Section 1547: Legitimation by father, three routes
Statutory text (Thai original)
เด็กเกิดจากบิดามารดาที่มิได้สมรสกัน จะเป็นบุตรชอบด้วยกฎหมายต่อเมื่อบิดามารดาได้สมรสกันในภายหลังหรือบิดาได้จดทะเบียนว่าเป็นบุตรหรือศาลพิพากษาว่าเป็นบุตร
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
English translation
A child born of the parents who are not married to each other is legitimate by the subsequent marriage of the parents, or by the registration made on application by the father, or by a judgment of the Court.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 1547 is the path from §1546 illegitimacy to full legal parent-child status. Route 1 (marriage) is automatic, registering marriage with the mother legitimates the child retroactively to birth. Route 2 (consensual registration) is fast and simple at the amphur, requires the mother's and the child's (if 7+) consent. Route 3 (court order) is for cases where consent is refused, DNA evidence is typically required, and the child's welfare is paramount. Foreign fathers commonly use Route 2 to gain custody rights, inheritance for the child, and immigration sponsorship opportunities.
Why this matters in practice
For lawyers: when advising unmarried parents, emphasise that registration of paternity requires the mother's consent and, if the child is over 7, the child's consent; contested paternity requires DNA evidence. For clients: the fastest route is registration at the Amphur (requires mother and child's consent); if the mother refuses, a court action is needed.
Legislative history
Section 1547 has applied since the B.E. 2519 revision. The Marriage Equality Act (No. 24, B.E. 2567), in force 22 Jan 2025, extended the subsequent-marriage route to same-sex couples; a child born to a same-sex couple prior to or after the Act may be legitimated when the parents register their marriage.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 452/2553 (2010)
Legitimation by subsequent marriage under §1547 takes effect from the date of marriage, not from the child's birth.
Under §1547, a child born to unmarried parents becomes the father's legitimate child upon the parents' subsequent marriage; however, the child's legitimacy relative to the father takes effect from the date of that marriage, not retroactively from birth.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 3019/2541 (1998)
All three legitimation routes under §1547 confer full parental rights once completed.
A child can become the father's legitimate child under §1547 by subsequent marriage of the parents, by paternity registration, or by court judgment; all three routes are available, and the child acquires full parental rights once legitimated.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 19 Supreme Court decisions (1971 to 2023)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 3772/2565 (2022) Father May Re-File Paternity Claim if Prior Case Ended in Settlement Rather Than Adjudication
- Decision 5660/2559 (2016)
- Decision 12502/2558 (2015)
- Decision 3602/2556 (2013)
- Decision 1572/2552 (2009)
- Decision 10220/2551 (2008)
- Decision 6981/2547 (2004)
- Decision 3019/2541 (1998)
This list is selected automatically, weighted towards judgments that turn on this section rather than ones that merely recite it when passing sentence. It has not yet been reviewed by the firm.
Most often cited alongside
Sections that appear in the same judgments as this one most often. The figure is the number of decisions.
Counted across the firm's corpus of 83,652 Supreme Court decisions, 1921 to 2026. The count is complete; the stated year range trims rare outliers so it describes where the citations actually sit. These figures are computed by us and are not official court statistics. How we count these, and what we measured
Frequently asked questions
If I marry my child's other parent after the child is born, does the child automatically become my legitimate child?
Yes. Under §1547(1), when unmarried parents subsequently marry, the child becomes the legitimate child of both parents from the date of that marriage. The child acquires full inheritance rights from both parents and is entitled to parental support from both.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Civil and Commercial Code, s. 1547 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Civil and Commercial Code (Thailand), s. 1547. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-1547/ (accessed 8 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.พ.พ. มาตรา 1547 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-1547/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-1547/"><p>A child born of the parents who are not married to each other is legitimate by the subsequent marriage of the parents, or by the registration made on application by the father, or by a judgment of the Court.</p><footer>Civil and Commercial Code, s. 1547 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-1547/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.