I find this to be an intriguing discussion, and believe that we tend to create a lot of confusion when discussing matters such permanent residence for immigration, legal, or taxation purposes, so I decided to do some research on the various concepts involved.

Another poster mentioned that the right to live in Thailand is an important point of distinction. The concept of “Right of Abode” usually means to be free to live in a given country without immigration having much or anything to say at all (i.e. no permission required to live and work without restriction). The Right of Abode is generally restricted to Citizens and Permanent Residents (who may be allowed to become citizens after a certain amount of time and, in some cases, by passing certain tests). Full Permanent Residents may lose their rights in given situations, such as if they commit a crime, or if they are found to have committed a crime prior to gaining permanent-residence status, which is generally not the case for born citizens.

The above status and rights are clearly different from that of Long-term temporary residents who’s right of abode is generally visa-dependent and needs to be renewed periodically (i.e. non permanent).

Another concept is “Domicile of Choice” (domicile/residency = the act of establishing a home or residence somewhere), which is tied to international private law and tax law (tax treaties, etc.)

From information I found on the Internet (Wikipedia) it seems that “to establish a domicile of choice, it is necessary to have a clear factual base in one state and that must be accompanied by an intention to reside there indefinitely. Although it is not so difficult to produce evidence that an individual has established a home in a state, it is very difficult to prove that someone has no intention of ever establishing a home in another state.”

So we come to the concept of “Habitual Residence”. Once again, from Wikipedia, “The test for habitual residence is less demanding. The court focuses on the past experience of the individual, and not so much on future intention. A person can have only one habitual residence. It is the place where the individual ordinarily resides and routinely returns to after visiting other places. It is the place he or she would consider to be "home" and it is established as a matter of geography over a reasonably significant period of time… [it] is a test of fact, … [and] cannot be a purely legal concept.”

IMO, Habitual Residence, is the same as “bona-fide residence” in the US, and is important as it determines who you owe your taxes to for many types of income.

Hope this helps….

you are a" resident" if you live somewhere ,i am not "resident" in Britain as i no longer live there ,my home is in Thailand ,therefore i am a "resident" if i leave and go back to live in Britain then i will be a "resident " there .

what a stupid discussion.

Yes ,however the question was ,do you consider yourself a PERMANENT resident ? ..

Been living here for 17 years. Have Thai wife, two kids (Thai citizens). Have tabien somrot, yellow tabien baan but still considered by Thai Immigrations office as a non-immigrant.

Go figure this one out.

you are a" resident" if you live somewhere ,i am not "resident" in Britain as i no longer live there ,my home is in Thailand ,therefore i am a "resident" if i leave and go back to live in Britain then i will be a "resident " there .

what a stupid discussion.

Yes ,however the question was ,do you consider yourself a PERMANENT resident ? ..

What one considers ones self is subjective and not a matter of law, with no correct or incorrect answer.

you are a" resident" if you live somewhere ,i am not "resident" in Britain as i no longer live there ,my home is in Thailand ,therefore i am a "resident" if i leave and go back to live in Britain then i will be a "resident " there .

what a stupid discussion.

Obviously it is not stupid as you replied to it....

So you are a resident of Thailand in your opinion, do you have to get a visa or extension to stay here? When you fill out forms at the Embassy for a passport or other things, which address do you enter when it states Permanent address?

Do you vote? by proxy, then you are a resident of England.

My permanent address is in England and my Current address is in Thailand.

if you were born in a town lets say london and moved to lets say birmingham ,are you still a resident of london? no wherever you live is where you reside ,therefore that is where you are a resident.

i am british but i reside in banglamung ,therefore i am aresident here.

your question should have been ,oh forget it.

Maybe if the Thread was 'Do You Count Thailand as your Permanent Home' there would be no confusion ?

I'm not a permanent resident but it is my permanent address as I have no other. Every 90 days I have to tell them I live at the same address, and every year I have to get another extension..

When I 1st moved here the plan was to get PR, but by the end of the 1st 2 years the Laws had changed and now for some years Retirees cannot get PR.. If I remember rightly now the Extension for retirees is 'to remain for rest of life in the Kingdom'...

So my home is Thailand, where I have house, car and drivers license.

I have a UK Passport and drivers license, have a Dutch I.D card and drivers license, have a German I.D. and drivers license and a Portuguese I.D. and drivers license., but I live in Thailand which is my Permanent Home.

resident |ˈrez(ə)dənt; ˈrezəˌdent|

noun

1 a person who lives somewhere permanently or on a long-term basis.

I have lived in Thailand for 8 years and plan to say here. So by the above definition i am a resident.

permanent |ˈpərmənənt|

adjective

lasting or intended to last or remain unchanged indefinitely

as i already stated, i plan to stay here, so by the above definition i am permanent.

In my eyes i am a permanent resident. If immigration wish to give me another label that is up to them. If someone i have never met on ThaiVisa choses to give me another label then that is also up to them. Spend your life worrying about what other people think and you stop living.

Nidge

People can call themselves "Permanent Residents" if it makes them happy just as they can believe themselves to be funny or attractive. Its all well and good and in no way a reflection of reality.

When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires

Will come to you