Thai National service

 

 My Thai wife has been with me in UK for 10 years, and has UK citizenship and passport.  So has my stepson that came to UK six years ago from Thailand and also has UK citizenship and passport. Now he is joining the UK army cadets and is hoping to apply later for UK army service.

 

My wife has been told however by the ( lady uk Thai expats website), that if  he goes back to Thailand he can still be consctripted to join the Thai Army!..  So if someone could please tell me that at some future date when he is say 21 years old and visiting Thailand he could be made to do his Thai National service even if he is in the British army.  Or is there some agreement that the Thai & UK goverment.

I would appreciate some information on this as the cadet leader has been phoning my wife about this as he is not sure of this.

assume he uses his UK Passport if he ever goes to LOS for holiday? 

 

but if they do drag him in upon arrival...   never never utter nor appear to understand any Thai language...   and maintain an act of falang thru'n'thru and throw in some good ol english stiff upper lip   

 

 

On the other hand: my thai nephew (living in OZ since a kid and now almost 30s; was pipped to be conscripted... his mum here was very quick to take control of his options, and had him accept a 3 month Monk sojourn in lieu of the Army service... 

 

 

 

once Joined the British Army, if he already has a passport - it is interesting to know the Army will themselves Renew it to become a HM Forces Passport - that THAT would be an awkward thing for the Thai system to cope with!! 

If he has Thai citizenship, he will not get in the British forces without a waiver from the Thai army/government, or of course if he is exempted post-lottery. British MoD are pretty hot on this now, having had issues in the past with previous states that observe national service where conscripts have joined a foreign force. Badgered AFCO here for 12 months and took it right up the COCommand.

On 2/16/2021 at 12:06 AM, Slain said:

Thai National service

 

 My Thai wife has been with me in UK for 10 years, and has UK citizenship and passport.  So has my stepson that came to UK six years ago from Thailand and also has UK citizenship and passport. Now he is joining the UK army cadets and is hoping to apply later for UK army service.

 

My wife has been told however by the ( lady uk Thai expats website), that if  he goes back to Thailand he can still be consctripted to join the Thai Army!..  So if someone could please tell me that at some future date when he is say 21 years old and visiting Thailand he could be made to do his Thai National service even if he is in the British army.  Or is there some agreement that the Thai & UK goverment.

I would appreciate some information on this as the cadet leader has been phoning my wife about this as he is not sure of this.

We checked with our colleague in Defence team and was told that there used to be a UK-Thai national who wanted to join British Army. The person needed a document to confirm that he won’t get called for conscription so he had to go to provincial office to get the document. The best place for further advice about this is the Territorial Defence Command which is located in Bangkok. You can find their contact details here.

 

On 2/15/2021 at 7:53 PM, daveAustin said:

If he has Thai citizenship, he will not get in the British forces without a waiver from the Thai army/government, or of course if he is exempted post-lottery. British MoD are pretty hot on this now, having had issues in the past with previous states that observe national service where conscripts have joined a foreign force. Badgered AFCO here for 12 months and took it right up the COCommand.

Not true, my stepson came to uk in 2011 has Thai/British passport and is now in his 3rd year serving in the RAF, 

I looked into this for my son and the answer I got was if someone has dual nationality and it's from a country that has a requirement for conscription. The UK Forces require written proof that they are waived from Military service in that country ( Thailand). Basically if your name is in a Tabien Baan book in Thailand you are legally required to do the draw in Thailand. If he does not return to Thailand there will not be a problem here but he will not be eligible to join the British  military without a waiver which you can not get unless you attend the draw in Thailand.

Straight from the horses mouth...mind you, my son has never lived in the UK....and he is British by descent. If he has his name on a tabien bahhn in thailand, then he will get a letter in the post by default at his conscription date, although I've read if he's not living in Thailand, then can get a waiver from the Thai embassy BEFOREHAND (i.e don't leave it to the last minute). Not sure whether it would satisfy the UK forces, but since there are a lot of applications for entering the service due to limited prospects due to covid, then they are taking on only 1st British Nationalities.

 

Thank you for your email dated the 18^th January 2021.

 

I’m pleased to hear that your son is interested in joining the Royal Navy!

I can confirm that due to the large amount of applications received, we are currently only accepting applications from applicants who hold British nationality. Dual nationals are able to apply if they hold British as their first nationality.

This applies to the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines and we do not have a time frame as to when these positions will reopen for Commonwealth applicants and dual nationals who do not hold British as a first nationality.

We are therefore advising those potential applicants to keep an eye on our website below in order to keep updated with any changes. Once positions reopen the website will be updated accordingly. You can then submit an expression of interest for your chosen role providing you are still interested in joining and meet the basic eligibility criteria.

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/careers/joining/commonwealth-and-non-british

We are also advising candidates not to travel to the UK unless they are advised to do so by the recruitment team, you can find more guidance by using our website above.

Kind regards,

CJ

Royal Navy Careers

Many thanks for your advice and the website. My wife will with my help be able to follow up now.

5 hours ago, Tbone999 said:

Straight from the horses mouth...mind you, my son has never lived in the UK....and he is British by descent. If he has his name on a tabien bahhn in thailand, then he will get a letter in the post by default at his conscription date, although I've read if he's not living in Thailand, then can get a waiver from the Thai embassy BEFOREHAND (i.e don't leave it to the last minute). Not sure whether it would satisfy the UK forces, but since there are a lot of applications for entering the service due to limited prospects due to covid, then they are taking on only 1st British Nationalities.

That is a deferment certificate to delay lottery on account of being overseas/in uni etc. It does not qualify for an actual conscription waiver and is not accepted by British MoD.

10 hours ago, tigerjohn said:

Not true, my stepson came to uk in 2011 has Thai/British passport and is now in his 3rd year serving in the RAF, 

That's great. Did he get a waiver/go through the lottery to obtain exemption? I ask because, aside from not divulging dual nationality or renouncing Thai citizenship, they are musts. May have been a thing in the past where some got through (and should consider himself lucky if did), but I can assure you that you will not get in today where the other half of your dual nationality has military conscription. Can potentially lead to a diplomatic incident believe it or not. I didn't go through all the hassle (up to CO level MoD) and time just to post untruths on here. Andy (above) is on the money.

Cheers

A post and a reply have been removed.

This is interesting to hear because my younger stepson who is nearly 16 is hoping to follow his older brother into the RAF

20 hours ago, Tbone999 said:

Straight from the horses mouth...mind you, my son has never lived in the UK....and he is British by descent. If he has his name on a tabien bahhn in thailand, then he will get a letter in the post by default at his conscription date, although I've read if he's not living in Thailand, then can get a waiver from the Thai embassy BEFOREHAND (i.e don't leave it to the last minute). Not sure whether it would satisfy the UK forces, but since there are a lot of applications for entering the service due to limited prospects due to covid, then they are taking on only 1st British Nationalities.

 

Thank you for your email dated the 18^th January 2021.

 

I’m pleased to hear that your son is interested in joining the Royal Navy!

I can confirm that due to the large amount of applications received, we are currently only accepting applications from applicants who hold British nationality. Dual nationals are able to apply if they hold British as their first nationality.

This applies to the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines and we do not have a time frame as to when these positions will reopen for Commonwealth applicants and dual nationals who do not hold British as a first nationality.

We are therefore advising those potential applicants to keep an eye on our website below in order to keep updated with any changes. Once positions reopen the website will be updated accordingly. You can then submit an expression of interest for your chosen role providing you are still interested in joining and meet the basic eligibility criteria.

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/careers/joining/commonwealth-and-non-british

We are also advising candidates not to travel to the UK unless they are advised to do so by the recruitment team, you can find more guidance by using our website above.

Kind regards,

CJ

Royal Navy Careers

After reading this I checked army, navy, and RAF eligibility and they are all different so I'm hoping for my younger stepson he can follow his brother, the RAF just says dual nationality no mention of conscription, here's hoping?