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Millions of followers - farang in North Thailand a massive hit with the Thais


webfact

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Frankly, assuming this guy at least graduated high school,  his dual language skills alone would easily enable him to get a job and salary of at least the minimum for the required period so as to qualify for Thai citizenship. It isn't a lot. 
As for the process, the cost is minimal and point based. It has nothing to do with race. 
There was a United Nations range of ethnicities represented when I attended my Interior Ministry interview years ago, and I assume most applicants qualified since that was the point of the interview.
By contrast, the non-refundable processing fee alone for a long-term Thai spouse to simply apply for Australian PR is in excess of A$6k, while the U.K. imposes an extremely high income requirement for non-citizens to live with their spouses on that wet little island.
No, it is not that hard to qualify or get Thai citizenship for most people who are determined to get it, unless they are born in Thailand to stateless parents and then it really sucks.

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14 minutes ago, zaphod reborn said:

It is purely a matter of paying PIT on THB 80,000 per year for at least the past 3 years and having a valid work permit during that period.

It is actually PER MONTH, i.e. you need to prove that you have paid PIT on at least 80,000 Baht of income every month for three CONSECUTIVE calendar years. If your income/tax dips below that minimum requirement for only one single month, the clock resets and those three years start counting again from zero.

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5 minutes ago, Misterwhisper said:

A good point. But shouldn't a rule be so flexible as to being able to clearly distinguish between "vermin" (a.k.a. human riff-raff) trying to exploit the system and a person who obviously has every moral right to finally attain citizenship if he desires it so much? The core question really is: Should the outrageously high-set income be he only yardstick by which Udom is measured to be a "worthy" Thai citizen, although he could probably pass every other requirement (language proficiency, knowledge of Thai history/politics/culture, etc.) with flying colors and has literally spent almost his entire life here? 

 

 

i do agree but i also understand the reasons behind their rules.

if it was me in control then anyone who could prove they had a family for a decade or more and the means to support them then that deserves citizenship IMO. but i'm not thai so not my call

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5 hours ago, webfact said:

He has a Thai wife and young child.

 

3 hours ago, zaphod reborn said:

He probably can't meet the ridiculous income requirement (proof of taxes paid on at least THB 80,000/mo of income for 3 years).

He doesn't have to meet this, as he is married to a Thai, he can legitimately apply for Citizenship so long as he is actually working and paying tax on 40,000 THB per month.

The question is, is he working here and earning enough, he must have some income and it must be close to this, as he has been living here for a very long time and if no PR, then it must have been on extensions of stay.

PR would have the same requirements tax wise as citizenship.

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3 minutes ago, Radar501 said:

Even without the precious Thai ID card that he seeks, I bet he never pays the farang price to get into national parks.

speak a bit of thai to the person behind the counter and insist you are resident then you'll pay thai price

** it may be taking it off topic but you brought it up. i stopped over in hua hin for a few days and went to the water park and the girl behind the counter wanted to charge more. my thai friends were embarrassed by that.

i believe most thais don't agree with it and are some what ashamed by it.

the countries run by a few dick head families and even the population don't agree with it.

can't blame the general thai populus as they are probably on your side but you can't say anything as they will probably lock you up or worse

Edited by Happy enough
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there are tens of thousands of "foreign workers" here in the North  (many what they call Thai Yai).

they do almost all of the farm work and a lot of the construction work.   Many have families, have lived here

for years......but still have to do the immigration/ work permit stuff.   should the farang get special treatment and be granted citizenship over them?

and then there's me .  daughter born here 30 years ago to a thai wife, so she has thai citizenship.

but there i am every 90 days filling out the form for "aliens".    i am not complaining, cause i am very 

happy that they let me stay at all.   ten years ago Australia told me :  No way i could meet their requirements .

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2 hours ago, Happy enough said:

could not disagree more. my business partner lived in phuket for many years and went west for his kids education. fair enough. they are doing their a levels now so will be at uni next year and him and his mrs will be back asap.

live in america? each to their own.

Thai education......are you saying is world class?

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6 hours ago, zaphod reborn said:

I can empathize with his plight of not being granted Thai citizenship.  He probably can't meet the ridiculous income requirement (proof of taxes paid on at least THB 80,000/mo of income for 3 years).  If he has community support, and is not a burden on the state, he seems like he would make a stand-up foreigner admitted as a citizen.  Thai bureaucracy is stuck in the 19th century.

Thank you for your interest and I want everyone to know that I DO meet the requirements for Thai citizenship.  It would be the greatest honor in my life if I was allowed to become a Thai citizen.   

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I would imagine yo

23 minutes ago, Farang Muang Phrae said:

Thank you for your interest.  I can assure you I meet ALL the requirements. It would be the greatest honor of my life to become a citizen of this great country.  

I would imagine you were not born in Thailand because there are people around the same age who were born in Thailand to 2 American parents and automatically got citizenship. I can't remember when the Thais stopped that process though. Probably in the 80s is my guess.

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6 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

Well said. Unfortunately, there are always some who believe that a country should throw open its doors to  those who live hand to mouth.

The West does that all the time.  It's political correctness in the US to assume that any Thai who enters the US illegally and brings their kids up in the US, that the kids should be allowed to stay and work toward citizenship.  Why?  Because they are 'Dreamers' with the American dream.
So Mr. Udom Suksaneh is a 'Dreamer' living the Thai dream.  Perhaps the Thai government should show some quid pro quo in this instance?  I think so.

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11 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

Well said. Unfortunately, there are always some who believe that a country should throw open its doors to  those who live hand to mouth.

Those who live band to mouth are the ones hired by the middle class to cut their lawns, baby sit their children, work their orchards, and prepare their restaurant meals. But I get your point, you wouldn't want that type to be granted the right to vote.

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13 hours ago, CiaranKL said:

2000 euro a month

 Hardly over the top.  There are rules and if you wish to be one a citizen then you follow them.  

2000 euro a month is more then the average income in most European countries after tax, so it’s ridiculous.

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11 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

What an arrogant statement.

 

Why don't you go out and ask a few Thai people on the streets whether they share your opinion that 80,000 baht net income per month is "hardly over the top"?

 

An income of 2,100 euros in Europe may be rather on the low side. But here in Thailand it isn't. I would dare say there are few locals upcountry who can boast such a salary.

 

But coming back to Udom: He basically grew up in Thailand, speaks the language fluently, supports a wife and child, has integrated well and (so I assume) lives a rather simple life on a modest Thai income. For all intents and purposes, he has become a local.

 

If the only excuse the Thai government deploys in denying him his citizenship is the outrageous requirement that he must prove three consecutive years of taxed monthly incomes that are a multiple of what the average citizen earns, then it only goes to show the contempt Thailand's authorities have for foreigners, whom they obviously only see as milking cows.

 

If European countries used the same sole yardstick, demanding that Thai people who wanted to gain citizenship had to show taxed incomes that are three or four times higher than what an average European employee makes, there hardly would be any Thai people living in Europe at all, no matter how well adapted and integrated they may have become.

 

And guess who would be first to raise a ruckus over such "unfair" or "racist" treatment? Exactly, it would be the Thai government! 

 

    

You are wrong.

the average salary in European countries after tax “EURO”

 

Europe isn’t a country, and it will never be, the difference from country to country omg Europe are huge, so speak for the whole continent is only lack of geographical knowledge.

 

803E5700-67C1-4624-8DA6-46B5814D95E0.jpeg

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14 hours ago, Farang Muang Phrae said:

Thank you for your interest.  I can assure you I meet ALL the requirements. It would be the greatest honor of my life to become a citizen of this great country.  

For a matter of interest, have you actually applied?

Right now Citizenship applications are being processed faster than normally and if you do meet all of the requirements, then now is the time to apply if you haven't already.

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