อำนาจปกครอง (อำนาจปกครอง): มาตรา 1566

ตรวจสอบโดย ThaiLawOnline สำนักงานกฎหมายไทยที่ได้รับใบอนุญาตและดำเนินกิจการในประเทศไทยตั้งแต่ปี พ.ศ. 2549 ทนายความผู้รับผิดชอบสำนวน: วิชุดา อรรถเมธากุล, น.ม., ใบอนุญาตให้เป็นทนายความ เลขที่ 3149/2556.

ปรับปรุงล่าสุดเมื่อ 27 กันยายน 2569

อำนาจปกครองบุตร (อำนาจปกครอง, amnat pokkhrong, หรือที่แปลว่า parental authority or, loosely, การดูแล) is the legal authority over a minor child that Section 1566 of the Thai ประมวลกฎหมายแพ่งและพาณิชย์ vests in the parents. It is the Thai equivalent of custody, but a bundle of statutory powers rather than a court label. Who holds it decides who can choose the child’s school, sign for a passport, consent to medical treatment and represent the child in a legal act.

Who holds parental power and what it contains

มาตรา 1566 places a child under the parental power of the father and mother. It rests with one parent alone where the other has died or it is uncertain whether they are alive, has been declared incompetent or quasi-incompetent, has been admitted to hospital for mental illness, where the court so orders, or where the parents have agreed in a case the law allows. A child born to unmarried parents is the legitimate child of the mother only, so she holds parental power alone until the father is legitimated under Section 1547 by marrying the mother, registering at the amphur with the consent of mother and child, or by court judgment. Even then, Section 1549 lets the mother or child, within 90 days of being notified of the registration, have the registrar record that the father is unfit to exercise parental power in whole or in part; he then cannot exercise that part until a court rules in his favour or 90 days pass without them asking the court to confirm it.

มาตรา 1567 lists what the power contains: determining the child’s residence, discipline to correct the child, which may not amount to cruelty or to physical or mental violence, requiring work suitable to the child’s ability, and demanding the child’s return from anyone who detains them unlawfully. The holder is also the child’s legal representative under Section 1569 and manages the child’s property under Sections 1571 to 1574, with court permission required for acts such as selling the child’s land. Parental power ends at majority, age 20.

Where a foreign parent meets the rule

The first practical point is the birth certificate. A foreign father named on a Thai birth certificate has no parental power unless he was married to the mother or has since been legitimated; the certificate records a fact, not a status. Without legitimation he cannot apply for the child’s passport, cannot object to the child leaving Thailand, and has no standing in a custody dispute. The guide to legitimation of a father’s rights sets out the three routes and the 60-day consent window at the amphur.

Where both parents hold parental power, each can act alone in day-to-day matters, but the amphur, immigration and the passport office often ask for a consent letter (ป.พ.ส. 14) from the other parent before a child travels or a document is issued. Separating parents should record who exercises parental power in the ข้อตกลงการหย่าร้าง under Section 1520; taking a child abroad without consent risks an abduction claim.

Custody orders, deprivation and the child’s welfare

On divorce, the spouses agree who exercises parental power or the court decides under Sections 1520 and 1521, on the child’s welfare. Joint parental power remains possible after divorce. The parent without it keeps a right of การเยี่ยมเยียน and the duty of maintenance under Section 1564, which runs until the child is 20, so losing parental power does not end child support.

Section 1582 allows the court to deprive a parent of parental power, wholly or in part, where the parent has been declared incompetent or quasi-incompetent, misuses the power over the child, or behaves badly; a parent who goes bankrupt or mismanages the child’s property can instead lose the management of that property. The court may act on its own motion or at the request of a relative or the public prosecutor. Deprivation is reversible when the cause ends (Section 1583). The proceedings belong to the Juvenile and ศาลเยาวชนและครอบครัว, as described in the guide to สิทธิในการดูแลบุตรในประเทศไทย.

มีการตรวจสอบล่าสุดเมื่อวันที่ 27 กันยายน 2026. Civil and Commercial Code sections 1520, 1521, 1547 to 1549, 1564, 1566, 1567, 1569, 1571, 1574, 1582 and 1583 were read in Thai. Whether joint parental power may continue after divorce, and the passport and travel-consent practice described above, are practice points, not re-read from a statute in this review.

คำถามที่พบบ่อย

ดูเพิ่มเติม: สิทธิของผู้ปกครอง, legitimation (Section 1547), การดูแลบุตร, ค่าเลี้ยงดูบุตร, อำนาจปกครองบุตรแต่เพียงผู้เดียว, and the guide to สิทธิในการดูแลบุตรในประเทศไทย.