Thai is the best nationality there is!" Former American pays through the nose to renounce US citizenship

[yourauntbob]

1 hour ago, garyk said:

Pointless to argue with US haters. Don't wast your time.

 

I dont hate the US.  Its easy to write someone off by calling them a hater.  Its harder to challenge their ideas.  

[El Matador]

It is a bet on Thailand political future.

Not very wise. And I hope he doesn't want to travel outside ASEAN countries either.

Having a first world passport is still a huge privilege for travelers.

[GinBoy2]

2 hours ago, El Matador said:

It is a bet on Thailand political future.

Not very wise. And I hope he doesn't want to travel outside ASEAN countries either.

Having a first world passport is still a huge privilege for travelers.

I agree the guy is a dumbnuts, he's been indoctrinated for his whole life on the 'Thai Way' so what can you expect?

 

He could have thrown that US passport in a drawer and never thought about it.

 

If he's living in NakornBackofBeyond, working some menial job the whole IRS tax thing is irrelevant. It's irrelevant for most normal people, due to foreign income tax exemptions.

 

So if it makes him feel better giving up a first world passport, when he could have easily keep both, go for it, while paying for that idiotic privilege! 

 

My son keeps both his US & Thai passports, even though he now lives in the US. 

 

He never has any intention to return to Thailand, but he's not stupid enough to go through the hassle of revoking his Thai citizenship for no apparent reason or benefit!

[JustAnotherHun]

8 hours ago, yourauntbob said:

The US government is becoming ever more oppressive, the education system is in shambles, and freedoms are quickly disappearing.

If the disappearing of freedoms and other declines in the US are the reason to go elsewhere one must completely out of his mind to chose Thailand.

It's like leaving a country because it's too cold there and go to the north pole instead.

Edited March 3, 2020 by JustAnotherHun

[overherebc]

10 hours ago, yourauntbob said:

Free speech, right to bear arms, ... pick an amendment.  

Or the right to arm bears??

[BigC]

On 3/1/2020 at 10:36 PM, garyk said:

Hopefully to inform other expats that are thinking of retiring to Thailand to reconsider. 

And to show the true Thai experience for expats in Thailand. Not the one portraid on internet sites promoting places like Thailand.

So your just in here to  make a nucense.

Not really trying  to help just trying to make the place look worse than it is

 

 

[Saint Nick]

20 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Hmmm, no comment?

Come on! 

Read the next sentence!

Go on!

 

[Monomial]

9 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

 

He could have thrown that US passport in a drawer and never thought about it.

 

 

 

No, he couldn't have. As he was born in the USA, any bank where he attempts to open an account will ask for his Certificate of Loss of Nationality to prove he is no longer a US citizen. Failure to provide that will subject him to FATCA rules, and many banks will simply refuse to accept him as a client. He won't even be allowed to open an account with Thai cryptocurrency exchanges, and most investments will not accept him due to fears of being targeted by the SEC.

 

The only way to get clear of the onerous restrictions of being an American is to renounce. If you have no intention of living in the United States, US citizenship is a terrible burden that nobody should be forced to endure. Those who want it, only want it so they can live there. If you don't want to live there, it is a curse.

 

[WalkingOrders]

I am happy for him. I am not sure if 70,000 thb is paying through the nose. The guy spent his whole life here and feels Thai. Oh well.

 

For foreigners to get simple residency is 79000 thb.

[AnnaBanana]

Congratulations on getting that monkey off your back after all these years.

[Farang Muang Phrae]

On 3/1/2020 at 11:53 PM, Monomial said:

The vast majority of people who obtain a second citizenship are not wealthy. They get a second citizenship through bonafide residency in foreign countries. The $2400 fee was instituted about 5 years ago because too many expats were renouncing and the government wanted to stop this trend. Before this, the fee to renounce was only around $300, and that was deemed insufficient to penalize citizens wanting to renounce.

 

The only reason I keep my US citizenship is because A) my mother has not died yet and I want to attend her funeral, and B) because the fee is prohibitively expensive. So I put up with the unreasonable burdens that US citizenship forces upon you. Once my mother is dead, I will probably find a way to come up with the money to renounce, although this really is a hefty amount for me in my present situation, and it angers me that I will be forced to give this to the US government rather than direct it to my children's education where it rightfully belongs.

 

I congratulate Udom for finally achieving what most of us wish we could. If anyone knows him, let him know that I would be happy to meet up with him and offer a toast in his honor.

 

Thank you for your kind words!  If you're ever in Phrae, please let me know. 

[Farang Muang Phrae]

21 hours ago, aqua4 said:

Wonder if he is still going to pay double for everything like an expat. In any event, he grew up in Thailand and I am sure he feels at home in the country as that is all he knows. Good luck to him. 

What does that mean, "pay double for everything like an expat"?

[Neeranam]

32 minutes ago, Farang Muang Phrae said:

What does that mean, "pay double for everything like an expat"?

I was thinking the same. I don't pay double for anything.

[Hanuman2547]

2 hours ago, Farang Muang Phrae said:

What does that mean, "pay double for everything like an expat"?

I would imagine going to places that have a Thai price and a non-Thai price, the infamous "dual pricing" that is often seen at National Parks and other attractions around Thailand.  Hopefully by showing his Thai ID card he should be able to pay the Thai price.  

[yourauntbob]

14 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

If the disappearing of freedoms and other declines in the US are the reason to go elsewhere one must completely out of his mind to chose Thailand.

It's like leaving a country because it's too cold there and go to the north pole instead.

Well, if your raised here, are married here, and have kids here, then it may make sense to stay here.  

 

And in recent years, i feel much more free in Thailand than i do at home (USA).  Its also nice to know the land that my wife owns here is hers.  The house we own in the USA we rent from the government.  If we dont pay those property taxes they will confiscate it away.  Not to mention, when we wanted to fix our house in the USA we needed to get several permits, pay fees, etc.  we were slowed down months while waiting for bureaucrats to rubber stamp us fixing our own stuff.  Here when we wanted to fix our place up we hired someone to do it and that was that.   

[yourauntbob]

9 hours ago, overherebc said:

Or the right to arm bears??

you got me, i made a misspelling.  therefore my logic cannot be sound i suppose.  

[Orton Rd]

50 minutes ago, yourauntbob said:

Well, if your raised here, are married here, and have kids here, then it may make sense to stay here.  

 

And in recent years, i feel much more free in Thailand than i do at home (USA).  Its also nice to know the land that my wife owns here is hers.  The house we own in the USA we rent from the government.  If we dont pay those property taxes they will confiscate it away.  Not to mention, when we wanted to fix our house in the USA we needed to get several permits, pay fees, etc.  we were slowed down months while waiting for bureaucrats to rubber stamp us fixing our own stuff.  Here when we wanted to fix our place up we hired someone to do it and that was that.   

We don't know if he was raised here, we know he came when he was 2 and did attend Thai Schools, but says he went to high School and University back in the USA, came back in 2001 with his Mrs. He seems to like the idea put around that he has been here since the age of 2, he has only been here continually for 19 years. Although he thinks Thai is the best nationality their Universities were not good enough for him resulting in going back to the USA for that.

Edited March 3, 2020 by Orton Rd

[JustAnotherHun]

Good luck for the holder of the best nationality if he ever applies for a visa to Europe or other not so good countries.

 

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

4 hours ago, Hanuman2547 said:

the infamous "dual pricing" that is often seen at National Parks

ALL national parks in south america also have dual and even triple pricing - one

price for tourists, one prices for the nationals, and another price for south americans.

i don't see what the problem is.

it's not like you go to the national park or other tourist attractions every day.

 

i once was sitting in a thai restaurant and heard the owner say they have 10%

discount for thai people. i got up and left and never came back, there

is a difference between private business and tourist attractions.

[CMHomeboy78]

On 2/29/2020 at 11:05 PM, VillageIdiot said:

There is some truth to what you say

No, a farang will never become a Thai no matter how long he has been here.

I've seen two generations of Thais come of age since I first came in the late 1970s.

My Thai wife has raised our two daughters in a traditional manner while educating them for careers in the modern world.  I'm happy to say that they've both turned out very well.

My not being Thai has never caused any serious problems in our domestic life because I feel at home here and fully accepted by family and friends.

I left the US a long time ago and never regretted the move. 

You make a good - but rather obvious point.  That is, a farang can never become a Thai.

Can the leopard change its spots?  Not a chance... but the other side of the coin is that Thais take care of their own, and that would include a farang who has lived among them for many years as a husband and father.

Family means everything here.  Your position in the family defines who you are.  Without one you are nobody.

Farang tao-nahn eng.

[VillageIdiot]

5 hours ago, CMHomeboy78 said:

You make a good - but rather obvious point.  That is, a farang can never become a Thai.

Can the leopard change its spots?  Not a chance... but the other side of the coin is that Thais take care of their own, and that would include a farang who has lived among them for many years as a husband and father.

Family means everything here.  Your position in the family defines who you are.  Without one you are nobody.

Farang tao-nahn eng.

For sure, you can live with Thais very well without going native dtem-tee.

But that's only true among a better class of people, not the dregs of humanity that so many farangs get involved with.

[mercman24]

that wa a stupid quote he has never been anywhere, needs to get out more, one of the friendliest nations i have ever met were the CUBANS lovely people.

[ravip]

2 hours ago, VillageIdiot said:

For sure, you can live with Thais very well without going native dtem-tee.

But that's only true among a better class of people, not the dregs of humanity that so many farangs get involved with.

To be fair to all... Birds of a feather flock to-gether.

The the dregs of humanity exists in all countries, whatever the size or colour - just a gentle reminder.

[VillageIdiot]

2 hours ago, ravip said:

To be fair to all... Birds of a feather flock to-gether.

The the dregs of humanity exists in all countries, whatever the size or colour - just a gentle reminder.

No need to be reminded of something as indisputable as that.

The propensity to marry bargirls and become a cash cow for their greedy relatives is almost exclusively restricted to over-the-hill farangs lookin' for love in all the wrong places.

[Sonhia]

As he has lived in Thailand almost all of his life, it is no wonder he feels the way he does, confused.

 

In my opinion he made a bad move. 

 

In the past he had more options, but has now cornered himself in a politically 

unstable, fickle natured race that are undemocratic by means of fear and force by a dictator in a third world country that faces a very poor outlook plus economy.

 

He may kick himself one day, because his children have lost out!!

 

Thai mind set for you once again.

 

No critical thinking.

 

Goes with the territory. Toyland...

Edited March 4, 2020 by Sonhia
Edit

[Captain Monday]

I believe if I was in the circumstances Farang Muang Phrae I would do the same.

 

Bravo and Congratulations!

 

A lady I know who works in Chiang Mai from Phrae says it is 

a wonderful place with very few foreign tourists or residents and plenty of unspoiled mountains and visit   vistas.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by Captain Monday
spelling

[chezy86]

Yep proper Thai ????

[Oziex1]

My goodness, whatever the flaws of the US may be and there are probably a few, I'll take trump and the US over Prayuth and his cronies any day.

[Laughing Gravy]

I am sure he wont be missed by the US.

It seems he was never in the US really so hardly a loss in any form.

 

Obviously a barn pot with the statement of being the best nationality in the world.

Good luck getting visas around the world.

 

It does seem to me a propaganda article Thai is better than the USA.

I am not from the US so no vested interest other than thinking why pay all that money just to say I am not American anymore.

 

Good luck to the man as it seems he needs it.

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Laughing Gravy

[Captain Monday]

On 3/4/2020 at 4:12 PM, Laughing Gravy said:

I am sure he wont be missed by the US.

It seems he was never in the US really so hardly a loss in any form.

 

Obviously a barn pot with the statement of being the best nationality in the world.

Good luck getting visas around the world.

 

It does seem to me a propaganda article Thai is better than the USA.

I am not from the US so no vested interest other than thinking why pay all that money just to say I am not American anymore.

 

Good luck to the man as it seems he needs it.

 

I would do the same in his position.

Nuclear weapons and submarines?

The F-35? Giving money to Israel?

While people shoot up drugs in broad daylight in San Francisco without access to 

housing, toilets and showers?