Arkady

Actually it is a completely new set of ministerial regulations, rather than amendments to the act. Any amendment to the act requires a new act via the full parliamentary process. For example, while the 1965 Nationality Act remains in force today, the 1992 Nationality Act amended it to allow nationality to pass through the female line and the 2008 Nationality Act amended it to allow husbands of Thai women to apply for citizenship without PR. Amendments to the act are normally significant changes, rather than procedural issues that are dealt with in the ministerial regulations and guidelines.

For interest here are the original ministerial regulations of 1967 that are being amended. It is interesting to note that ministerial regulations have only been issued once, two years after the current Act was promulgated. They have never been amended since then, even though the Act has been amended significantly several times since then. It's also interesting that the ministerial regulations, like the Act itself, are fairly skimpy on detail. Much of this detail is fleshed out by ministerial guidelines that are subject to even less scrutiny than the ministerial regulations, the latter being published in the RG and having the force of law. Things like the affidavit and points allocation are covered in the guidelines which were last amended in 2009 when the affidavit was introduced for the first time. Technically the guidelines don't have the force of law and can be amended at the stroke of a pen or even set aside in individual cases. An example of this is the issue of whether applicants with PR can count periods on a WP and continuous prior to obtaining PR towards the 5 year residence period required for citizenship. In the late noughties several people were permitted to do this and then they suddenly stopped allowing it with no change in the law, ministerial regulations or guidelines. A number of applicants were then rejected for not having 5 years of PR, even though they had been advised they were qualified and SB forwarded their files to the MOI. Most Thai law is like this. An act of parliament that is deliberately vague and ambiguous in several places, followed by ministerial regulations that add some detail but leave much of the vagueness and ambiguity, followed by internal guidelines that may or may not be made public. In a system where precedence is of little or no concern, this structure allows the law to be interpreted differently by the courts in similar circumstances and permits bureaucrats to implement the law in a non-transparent manner and to make significant changes without parliamentary scrutiny. Ministerial regulations Nationality Act 1967.pdf

The process going on at the MOI seems entirely consistent with the 11 Jan 2022 cabinet resolution to amend the ministerial regulations https://www.thaigov.go.th/news/contents/details/50427 . Here is a reasonable Google translation. The most significant impact of the new regulations is likely to be that SB will be axed from the process entirely, if the regulations go ahead in line with the cabinet resolution, and applications will have to be made to DOPA in the provinces they reside. It is hard to imagine DOPA which runs the direct office network, making things easier than SB in Bangkok and the process for those living in the provinces will be up in the air. There may no longer be any advantage to moving tabien baans to Bangkok and, even there is, DOPA might put a stop to the practice by visiting those addresses or demanding an explanation of how someone works in an office in Samui from a home base in Bangkok. Cabinet taps to amend the ministerial regulations for Thai citizenship Foreigners must pass the Thai language test. Cabinet taps to amend the ministerial regulations for Thai citizenship Foreigners must pass the Thai language test. On January 11, 2022, Ms. Ratchada Thanadirek, Deputy Spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office Revealed after the Cabinet meeting (Cabinet) on January 11, 2022 that the Cabinet approved a draft ministerial regulation prescribing rules, procedures, forms for applying for Thai citizenship. Naturalization into Thai renunciation of Thai nationality Regaining Thai Nationality and fees B.E. .... as proposed by the Ministry of Interior This is an amendment to the Ministerial Regulation B.E. 2510, issued under the Nationality Act, B.E. 2508 (1965), in order to be consistent with the current situation and to make law enforcement more efficient. The important things are as follows: 1. Determine the place for applying for Thai nationality Applying for naturalization into Thai Requesting the return of Thai nationality and requesting for the renunciation of Thai nationality as follows: 1) Persons whose names are registered in the civil registration in Bangkok to submit an application to the Department of Provincial Administration 2) Those whose names are in other provinces outside Bangkok to submit an application at the province 3) People domiciled abroad To submit an application at the embassy or consulate general. 2. Specify the following documents and evidence supporting the application: 1) A foreign woman applying for Thai nationality according to her husband. To submit a form according to the form Sor Chor. 1 together with evidence such as identity card, marriage certificate, photograph 2) the alien applying for naturalization as a Thai Submit an application in the form of Sor Chor. 2 together with evidence such as identity card, photo, proof of occupation. educational evidence 3) Apply for naturalization as a Thai for an alien who is an incompetent person, a minor, or an adopted child of a Thai national. To submit an application in the form of SorChor. 3 together with evidence such as a copy of the court's order appointing a curator. evidence of incompetence 3. Determine the period for consideration and examination of qualifications Must complete the process within 90 days in case of submitting abroad. The process must be completed within 120 days. The officer can request for an extension of not more than 30 days each time, but not more than 2 times and there must be a necessity only. Previously, there was no time limit for consideration and examination of qualifications. 4. Require aliens applying for naturalization to be Thai Must have knowledge of Thai language Must speak and listen to Thai to understand They must pass a test from a sub-committee appointed by the Nationality Screening Committee. or have a certificate from an educational institution accredited by the Ministry of Education Show that you are studying at an educational institution in Thailand not lower than elementary school Originally required to have knowledge of Thai language, speak Thai and listen to Thai only to understand. 5. Determine fees such as 1) Application for naturalization as a Thai, 10,000 baht each time (originally 5,000 baht) 2) Application for naturalization as a Thai For minor children of a naturalized person who is a Thai national: 5,000 baht each time (originally 2,500 baht) 3)A certificate of naturalization as a Thai 1,000 baht each (previously 500 baht) 4)A request for the return of Thai nationality: 2,000 baht each time (previously 1,000 baht)

Exactly as I have said. This is about drafting new ministerial regulations, not amending the Nationality Act or producing a whole new law, which, as I mentioned would require the full parliamentary process involving 3 readings and votes which would not be possible in the time left to this government and there is nothing mentioned anywhere about a new Act or any amendments. The ministerial regulations are important as they determine how the Nationality Act is interpreted and implemented but they cannot change any wording in the Act. When people talk about a new law or changing the existing law, it makes me nervous, because anything could happen in that case. Rights of foreign husbands to apply could be curtailed, including their exemption from the need to have knowledge of the Thai language. Rights of luk krung could be curtailed and many other things that I will leave to your imaginations could happen.

Indeed it would be interesting to see, if one could pass the new tests, Garry. I got full marks for Thai language but I also can't write well these days, even though I passed the Por 6 exam for foreigners about 20 years ago. I was asked to write out the full name and address of the Nationality Section at Police HQ as my written test, which I was miraculously able to do because they had just made me redo the bank statement letter that had been addressed incorrectly by the bank. It the first year of reading and writing tests and I was the first person to request to do them and the MOI had not sent them any reading and writing tests. So SB were forced to improvise. Given that the ministry has always taken such a slap dash approach to SB and is contemptuous of the police, it is not surprising that SB's language testing is not considered methodical. When I looked at the Life in Britain test the UK introduced for applicants for Indefinite Leave to Remain, an essential precursor to naturalisation, I had some doubts as to whether I could have become a British citizen by naturalisation. I hope the new Thai tests will go to a similar extreme.

There is no new Nationality Act or amendment to the existing Act. That would require the full parliamentary process with three readings and votes and there has been no news on this. At any rate the law is very broad brush and just states knowledge of the Thai language is required but exemption is given to those married to Thais. Details of things like how knowledge of the Thai language is to be found not usually even in ministerial regulations that are published in the Royal Gazette, giving them the force of law, but in ministerial guidelines that are not published in the Royal Gazette. There was a cabinet resolution some months back approving some new ministerial guidelines for more formalized language testing that the somewhat informal language testing that has been conducted by SB. This may well use tests from CU which would be a logical approach and may well come into effect on 11 Jan 2023, as Jay says, but I haven't seen any announcement to this effect so far. Even more importantly the cabinet resolved to take the initial part of the application process away from SB and put the whole process under DOPA in all provinces, which could put an end to the practice of provincial candidates moving tabian baans to Bangkok in order to apply in Bangkok. Initial reaction from SB was reportedly that they were fairly optimistic about winning the tousle with the MOI to keep the status quo. However, a recent post suggested that SB was resigned to losing the process next year. Any news about applications no longer being made to SB? If there is indeed to be a transition away from SB, I wonder what would happen to existing applications in process. Re new language requirements, it is important to bear in mind that new language testing guidelines will not have any effect on the exemption from the Thai language requirement for applicants married to Thais because the exemption is in the Act, as per the 2008 amendment, and can only be overridden by another act of parliament, not by ministerial guidelines or regulations. Nevertheless, tougher language testing could be an issue for those married to Thais who need points from the Thai language tests to qualify.

Great news. Let's hope the company that won the tender for this massive investment of taxpayers' dosh can keep them working continuously, now they've finally got them working several years after the target installation date. Maybe pigs can fly.

The case of the Chinese man with Thai nationality who was operating the gambling den and drug parlour for other Chinese in Yannawa district in Bangkok has made a splash in the Thai media, not least because the opposition parties are trying to use the fact that he made a donation to Prawit's PRPP party as grounds for getting the party dissolved which would be a big upset in Thai politics. One aspect of the political case that the opposition is trying to bring is somewhat disturbing. That is the allegation that he was a dual citizen at the time he made the political donation which they claim would have made it illegal for for PRPP to accept the donation on the grounds that he was a foreigner, in addition to being a Thai, and parties are prohibited from taking donations from foreigners. It is rather odd reasoning that the foreign nationality of a Thai dual citizen should effectively take priority and/or negate his Thai citizenship. Taken further this argument has many disagreeable implications for dual citizens, including their rights to own land and live and work in the Kingdom. It is hard to imagine this interpretation being broadened out to the extent that, say, land ownership rights are revoked from dual citizens, including look krungs and Thais from birth who have acquired another nationality without renouncing Thai nationality. I think that would create a pretty big backlash as it would effect thousands of Thais. A complication for the opposition's allegation that he is or was a dual national is, of course, China's strict prohibition on dual nationality. If he was really close to the Thai ruling party, perhaps he could have arranged for the MOI's letter to the embassy, informing them of his Thai citizenship approval, to go astray. He might also have close enough links at the embassy to have them file the letter in the circular file. Finally there is the possibility that he is not a naturalized Thai at all but merely paid corrupt officials to issue him a fake ID card, although this seems unlikely, if he had high level Thai political connections able to fast track his naturalization. Anyway I will be keeping a close eye on the case.

I'm afraid this will be a problem, if anyone at SB or the MOI notices the gap. One or two days might not matter but two to three weeks is more likely to, since the internal regulations clearly call for continuous WPs and visas. You could try to wing it and hope no one notices but I would guess there is a strong possibility that some one would notice, since checking continuity of visas and WPs is a very easy thing for staff to do and maybe score internal points picking up on something. You filed will be looked at by SB, the MOI office staff and the staff of the departments that send representatives to the MOI interviews. The downside would be that you do an awful lot of work preparing the documentation, only to be dinged on the technicality. It is probably better to go to SB and tell them the situation.

Like many US embassies these days, since Trump gutted the Foreign Service, there is now a massive waiting list to get an appointment for a tourist visa at the US embassy in Bangkok and the consulate in Chiang Mai. A Thai might have to wait more than a year. I believe India is even worse. At least Americans can just hop on a plane and enter Thailand without a visa.

Interesting. So, if that is current SB advice, there is no way of telling whether applicants in the announcements applied in Bangkok or in their provinces, unless the announcements post the addresses in their application forms. Does anyone know, if this is the case?

This keeps on being reported as if it is a proposal by the government for a new law or amendment of an existing law. It is not. It is already an existing section in the Land Code (Section 96 bis below) as a result of an amendment made by the Democrat led government in 1999. The current government obviously does not have the ability to get a law or amendment of its own of this type through parliament with the public participation process and vetting by the juridical council required with hardly any parliamentary time left before elections and significant opposition to land sales to foreigners throughout Thai society, including probably its own MPs. In fact all the government needs to do is issue a one page Interior Ministry regulation in the Royal Gazette to update the qualifying investments for the THB 40 million to investments that are actually available today. So if they really want to do it, it will be done. Section 96 bis was sabotaged by the Interior Ministry subsequent to its promulgation in 1999 because no existing qualifying investments were ever specified in ministerial regulation. Regulations were delayed for 3 or 4 years until Taksin was in power and specified only qualifying investments that had already ceased to be available and others that were supposed to be issued but never were. So no foreign purchases of land have ever been authorised under 96 bis. Nevertheless the Post hilariously quoted today someone saying that it worked really well to revive the economy in the late 90s 555. Section 96 bis The provisions prescribing the acquisition of land by foreigners by virtue of the provisions of a treaty under first paragraph of Section 86 shall not apply to the foreigners who bring in the capital for investment more than forty million Baht as prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations whereas the acquisition of land for purpose of residence shall not exceed one rai and shall be approved by the Minister. The acquisition of land by foreigners under paragraph one shall be in accordance with the rules, procedures, and conditions prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations. The essential issues shall be included in the Ministerial Regulations as follows. (1) The type of business in which the foreigners invest that economically and socially benefits the country or which is declared by the Board of Investment as eligible for the application of the investment promotion under the law thereon. (2) The period of maintaining the investment shall not be less than three years. (3) The land that the foreigners may acquire shall be within the locality of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the City of Pattaya, Municipality, or the zone designated to be the residential area under the law on city planning.

Congrats to all on the list. AFAIK applicants who moved their tabien baans to Bangkok have always felt they needed to maintain the Bangkok address until after announcement in the RG. I think the greater number of provincial addresses reflects greater efforts made to set up systems to facilitate applications in the provinces with larger numbers of expat workers, perhaps to support the MOI's push to take over the entire process from SB. That might leave people living out in the boonies in the lurch, as it is hard to see the MOI setting up systems in all provinces when they might never be used. However, they might not be willing to overlook the use of borrowed Bangkok addresses, as SB does.

I just received an email from PayPal advising me that, despite having already agreed to their terms for re-registering my international account with PayPal Thailand, I now have to agree to a completely new set of agreements and register with Thailand's national ID verification system, NDID through a Thai bank, by 30 November to continue using my account. One thing that caught my eye in the Q & A linked to the email was this. 14) I am not a Thai national and cannot enroll in NDID. Will I be able to use a PayPal personal account in Thailand? PayPal is using the NDID platform as a sole means of verifying the identity of customers seeking to use PayPal Thailand personal accounts (including existing account holders whose accounts will be transferred to PayPal Thailand). For the time being, a Thai national ID is required to enroll in NDID (other forms of identification which do not have a 13-digit Thai national ID number, such as a non-Thai passport, work permit, non-Thai Identification card (pink ID), or Thai Permanent Resident Permit cannot be accepted). So PayPal has now decided to ditch completely all customers residing in Thailand who are not Thai citizens, including permanent residents and expats with work permits. If you are still reading, there are also a number of new restrictions for Thai citizens, e.g. no more payments between friends and family. It is not clear to me what the implications of having to register through a Thai bank may be, since my account has never been linked to any bank account. Personally I have stopped using PayPal for anything where an alternative exists already. There are just a few sellers in the US that only accept PayPal and I have never used it for receiving money. Even though I do have a Thai ID card, I think this is complete BS and no longer wish to have anything to do with PayPal.