Before Reading: Which Situation Are You In?
How to divorce, how to divide marital property, and the principles the court uses to decide who should have parental authority are already in the Guide to Filing for Divorce and Child Custody Rights. This guide covers what happens after that and matters of parents who never registered their marriage — the other party stopped paying, the agreed figures are no longer enough, the father still has no legal status over the child, the other party took the child away, or one is about to sign an agreement at the district office.
⚠️ The most important warning of this guide: a record or agreement made before a registrar at the district office, whether it is a note attached to the divorce registration or a general statement record, is not a court judgment or a court order. Whether these documents bind the parties as an agreement depends on the type and wording of each document (see Section 5), but regardless of type, they are not documents that can be taken to an enforcement officer to garnish the other party's salary immediately like a court writ. Generally, one must go to court first — many people learn this fact only after the other party has stopped paying for two years.
1. The Other Party Is Not Paying — What Can You Actually Do?
Start by checking what you are holding. If you have no documents at all, or only a record made at the district office (which has several types with different effects — see Section 5), the first task is to make the matter enforceable, not to chase payment.
If you have no documents at all, you must understand clearly that you are not starting from zero. Oral agreements, chat messages, and transfer evidence are not yet documents that can immediately be used to seize or attach assets, because enforcement requires a judgment or court order. However, they may have effect as an agreement and can be used as evidence in filing a lawsuit, depending on the wording and the facts of each case. Therefore, keep all of them complete, do not delete them, and keep the continuous conversation thread — not individual screenshots, which can easily be disputed as having been cut out of context. In the meantime, make a table showing how much should have been received each month and how much was actually received, and attach the payment slips.
What you should not do is cut off contact between the child and the other party in order to pressure them, because it often backfires and harms your case — unless there are reasons concerning the child's safety, in which case you must promptly consult a lawyer and notify the authorities, not quietly cut off contact on your own.
When you already have a judgment but still have not received the money, the basic sequence is: apply for an execution writ → investigate the assets to see what income and property the other party holds in their own name → attach or seize. The point that makes you lose even though you won the case is the asset investigation stage, not the filing stage. This mechanism is already covered in the debt collection and enforcement guide, and enforcement has its own time frame — do not leave the judgment sitting for many years.
But a child support case does not only involve asset investigation–seizure–attachment like ordinary debt. The point people often do not know is that family law has specific enforcement measures of its own, under Section 162 of the Juvenile and Family Court and Its Procedure Act, which opens the way for the court to use tools that directly address the problem of "there is an order but they still refuse to pay," rather than asset investigation alone. These include:
- Ordering the person obliged to pay to deposit money with the court, so that the money truly exists in the system, rather than a promise to pay.
- Ordering attachment of regular income through the employer or the payor, to have it deducted and remitted in accordance with the court order — the most effective measure against a person with regular income.
- Summoning the person for questioning and admonishment, to explain before the court why they have not complied.
- If they still fail to comply without reasonable cause, the court may issue an arrest warrant and order detention for no more than 15 days at a time, to compel compliance with the order.
You must understand this correctly: The above measures are at the discretion of the Juvenile and Family Court to apply when it deems appropriate; they are not something a party can invoke on their own. They are enforcement measures under family law to secure compliance with a court order — not a criminal conviction and not a penalty under a criminal judgment. This is a separate matter from an allegation of the offence of abandonment, which has its own elements and procedures. On the other hand, the party in arrears should not be complacent that "at worst, my assets will just be seized," because ignoring a court order without acceptable reasons can have real personal consequences.
The most commonly misunderstood point: For attachment of salary to pay child support, the Legal Execution Department treats this as a special case; it does not apply the same criteria as for ordinary debt. Do not compare the exemption figures or caps from credit card or loan cases, because the rules are different. How much can be attached in your case depends on the type of income and the circumstances of the case — have the enforcement officer or a lawyer verify first.
"If I Don't Pay, Do I Go to Prison?" — Three Separate Things
Falling behind on child support does not automatically become a criminal case. What commonly gets confused is:
- Civil enforcement — the main channel for actually getting the money; it has nothing to do with imprisonment.
- Enforcement measures for failure to comply with a family court order — if there is a court order and the other party deliberately fails to comply, the court may apply the measures under Section 162 of the aforementioned Juvenile and Family Court Act as it deems appropriate, from ordering a deposit of money and attachment of regular income to issuing an arrest warrant and ordering detention for no more than 15 days at a time — again, this is compulsion to comply with the order, not a criminal conviction.
- The offence of abandonment — a criminal offence with its own elements, and the law separates it into two offences, not one single combined offence of "abandonment causing danger."
The Two Separate Offences under the Penal Code
| Section 306 of the Penal Code | Section 307 of the Penal Code | |
|---|---|---|
| The abandoned person | A child not older than nine years | A person who cannot support themself due to age, illness, physical disability, or mental disability |
| The offender | Any person, not limited to one with a duty of care | A person who has a duty under the law or by contract to care for that person |
| Nature of the act | Abandoning the child in any place so that the child is separated from the offender, in a manner leaving the child without a caregiver | Abandonment in a manner likely to cause danger to life |
Falling behind on monthly payments alone does not satisfy the elements of either offence. One offence requires abandoning the child in a place so that the child is separated from the offender, leaving the child truly without a caregiver. The other requires a person with a duty of care to commit abandonment in a manner likely to endanger life. As long as the child remains in the other party's normal care, not transferring the money as agreed is a matter to be resolved through enforcement of the court order — not something where filing a police report for criminal prosecution will get the money.
As for how far back you can claim arrears that have been outstanding for many years, this guide does not specify a time frame, because it depends on whether you hold a judgment, when each installment became due, and whether the debt was acknowledged or partially paid. What is certain is that the longer you wait, the more disadvantageous it becomes.
2. Requesting an Increase, a Decrease, and Agreements That Waive a Child's Rights
The child support amount is not locked in for life. When circumstances change significantly — such as school fees clearly rising, the child suffering from a chronic illness, or the payer's income genuinely changing without the payer deliberately rendering himself or herself income-free — the party concerned may ask the court to reconsider. But there must be evidence of the change, not merely a feeling that the amount is not enough. As for when this obligation ends: do not guess; write it in the document from the start. Bear in mind, however, that an end date agreed upon by the adults does not absolutely extinguish the child's rights. If it conflicts with the child's best interests, the court may still reconsider.
An agreement stating, "Hand over the child outright — the other side does not have to pay and does not have to get involved" may not be as binding as one might think. Child support protects the child's best interests; it is not a right that two adults can give away to each other entirely. An agreement that waives future rights may therefore not bind the child or the court. A party who believes that signing ends the matter may be called upon again later.
3. Parents who have not registered their marriage
As a general rule, a child born to parents who have not registered their marriage is the legitimate child of the mother, and the mother is the one who exercises parental authority. As for the father, even if he is the biological father and lets the child use his surname, he is still not the legitimate father until the matter is properly formalized. The father's name on the birth certificate is a record of fact; it does not automatically make him the legitimate father. This affects parental authority, claims made on behalf of the child, and the assertion of rights as a father against third parties.
An important exception regarding inheritance, which must be kept separate from the matter of parental authority. In inheritance matters, a child whom the father has de facto acknowledged — for example, by letting the child use his surname, providing financial support and care, or holding the child out to others as his own, which must be assessed from the facts on a case-by-case basis — may be entitled to inherit from the father under Section 1627, even if the acknowledgment of the child has not been registered. However, this does not, conversely, give the father the right to inherit from the child as a statutory heir. Simply put, there may be an opening on the child's side, whereas a father who has not made the child a legitimate child cannot claim the right to inherit from the child as a statutory heir. This is another reason why the status issue should not be left unresolved.
Three ways to make the child a legitimate child of the father
- The parents register their marriage afterwards.
- Registration of acknowledgment of the child at the district office — fast and does not require going to court, but the law requires the consent of the child and of the mother in accordance with the conditions. If either party does not give consent, or is in a condition where consent cannot be given, the registrar cannot accept the registration; a court judgment must be relied upon instead.
- A court judgment — slower, but it can proceed even if the other party does not cooperate, with DNA test results usually serving as the key evidence.
On the mother's side — the father's duty of support is tied to his being the legitimate father, so the matter of acknowledging the child and claiming child support are usually pursued together.
On the father's side — the truth lies between the claim that "you have no rights at all" and the understanding that "being the real father, you must have rights." What must be clearly understood is that, as long as the child has not been made a legitimate child, the father does not automatically have parental authority or the right to contact the child as a legitimate father. What he does have is the right to use the process — the right to apply for registration of acknowledgment of the child or to file a lawsuit asking the court to adjudge that the child is a legitimate child, and he may also ask the court to determine parental authority or contact with the child in the same proceeding. Therefore, the sequence of steps is the key — regularizing the status is always the first step, and once the status is established, there is then a basis to reach an agreement or to ask the court to determine parental authority and visitation. At the same time, the duty to support the child also arises for the father.
4. The Other Parent Takes the Child and Refuses to Return Them
If the father and mother still hold joint parental authority, one party taking the child to live with them is generally not something the police will prosecute immediately, because both parties have rights over the child. The answer at the police station that "go file a lawsuit with the court" may sound like being brushed off, but legally on this matter, the channel that actually works is the Juvenile and Family Court, so that the court determines who exercises parental authority, the child's place of residence, and visitation and contact.
However, if the parents were not legally married and have not made the child a legitimate child of the father, the mother is the sole holder of parental authority. The case is therefore not one where both parties share parental authority as described above, and a lawyer should assess on a case-by-case basis whether to use the Juvenile and Family Court channel or other channels in conjunction. As for domestic violence, that is a separate matter and must be reported to the authorities immediately.
If the child is taken out of the country Thailand is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, with the Office of the Attorney General serving as Thailand's Central Authority that receives matters under the Convention. But it must be understood correctly that this does not mean every country must automatically return the child. Before getting your hopes up, first check whether the destination country is a party to the Convention and whether it already has a Convention relationship with Thailand, because some countries are parties, but there is not yet a binding relationship between them and Thailand, which means this mechanism cannot be used with that country. And even when it can be used, each application must still go through another layer of proceedings in that country. Read more at Guide to Divorcing a Foreigner in Thailand.
5. How is a district office record different from a court order?
First, you must determine what kind of “district office document” you hold, because people often refer to all such documents collectively as “district office records”, even though the legal effect is not the same.
- (a) Record appended to the divorce registration — Made together with the registration of divorce by mutual consent. It has the status of a divorce settlement agreement, which can specify who has parental authority over the child and how much maintenance each party must pay. This is the strongest document among those made at the district office, and it is a good starting point if the matter must go to court.
- (b) Record of statement or general agreement made at the district office — For example, a record made by giving statements after an argument, or a document written by the parties themselves and then presented to the officer for acknowledgement. The content and intent of each document must be examined individually; not every document is a complete contract. Some are merely records that a statement was given. Do not assume that holding a paper with the Garuda seal means all such papers are equally enforceable.
- (c) Where the parents never registered their marriage — A private agreement or a record made by the parties themselves does not make the father a lawful father or give him parental authority on its own. Even if the record clearly states that both parties agree that the father shall have joint parental authority, the status of the child must still go through the process of acknowledgement of paternity under Topic 3, which can also be done at the district office. That is a different matter from the agreement records under (a) and (b).
| Record/agreement made before a registrar at the district office | Judgment / consent judgment | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Can be done in one day if the parties agree | Slower; must go through court |
| Does the other party need to consent? | Both parties must consent | Not always; the court can decide |
| When the other party breaches the agreement | Generally, you must first go to court | Can apply for a writ of execution, and the court may also order additional measures under Section 162 of the Act on Juvenile and Family Court and Family Procedure as it deems appropriate |
| Effect on the status of the child of an unmarried father | A record or agreement at the district office does not make the father a lawful father; separate registration of acknowledgement of paternity under Topic 3 is required, which can also be done at the district office | The court can adjudge the child to be a lawful child |
| Precision of wording | Depends on the drafter; often too brief | Reviewed by the court |
The best option for many families is not “district office or court”, but to reach an agreement first and then make that agreement enforceable through the court.
If you are going to sign at the district office, at minimum the document must specify who has parental authority and whether it is sole or joint, with whom the child primarily lives, the amount of maintenance together with the payment date and a verifiable payment method, expenses separate from the monthly amount, when that obligation ends, and a visitation schedule. The most common mistake is a sentence such as “the man will reasonably support the child,” which provides almost no protection on the day a dispute arises.
Summary
Disputes over the legal status of a child, parental authority, contact, and child support are primarily family cases in the Juvenile and Family Court, which places heavy emphasis on mediation. An allegation of the criminal offense of abandonment, on the other hand, must be considered under the separate criminal jurisdiction and procedure — it is not automatically bundled into a child support case, nor is it a card that can be pulled out and played casually to pressure the other side.
What you should be prepared for is this: in matters of parental authority and contact, the court gives primary weight to the welfare and best interests of the child; in setting child support, the court also takes into account the ability of the party liable to pay, the financial position of the recipient, and the circumstances of the case. So you should bring along both the child-related facts — such as who really provides daily care, schooling, and health — and the financial figures, such as each side's income and expenses, together. And the principle that holds in every situation in this guide is: documents always beat feelings.
If funding for litigation is the obstacle, don't give up yet. Those who do not have sufficient means may apply for assistance from the Justice Fund at the Provincial Justice Office in their area. It can help directly with lawyer's fees, court fees, and other costs of the proceedings. Not every application is approved, however, because there are criteria considering both financial position and the merits of the case — but it is a route worth asking about before you make up your mind that you cannot fight, especially in cases directly involving children's rights.
Our family law team offers an initial consultation to evaluate what stage your case is at. Call 092-254-2045 or tell us your story at contact us — we keep it confidential.
Read more
- Filing for divorce and dividing marital assets
- Divorcing a foreigner in Thailand
- Debt collection, suing debtors, and judgment enforcement
- Lawyer fees and scope of work
This guide was prepared by Suwanvara Law Firm — a law firm in Khon Kaen, established in B.E. 2529. It is general information, not legal advice for any specific case. Results depend on the facts of each family. You should consult a lawyer before proceeding.