Do I Have Thai Citizenship?

[pravit]

My parents are naturalized US citizens from Thailand; my father still holds dual US/Thai citizenship. I was born in the US and have US citizenship. My father tells me that he applied for Thai citizenship on my behalf when I was a child, and that the application was approved. However, I never knew about it until recently. I'm now 20 years old, and I've never held a Thai ID card or passport.

Do I still have Thai citizenship? I know that some countries have laws requiring you to reaffirm the citizenship when you turn 18; does Thailand have something similar?

Thanks!

[samran]

yes you are. You'll need to get hold of your Thai birth certificate, which given you were born in the US, would have been issued by the Thai embassy in Washington DC.

With the birth certifcate, you can apply for a passport via the embassy or a consulate in the US which is authorised to issue Thai passports. You can use this passport to enter Thailand if and when you go there.

You don't really need the ID card until you go and live in Thailand full time, or if you want to work there. You can only get the ID card once you move to Thailand. The passport is sufficuent for you to come and go as you please, and stay as long as you want for extended holidays.

I suggest that if you aren't intending on moving to Thailand, then you don't get an ID card when you visit. This puts you on the radar for military service. You'll be eligble for conscription until the year you turn 30.

Thailand has no problems with dual nationality these days. The law states that between 20 and 21, if you were born to a foreign father, then you have a choice of renouncing your thai nationality in that space of time. But there is no compulsion to do so for these people. Given that you were born to a Thai father, this rule duesn't even apply to you.

[Nordlys]

You don't really need the ID card until you go and live in Thailand full time, or if you want to work there. You can only get the ID card once you move to Thailand. The passport is sufficuent for you to come and go as you please, and stay as long as you want for extended holidays.

But then all persons on Thai soil are required to carry an ID with them at all times, Thai ID for Thais and passports for foreigners. Does that mean he should not leave his U.S. passport home even if he enters and leaves Thailand with Thai passport? And what problem would it pose to him if he produces a U.S. passport without any entry or exit stamp to the authority?

[samran]

You don't really need the ID card until you go and live in Thailand full time, or if you want to work there. You can only get the ID card once you move to Thailand. The passport is sufficuent for you to come and go as you please, and stay as long as you want for extended holidays.

But then all persons on Thai soil are required to carry an ID with them at all times, Thai ID for Thais and passports for foreigners. Does that mean he should not leave his U.S. passport home even if he enters and leaves Thailand with Thai passport? And what problem would it pose to him if he produces a U.S. passport without any entry or exit stamp to the authority?

a technicality, but the Thai passport is a legitimate Thai form of identification, which is equivalent to a Thai ID card.

A bunch of times when I've filled out a form here it usually says 'ID card number' but PP proving your ID and nationality works just as well, never a problem. If they ask (very rare in my experience), you explain why you don't have one (ie you reside overseas, don't have a 'house/tabeen baan' here) and you are fine.

The only time you really need an ID card here is when you are getting your drivers license and applying for a passport within Thailand.

[Nordlys]

Did they ever actually ask you how you managed to obtain a Thai passport without a Thai I.D.?

[Mario2008]

But then all persons on Thai soil are required to carry an ID with them at all times, Thai ID for Thais and passports for foreigners. Does that mean he should not leave his U.S. passport home even if he enters and leaves Thailand with Thai passport?

He needs to take both passports. The Thai passport for entering Thailand and the US for returning to the US.

[samran]

Did they ever actually ask you how you managed to obtain a Thai passport without a Thai I.D.?

never was asked but the answer is easy.

If you were born outside of Thailand, or live outside of Thailand and your ID card has expired, then you only have to prove that you are a Thai national to get a passport. For most people the proof is their Thai birth certificate.

I didn't get a Thai ID number or ID card till I was 30. Up until that point, my three Thai passports always had a blank spot where your ID number should go.

[pravit]

Thank you everyone for the quick and helpful advice.

How exactly does conscription work in Thailand - if I don't have an ID card, I won't be called up? Would there be a chance of being called up if I entered the country on a Thai passport?

Again, thanks so much for your help.

[TheChiefJustice]

As long as you do not have a Thai ID card or your name registered in a ทะเบียนบ้าน you will not be called up.

Edited June 9, 2008 by TheChiefJustice

[Boo]

also presuming here that you are male as only thai males are required to do military service so, if you're a women then no worries.