A ticket by any other name can be quite a pain

A. My Partner and I are traveling to Thailand in October on Thai Airways. Our fares were booked and paid for 3 months ago. Seeing as we're only 5 weeks away from traveling, we decided to pull our passports out (covered in dust) to make sure they were valid which they were. My passport is in my maiden name and I'd realized that I booked the ticket in my married name. I divorced 8 years ago but, kept my married name for the kids sake. I have spoken to the travel agent and they say I have 2 options. I can pay more to change the name on my ticket or change my passport to my married name, which I refuse to do. This was an honest mistake. Do I have any other options?

B. In this post 9/11 era, the name on the ticket must match the one on your passport. Call Thai Airways directly (at 1-800-426-5204) and ask for mercy, and ask nicely. They are generally pretty accommodating about these sorts of flubs, much more so than a domestic carrier might be. Even if they can't change your name over the phone, perhaps they'll be able to promise to do so, once they see your ID, when you check-in. This may even be worth a trip to the local Thai Airways office if they have one in your area.