Thailand's Interior Ministry has ordered the revocation of Thai citizenship held by Ariel Blustein, an Israeli national, after finding that he continued to use his original nationality and did not disclose a Uruguayan nationality during his naturalisation application.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the order on 1 October 2026, under Section 19, first paragraph, of the Nationality Act BE 2508 (1965).

The ministry said the case concerned evidence that Blustein,  a Bangkok-based gem and jewellery entrepreneur, used an Israeli passport after receiving Thai citizenship, as well as the alleged concealment of his Uruguayan nationality.

Thai citizenship granted in 2019

According to the Interior Ministry announcement, Blustein obtained Thai citizenship through naturalisation under Section 10 in conjunction with Section 11(1) of the Nationality Act.

His Thai nationality was formally announced in the Royal Gazette on 3 April 2019, making him a Thai citizen in full under the law. He was first issued with a Thai national identity card on 14 June 2019.

However, the ministry said that on the same day his ID card was issued, Blustein travelled to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China, using an Israeli passport. He returned to Thailand on 23 June 2019, again using that Israeli passport.

Officials said this amounted to continuing to use his former nationality, contrary to the conditions under which he had become Thai.

A foreign national who secures Thai citizenship can continue to hold another passport, provided their original home country also permits dual citizenship. However, they must use their Thai passport to enter and exit Thailand.

Undisclosed Uruguayan nationality

The ministry also said Blustein held Uruguayan nationality and had used it for overseas travel several times before applying for Thai citizenship.

It said he did not disclose this information to officials during the naturalisation process, nor did he express an intention to renounce Uruguayan nationality.

The announcement said the evidence met grounds for citizenship revocation under the Nationality Act, both because of the continued use of a previous nationality and because false information was allegedly provided, or material facts concealed, during the application.

In particular, it cited the non-disclosure of the Uruguayan nationality. The ministry said leaving the matter unresolved could cause serious damage to the public and the republic.

The revocation was made by the Interior Minister using powers under Section 19 of the Nationality Act and was announced publicly on 1 October 2026.

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2 October 2026

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Interesting.

Dual nationality is allowed in Thailand.

What's the point of keeping dual nationality if you aren't free to use the non-Thai passport for travel?

So that's a general condition of naturalizing as a Thai or is that a case by case thing?

I can more clearly see how failure to disclose Uruguayan nationality in the application was a problem.

The idea to triple citizenship isn't something I've ever heard anything about before.

Of course some countries require you to revoke your old citizenship to get the new one.

Thailand doesn't.

Israel doesn't.

Uruguay doesn't.

In any case having a citizenship revoked is by definition quite a serious thing to happen.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Jingthing

24 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Interesting.

Dual nationality is allowed in Thailand.

What's the point of keeping dual nationality if you aren't free to use the non-Thai passport for travel?

So that's a general condition of naturalizing as a Thai or is that a case by case thing?

I can more clearly see how failure to disclose Uruguayan nationality in the application was a problem.

The idea to triple citizenship isn't something I've ever heard anything about before.

Of course some countries require you to revoke your old citizenship to get the new one.

Thailand doesn't.

Israel doesn't.

Uruguay doesn't.

In any case having a citizenship revoked is by definition quite a serious thing to happen.

As was stated, you must use your Thai passport to exit / re- enter Thailand, once out of Thailand you are free to use whatever passport you like to enter another country.

Edited 41 minutes ago41 min by Artisi

1 hour ago, Georgealbert said:

His Thai nationality was formally announced in the Royal Gazette on 3 April 2019, making him a Thai citizen in full under the law. He was first issued with a Thai national identity card on 14 June 2019.

I wonder if he had even obtained his Thai passport on that day he got his id card - almost certainly not would be my guess.

1 minute ago, Artisi said:

As was stated, you must use your Thai passport to exit / re- enter Thailand, once out of Thailand you are free to use whatever passport you.lile to enter another country.

Thai people with dual Thai / USA passports do it all the time. Leave with USA passport, enter Thailand with Thai passport, leave Thailand with Thai passport, enter USA with USA Passport. Super easy to do. I have friends that do it. They guy was ignorant, or had some other things going on. Anyways, he blew it.

2 minutes ago, Artisi said:

As was stated, you must use your Thai passport to exit / re- enter Thailand, once out of Thailand you are free to use whatever passport you.lile to enter another country.

Ironically, providing that country does not have the same rules that Thailand does.

So this dude had 3 citizenships at the same time? So he was a Tri -citizen? I wonder how much he paid for the Uruguayan citizenship? I thought citizenship meant one pledges an oath of loyalty to the country or countries he or she holds? How can one be loyal to two countries at the same time?

1 minute ago, sqwakvfr said:

So this dude had 3 citizenships at the same time? So he was a Tri -citizen? I wonder how much he paid for the Uruguayan citizenship? I thought citizenship meant one pledges an oath of loyalty to the country or countries he or she holds? How can one be loyal to two countries at the same time?

I think he was born in Uruguay.

They've got Jews there as does neighboring Argentina.

I checked and Thailand does not explicitly forbid triple citizenship though it makes sense not disclosing it could be a problem.

I wonder if there's even a place on the application to do so as it's more unusual.

Another way to look at this is to refer to the infamous quote:

Show me the man and I'll show you the crime

Edited 23 minutes ago23 min by Jingthing

This reminds me of the Normad Capitalist guy who promotes collecting passports like some people collect comic books.

Off topic deflection post making unsourced clams removed @ezzra discuss the topic. Thai citizenship revoked by PM for Israeli man