I purchased Linguaphone’s PDQ Thai (stands for Pretty Darned Quick!) before I came to Thailand 15 years ago and it really helped me get good start on the importance of Thai tones. Their PDQ series is targeted as a quick start on the essentials before you travel on holiday.

With regards to teachers, unless they are very experienced I’ve found many Thai ‘teachers’ don’t understand the nuances around the tones as obviously they don’t learn that way. It’s like most English natives can’t explain grammar. Unfortunately being able to speak fluent English is not enough to be a good Thai teacher, they need additional training in how to teach it as a foreign language.

Here’s a link to the course and it’s still only £30, The same price I paid when I bought it!

I updated my post after you replied, I added some other thoughts at the end. I hope you catch a break soon. 🙏

You mentioned she was adopted in the US, do you have the name of the the person who adopted her (Stepfather) or his wife? Or does she have any stepbrothers/sisters or extended family in the US. You may then be able to use that to access her adoption records and hopefully get a copy of an original passport (US or Thai) and trace back that way?

You say she was adopted in the US so she must have traveled there by some means. Original Thai passport, travel document from the US Embassy in Thailand?

If however she travelled illegally and was granted permission to stay then subsequently adopted, you may have the unfortunate situation of there never being a Birth Certificate to begin with. 2 friends of my wife’s family here in the Philippines and currently in their early 20’s are facing bureaucratic nightmares because their parents didn’t register their births. The same happening in 1957 is a definite possibility, especially if she’s from a remote area of Thailand.

Ahh got you

@Chris******

, mine were posted to my UK address then reposted via DHL. In the 15 years I’ve been in Asia, only had 2 occasions where they were returned to my UK address, once when the card was removed from the letter before sending, and another when the card and letter were included with other items. 👍

I’ve had many bank/credit cards forwarded to me by my family from the UK via DHL, but they (DHL) will only accept the package if the card is still attached to the bank letter and sent with no other items.

You use the Thai birth certificate (together with an official translation, which the hospital actually helped me obtain). I actually have a son and 2 daughters all born abroad and all with dual-citizenship… My eldest daughter (10 years old, born in Thailand), plus my son (13 years old also born in Thailand), required a UK birth certificate first, and this demonstrated UK citizenship which was then used to apply for a UK passport. Application was made for both through the British Embassy in Bangkok using their internal postal system to the UK

However rules changed approx 7 years ago, so when I followed the same process for my youngest (2 years old, born in Malaysia), I was told possession of a UK birth certificate no longer indicated British citizenship, and so I needed to forward the foreign birth certificate, and the decision on granting UK citizenship is now made during the UK passport application. All applications are now done online to the UK (to limit fraud apparently), with paperwork sent via DHL afterwards together with a generated application code. There is actually no longer a requirement to have a UK birth certificate, but probably helps to have one anyway. A proper ball-ache sorting everything out; 2 of my kids actually have 3 birth certificates and 2 passports, but the dual citizenship gives them a lot of extra opportunities for work and residency when they’re older.

I actually still have the reply in my email from the UK passport office in Liverpool clarifying the above if you’d like me to pm it to you.

An interesting note to remember when discussing things with your daughter when she’s older, with UK citizenship, I was told if she lives in the UK when she is older and has children born there, they will automatically be granted UK citizenship, however if she is living abroad with a foreign partner and has children while abroad, they are no longer automatically granted UK citizenship although they can make an application. That rule has been place since before my son was born.

Hope that all helps 🙏