Thai Nationality

[PETERTHEEATER]

I'm a British male, married to Thai national for 30 years. Our son is coming up to age 27 and is a British passport holder resident in UK. He was born in BKK and the Thai birth certificate shows me as the father and, of course, his mother.

I have avoided applying for Thai nationality for him thus far because of fears that he would be liable for National Service. I'm told by Thai friends that the liability does not apply to single son families or males over 19 (?)

Can anyone give me the facts?

[samran]

Your son is eligible for Thai nationality. He should head down to the Thai embassy in London with his mum and any ID she may have and he can apply for a Thai passport.

This will let him enter and stay in Thailand for as long as he want, except the problem will be once he arrives he will need to get a house registration and ID if he wants to get into the "system" and get a job and pay taxes. However, if he just wants to go for an extended holiday and not worry about visas, then that will be fine.

Re military service, you should check out the Thai consulate in Los Angeles website, it has a comprehnsive PDF document (in Thai) about what your sons obligations are.

The basic story is that all males born with Thai nationality are eligible to be conscripted. Your son is in this position. What usually happens for Thai men resident in Thailand is that the register themselves with the military authorities before their 18th birthday.

Unless they have done the equivalent of 3 years of cadets at High School in Thailand the young male will have to report to take part in the lottery once he receives a call up letter from the authorities.

He can delay this by going to university, but once he graduates, then he has to report for the lottery the next april, unless he can provide sufficent reason why he can't make it.

Which district he is registered in will determine his chances of being conscripted. If that district fills it quota via volunteers, then the lottery does not take place, and those who report for conscription are then exempted.

If the quota is not filled voluntarily,a lottery takes place, and your son will have to try his luck and not pick the wrong coloured ball. If he picks the wrong coloured ball, subject to meeting physical requirements, he will be drafted for two years.

But don't dispair!!

From reading the rules, there a couple of things your son could do. If he is a university graduate he can volunteer for military service on conscription day. He will only have to serve out 6 months in that case. So if your son is happy to do that, then he can.

Mind you, if he takes his chances with the lottery, and picks the wrong colored ball, then he will have to serve out the entire 2 years, no matter what his education level.

The other "way out" for your son is simply not live in Thailand till he is 30. The rules that I told you about state very clearly that males over 30 who report for military conscription, if chosen, will automatically be put into the equvalent of the "army reserves".

Technically this means that he will have a rank and some sort of official military status, in effect though, it means he doesn't have to serve if he is unlucky to pull the wrong colour out of the hat. All Thai males once they have fufilled their military obligations (whether this be cadets, serving in the full army, or just having reported for conscription) are put into the the army reserves, eligable to be called up in a time of national emergency. This never happens though.

A couple of more things, if your son turns up in Thailand for a long holiday and enters using his Thai passport, he WILL NOT be dragged off for military service. Immigration has no interests in this area, so he can enter and leave freely with out worry.

Best thing though is next time you are in Thailand, have your wife go down and have a chat with the local military recruitment officals in the district she was registered in. Odd cases like your sons will pop up from time to time so its woth having a chat to the local officials to see how they handle things.

Clearly he is not a "draft dodger" as we was technically never called up, but if he returns to Thailand and becomes resident there (ie gets a house registration and an ID card) then he will have to report for the next round of conscription in April. As I have shown, if he waits till he is 30, then that will be fine.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

A bit of a chat with the military attache's at the Thai Embassy in London might be fruitful too.

[PETERTHEEATER]

Thanks for the detailed response Samran. I will check out the LA Consulate site so that my wife can see the Thai version