare rather than on a presumption in favour of either parent, although young children are often placed with the parent providing day-to-day care.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-3\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Is a foreign custody order valid in Thailand?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Not directly. Thai courts do not enforce foreign custody judgments as such, and immigration will not act on them. A parent with a foreign order must apply to the Juvenile and Family Court, which may treat the order as evidence but decides afresh on the child&#8217;s best interests. Return of an abducted child may be sought under the Hague Convention where the other country has accepted Thailand&#8217;s accession.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Voir aussi\u00a0: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/parental-powers\/\">pouvoirs parentaux<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/full-custody\/\">full (sole) custody<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/visitation-rights\/\">droits de visite<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/child-support\/\">pension alimentaire pour enfants<\/a>, and the full guides to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/child-custody-in-thailand\/\">garde d&#039;enfants en Tha\u00eflande<\/a> ET <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/child-abduction-in-thailand\/\">Enl\u00e8vement d&#039;enfants en Tha\u00eflande<\/a>.<\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Child custody (\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e1b\u0e01\u0e04\u0e23\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e1a\u0e38\u0e15\u0e23, in the Code parental power or amnat pokkhrong) is the bundle of rights and duties a parent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":214,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"child custody thailand","rank_math_title":"Child Custody Thailand: How Courts Decide | ThaiLawOnline","rank_math_description":"Child custody in Thailand is decided by agreement at the amphur or by the Juvenile and Family Court on the child's best interests. What the Code says.","rank_math_breadcrumb_title":""},"class_list":["post-1791","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1791"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6873,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1791\/revisions\/6873"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}