Translation:Names of Persons Act, 2484 Buddhist Era
Names of Persons
Act,
2484 Buddhist Era
In the name of King Ananda Mahidol
The Council of Regency
(under the Announcement of the President of the House of
Representatives dated 4 August 2480 Buddhist Era)
Aditya Dibabha
General Phitchayenyothin
Enacted on the 10th day of October 2484 Buddhist Era
Being the 8th year of the present reign
Whereas the House of Representatives has resolved that it is appropriate to improve the provisions regarding names of persons so that they suit the time and age;
Therefore, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives, a Great Royal Command is given for enactment of the following Act:
Section1.This Act shall be called the Names of Persons Act, 2484 Buddhist Era.
Section2.This Act shall enter into operation from the day of its publication in the Royal Gazette onwards.
Section3.The parts of the other laws, statutes, and rules which have been incorporated into this Act or are repugnant to this Act shall all be repealed.
Section4.In this Act—
“given name” refers to the name specific to a person;
“secondary name” refers to a supplementary name next to the given name;
“family name” refers to the name specific to a family;
“Minister” refers to the Minister in charge of implementation of this Act.
Section5.A person must have a given name and a family, and if he wishes to have a secondary name, he shall be permitted to do so.
Section6.A given name or secondary must not be created with the intention to make it identical or similar to a royally conferred name or family name of another person.
Section7.A person permitted by His Majesty to relinquish a noble title may use a royally conferred name as his secondary name.
Section8.No family name—
(1)shall be identical or intended to be similar to the name of a member of the Royal Household holding the rank of phra-ongchao or higher;
(2)shall be identical or intended to be similar to a royally conferred name;
(3)shall contain an impolite word or meaning;
(4)shall require the writing of more than ten consonants, save where a royally conferred name is used as a family name in accordance with the dispositions of section 18;
(5)shall duplicate a family name already registered.
Section9.When any family still has no family name, the head of that family shall choose any name as its family name and file an application for registration thereof with a district council at the district office of the locality where the applicant is domiciled.
The district council shall issue an announcement informing the local people thereof for a period of fifteen days before forwarding the matter together with objections, if any, to others in the relevant order.
Once permission has been obtained from the Minister for the use of the family name, the district council shall register such family name and issue a certificate indicating the registration thereof to the applicant.
Section10.A family name which has been registered shall be used by the consanguineous descendants of that family as their family name.
Section11.The head of a family which has registered the family name may permit a brother or sister born of the same father as him to use such family name.
Section12.The head of any family which still has no family name is entitled to use the family name registered by the head of a family who is his elder or younger brother born of the same father as him.
Section13.A woman who has a husband shall use the family name of the husband.
Section14.Any person may use the matrilineal family name as long as his father is not known.
Section15.The administrator of a hospital or child foster centre may apply for registration of a family name for use by the children in that hospital or child foster centre whose fathers and mothers are not known.
Section16.Change of one’s own given name, secondary name, or family name or that of a person under one’s guardianship, custodianship, or curatorship may be done only upon permission of the Minister.
Section17.An application for change of a given name, secondary name, or family name shall be filed, together with a statement of grounds, with a district council at the district office of the locality where the applicant is domiciled.
In the event that change of a family name is applied for, the district council shall issue an announcement informing the local people thereof for a period of fifteen days before forwarding the matter together with objections, if any, to others in the relevant order.
Section18.Any person who wishes to use his own royally conferred name as a family name, whether in whole or in part, shall file a petition with the Minister to further be forwarded to the King. Once royal permission has been obtained and evidence has been brought for registration before a district council at the district office of the locality where the petitioner is domiciled, the family name shall be considered lawful.
Section19.Fees shall be demanded from the persons applying for change to a new family name according to the rate designated in a ministerial statute, but not exceeding ten baht each.
Section20.On public documents, a person shall be named by a combination of his given name, secondary name if any, and family name, save where he has a royally conferred name.
Section21.The Minister of Interior shall ensure implementation of this Act and shall have the power to issue ministerial statutes designate fees and designating other matters for the execution of this Act.
Those ministerial statutes shall enter into operation upon publication in the Royal Gazette.
Countersignature
Phibunsongkhram
Prime Minister
This Act is enacted for newly improving and compiling the provisions related to names of persons so that they be suitable with the time and age.
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
| Original: |
This work is in the public domain worldwide because it originated in Thailand and is a work under section 7(2) of Thailand's Copyright Act, 2537 BE (1994) (WIPO translation), which provides:
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| Translation: |
I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In case this is not legally possible: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.
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