onthemoon

Donations to charity (with official receipt) are indeed required, and it was THB 5,000 when I applied. However, a donation of 1 million Baht to the lawyer's coffers is anybody's own decision.

I 100% agree with what is said on this website. I keep telling people that if they want to hire someone, they should hire me: I will charge only THB 100,000 to read the list of required documents to them and later check whether they are complete! 😂

Wow! Seems to be a good business for these agencies and lawyers. No, you don't need them. But I am now considering to change my line of business... 😂

I was looking for the actual visa regulations but could not find them. If someone could post the relevant text here in Thai, I'll look at the wording. All I found were some newspaper articles stating that a foreigner married to a Thai person in a same-sex marriage can get a marriage visa under the same conditions an opposite-sex foreigner can. Example: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2813329/senate-passes-same-sex-marriage-law The wording also just refers to "spouse" in all English-language websites I could find. I could not find any evidence that there is a difference whether the foreigner is a man or a woman in straight couples. As I said, I hope someone can find the actual Thai wording.

"The Marriage Equality Act makes important amendments to language in Thailand’s Civil and Commercial Code concerning spouses, in particular by changing “men and women” and “husband and wife” to “individuals” and “marriage partners.”" https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/18/victory-same-sex-marriage-thailand#:~:text=Thailand's Senate voted 130-4,to recognize same-sex relationships. "The bill will change the stated official legal status and marriage composition, from “husband and wife” and “a man and a woman” to “married couple” and “two individuals,” giving LGBTQ+ couples the same rights that heterosexual couples share under the TCCC. It will also allow marriages consisting of same-sex partners from the age of 18 and above and grant them the rights to inheritance, tax allowance, and child adoption." https://www.siam-legal.com/thailand-law/thailand-introduces-same-sex-marriage-bill/ As I said, they just changed the wording from "man and woman" to "individuals". I mentioned earlier they changed it to "two people". I haven't read the original text yet, but the meaning is the same. My point is that they did not make a "gay marriage law", they just changed the wording in the existing law as to what a married couple is. There is no difference between a straight and a gay couple anymore. While visas are not mentioned in these articles, one would have to look into the immigration law and I would bet it says "spouse", and not "man" or "woman". I hope this helps.

I would think the law is about marriage equality. I believe they changed some wording in the existing law, like from "a marriage is between a man and a woman" to "a marriage is between two people" or something like that. It's not a special "gay marriage law", I'd hope. Therefore, yes, it should qualify for a marriage visa, otherwise it would not be about equality. In fact, it would be rather strange.

Provided your country allows you to have dual nationality, Thailand requires that you declare intent to renounce your current citizenship when you apply for Thai citizenship once you become a Thai citizen. Some people argue that "intent" does not mean that you actually have to give it up once you become a Thai citizen. There is no deadline how long after becoming a Thai citizen you have before you need to give up your original nationality and in practice, the Thai government does not follow up on this. Thai law also says that your new Thai citizenship can be revoked if you use your previous passport/nationality. Some people argue that this only means that you cannot use your previous citizenship in Thailand anymore (which is fair), but you can keep it and are free to use it in other countries, because Thailand has no jurisdiction there. Many people have reported that they left Thailand on their Thai passport without visa for the destination country, and Thai immigration does not ask questions. Since the legal wording is beautifully unclear, many people do keep their original nationality and use it overseas, for example when travelling to their own country if a Thai citizen would need a visa. It is common practice. You cannot use your original passport in Thailand, though. In Thailand, you are only Thai. So, you have to update all your bank accounts, for example.

While I believe you, it does not make sense. Why do they have to cancel it when it has already expired? Boggles the mind.

I was talking about my experiences, not laws.

The last MOI interview was, I think, in Q4 2023. Your friend was lucky to have had the interview before that.

I've been to gay bars in Malaysia (in the 1990s) and Singapore (earlier this year with my husband in a one-bed room) and wasn't even aware that I was acting illegally in any way. All seemed to be relaxed.

Thank you very much about the clarification that the Thai law hasn't changed! I thought I would have heard it. No need to discuss Germany anymore, luckily.

That was fast: https://www.bva.bund.de/DE/Services/Buerger/Ausweis-Dokumente-Recht/Staatsangehoerigkeit/Beibehaltung/Beibehaltung_node.html Germans can now have multiple nationalities without having to apply for approval anymore. Good news!

No replies, so I guess it is not true that 5 years of PR are not required anymore. In order words, the requirement for 5 years of PR is still in place for applicants using the business route. As for the German question, I will check with the Bundesverwaltungsamt directly and report back here.

Thanks; it was a joke. I won't get married just for the citizenship.

Should I get married then? the applications based on business seem to be totally frozen now.

I was with a bunch of Germans last night before the football match, and a discussion about Thai citizenship came up. These rumours are floating around, and I wonder whether anyone can confirm or deny: 1.) According to a new regulation about acquiring Thai citizenship, 5 years PR is not required anymore if applying on basis of business. Only a work permit showing that you have worked here for 5 years is required. 2.) For Germans only: With the new citizenship law in Germany that started last week, Germans don't need to apply to keep the German nationality before getting the Thai nationality. Dual citizenship is now automatically and officially allowed. I have my doubts on both of these and am looking forward to comments. Thanks.

Me too, but I applied on grounds of business. So, the marriage track seems to be faster.

Thanks. So, the Minister has the power to revoke the citizenship if there is proof that the naturalised citizen still uses the former nationality. Hm, so now it goes from the letter of the law to the interpretations, the past practice or any court cases. I was hoping it says "uses the former nationality in Thailand", as this seems to be the actual practice. They don't care whether you use it outside of Thailand.

Thanks, this was exactly what I expected. It is rather vague and there is no definition. Any panic is baseless.

It's difficult to have a legal discussion with the translation of half a paragraph of the crucial (2). Can you post the full section 19 here, preferrably in Thai?

That is extremely fast. So you applied only in 2022?

I googled and didn't find any social studies confirming 72 genders. I found a lot of discussion websites such as Quora and Reddit. That doesn't mean anything. I still disagree. Stating that there are no transpeople show that you are not familiar with this part of society.

Got it. I didn't see that link before. I still disagree with it the author and the reviewer, both seemingly specialised in diabetes. As others already pointed out, major terms like transgender or pangender are missing, showing that these two MDs are no experts in the field. Even though the website says "medically reviewed" I do not see any review by an expert. No academic references are given. They reference this glossary: https://pflag.org/glossary/ which is academically not acceptable as a reference. However, it does mention pangender and transgender, so they didn't even read their own reference. So, I respectfully dismiss the article as non-academic. Do with that what you want; I for one don't give it any credibility.

What med news site? Is it credible or run by a random guy on the internet?