Ministry Of Interior Holds Road Show On Rights Of Foreigners In Thailand

[Arkady]

Re Thai nationality for for foreign men married to Thai woman - permanent residence no longer required under the 2008 Nationality Act.

"The official discussed the inequalities facing Thai women married to foreigners stating that it is a cultural construct, 'While we have equal rights under the Constitution, the law is different. Men are regarded as the head of the family in our culture, they need to be able to earn a living and support their wives.'

The requirements for naturalization were laid out, including the income requirements for both those married to Thais and those not married to Thais. The linguistics requirement has been reduced but the applicant must be able to sing the National and Royal anthems. Speaking and listening is mandatory but reading and writing is no longer required."

The income requirement is not too onerous for those married to Thais - B40,000 per month. This is less than the B80,000 required to apply for PR, not to mention that the fees for citizenship are much cheaper and that there has been an effective moratorium on new PR approvals since 2006. The catch 22 is of course that most farangs, depending on occupation and nationality, need more than B40,000 per month to get an extension of stay with a work permit from Immigration, although teachers are OK. The official should have pointed out that the Thai husbands of foreign women applying for Thai nationality also have to show evidence they are able to support their wives, although the minimum is I think still only B15,000 a month. The Nationality Act was amended in response to complaints by women's groups that Thai women with foreign husbands were being discriminated against, since their husbands couldn't apply for nationality without PR first.

The official was either wrong or misquoted on the language requirement for male applicants with Thai wives. The 2008 Nationality Act eliminated the requirement to have knowledge of the Thai language entirely for these applicants. That also means they no longer have to sing the National and Royal Anthems and this change has actually been implemented in practice - it is relief to Special Branch not to have to listen to so many tone deaf foreigners murdering the songs! The language and other tests were revamped and expanded this year and the points allocated for Thai language were increased by 50%. Reading and writing were actually added this year for the first time, not scrapped. Applicants with Thai wives can decline the singing, reading and writing tests but officials will rate their oral ability anyway based on their discussions during the application and they need to be able to write their names in Thai. A new test of General Knowledge of Thailand has been added that requires a knowledge of Thai but applicants can have the questions read out to them, if they are illiterate in Thai. While Thai is no longer a legal requirement for those with Thai wives, for all practical purposes it would be virtually impossible to qualify without reasonable spoken Thai. At any rate, this makes the bar on language low enough for many expats who are no good at singing, reading or writing and seems quite fair to me.

Edited July 21, 2010 by Arkady

[yabaaaa]

He apologized numerous times as did the more junior staff who helped him. He also quietly explained to my agent that the woman concerned was often very rude to Thai customers without cause and that she came from a very powerful family and that he could nothing to punish her or sack her.

It was nice he explained about the woman and that he could do nothing, but a sad reflection on Thai society.

[cookie1003]

Why give rights to farangs.

They don't even belong to this country.

so i supose you think the same about all the chinese that live in thailand cos they aint thai either are they!

[Piengrudee]

Why give rights to farangs.<br />They don't even belong to this country.

so i supose you think the same about all the chinese that live in thailand cos they aint thai either are they!

We have to respect the rights of all people, regardless of race or nationality.

[Arkady]

It also says that you can inherit one rai of land when your wife will die. Does this mean that you can own a house if it is built in that one rai and do not have to sell it? In a sense, you become a house owner?

I don't see anyone commenting in this, is this old news?

Regards,

The article does suggest that, but it is contrary to would I have always been told and I'm not convinced it is true. A legal opinion form an expert on this would be welcome.

Here's a non-expert's recollection: I recall that if your wife owns the land that you live on and she dies, you had up to either 6 or 12 months to sell the land.

Waiting for an expert to respond...

Not sure if I qualify as an expert but you are technically allowed to inherit the land up to 1 rai for residential with the permission of the Minister (but no known examples of permission granted within living memory), if you were legally married and the land was specifically willed to you. Without the Minister's permission the estate can sell the land within 12 months and you can receive the proceeds, if you are clearly named your wife's beneficiary. The will is important, if your wife has any family, as there is a law of succession in Thailand borrowed from French civil law that gives blood relations automatic inheritance rights that don't exist under English or US style common law. If you are in the position of living on land owned by your wife but paid for by you, I would suggest you both go to a lawyer to get wills drawn up. Sunbelt and Issan lawyers are both very good on this kind of stuff (I am not connected with either).