Pheu Thai Asks British Govt To Probe Abhisit's Nationality

[exbelg]

isn't it the case in the UK that nobody has to carry his ID ever when walking the streets?

it is hard to get in (refugies) but once you are in, you are IN for life , no ?

if he is british, i sure hope he will do something in the future for some EXPAT rights in Thailand

[p_brownstone]

But IN the documents, i've seen, I found for the political position of Councilor (so so and so jo in Thai) is precisely that nominate, candidate HAS to be Thai nationality(no any other).

I didn't look about the PM but it is logical, if Councilor must to be Thai-so more than sure is PM must to be.

Is "(no any other)" your addition?

It says they have to have Thai nationality, but does it say anything about any other nationality?

It says nothing about any other Nationality, so long as the candidate is a natural born Thai citizen there is no hinderance to him beconing PM.

Patrick

[p_brownstone]

It would be considered private information that isn't given out to just anyone. Especially not to some nobody with a grudge.

Exactly - a Foreign Political Party is asking for personal information on a British citizen, I doubt they will even receive an acknowledgement.

Patrick

[GamLing]

Does it really matter?

Just to make my point and with the utmost respect. ..... On being asked the question "Where was your beloved King born?", many Thai people will respond "Bangkok" or even just "Thailand".

[Foggy Bottom]

.... Honestly, the opposition are an insult to the people they purport to represent, they should be rounded up and charged with taking money under false pretenses.

I'll just correct that a little for you

the opposition are an insult to the people they purport to represent, they should be rounded up and charged with giving money for votes under false pretenses.

[Buchholz]

It would be considered private information that isn't given out to just anyone. Especially not to some nobody with a grudge.

Exactly - a Foreign Political Party is asking for personal information on a British citizen, I doubt they will even receive an acknowledgement.

Patrick

They did, however, get a nice polite "khrap" from the acknowledging security guard.

[barney42bb]

But IN the documents, i've seen, I found for the political position of Councilor (so so and so jo in Thai) is precisely that nominate, candidate HAS to be Thai nationality(no any other).

I didn't look about the PM but it is logical, if Councilor must to be Thai-so more than sure is PM must to be.

Is "(no any other)" your addition?

It says they have to have Thai nationality, but does it say anything about any other nationality?

[hardy1943]

...

In terms of specificities concerning Thai Constitution, neither does it state that a dual Thai national could become Thai PM...

Have you read the constitution? It also does not state that persons with black hair or taller than 170 cm can become Thai MP. I gives a definitive list of requirements for candidates for Prime Minister and for members of the House of Representatives. Anything not in the list does not matter. This is how it works.

No gray hair?

[barney42bb]

This whole issue is a complete Non-Starter....Of course Abhisit is a British Citizen...He's English in fact...By Birthright,as with any person born on English soil.

There is a very comprehensive Wikipedia on Abhisit..which should clarify any matters.

The real issue is...When will This government stop stalling and hold a Democratic Election...with UN observers..which in any event will see a red landslide victory...The return of Thaxsin....and a huge headache for many farrang who have invested heavilly living full time as ex-pats.

"nd only to all those persons that gave thaxsin the needle.

Glad I have a safe European home to run to as i was last April.

[whybother]

This whole issue is a complete Non-Starter....Of course Abhisit is a British Citizen...He's English in fact...By Birthright,as with any person born on English soil.

There is a very comprehensive Wikipedia on Abhisit..which should clarify any matters.

The real issue is...When will This government stop stalling and hold a Democratic Election...with UN observers..which in any event will see a red landslide victory...The return of Thaxsin....and a huge headache for many farrang who have invested heavilly living full time as ex-pats.

"nd only to all those persons that gave thaxsin the needle.

Glad I have a safe European home to run to as i was last April.

"When will This government stop stalling and hold a Democratic Election"

They will hold an election when they are good and ready, but before they legally have to as required by the constitution (ie before the end of the year).

There won't be UN observers ... neither side would want it.

As to the "red landside victory" ... only time will tell.

[TAWP]

This whole issue is a complete Non-Starter....Of course Abhisit is a British Citizen...He's English in fact...By Birthright,as with any person born on English soil.

There is a very comprehensive Wikipedia on Abhisit..which should clarify any matters.

The real issue is...When will This government stop stalling and hold a Democratic Election...with UN observers..which in any event will see a red landslide victory...The return of Thaxsin....and a huge headache for many farrang who have invested heavilly living full time as ex-pats.

"nd only to all those persons that gave thaxsin the needle.

Glad I have a safe European home to run to as i was last April.

Hahaha, if you think PTP will win anything by a landslide then you are delusional...

[DoctorG]

The British government is under no obligation to provide any information to a non-government party, and would in fact be unwise to do so.

[ManOnTheRoad]

I bet the Security guard will misplaced the letter lol

[hammered]

Data Protection Act means it is hardly likely the UK government will break their own laws to supply any information that is not on the public record or not freely available to the public.

I guess PTP will at some stage attack the British rights of privacy, or more likely try to move the onus to Abhisit to prove what PTP cannot by accusing him of it. That would be interesting if it went to a Thai court on defamation.

[slapout]

Maybe the electorate should start a campaign to check/verify the pedigree, background, education, IQ, etc. of those who are demanding/snooping into this individual. These people really get a job where they can contribute to the welfare of the citizens/country in a POSITIVE manner.

[LindsayBKK]

Everybody knows that PM Abhisit was born in Hawaii and has the Birth certificate to prove it.

Oh hang on that's President Obama BTW who cares!

Pheu Thai are trying everything and anything they can because if Pheu Thai doesn't win the next election Thaksin can't get back into Thailand.

Desperate leaders make for desperate measures.

Edited March 8, 2011 by LindsayBKK

[Ricardo]

isn't it the case in the UK that nobody has to carry his ID ever when walking the streets?

it is hard to get in (refugies) but once you are in, you are IN for life , no ?

if he is british, i sure hope he will do something in the future for some EXPAT rights in Thailand

"nobody has to carry his ID"

In fact there is no such thing as a British ID-card, they were introduced temporarily during the 2nd-World-War, and abandoned shortly-afterwards. Many Brits have driving-licences or passports, but are certainly not liable to be stopped & asked for a picture-ID, isn't freedom wonderful !

[Arkady]

He's hanging on for the Old Age Pension...

He is not eligible for the Old Age Pension without paying the minimum contributions.

[Arkady]

This was not a public petition, as might be the case if a section of Thai society wished to register a complaint about British government policy. It is merely a request for personal information on an individual British citizen which is protected under the Data Protection Act. The idiots have already got a copy of Abhisit's birth certificate from which they have correctly deduced he is a British citizen otherwise than by descent. The records they are seeking reside with the UKBA, i.e. has he ever been issued with a British passport, and I believe that would require a request with very good reason from Interpol or a foreign government. Curiosity alone would not be considered a good reason to disclose personal data, even if the request came from the Thai government, through its embassy in London. I don't think the embassy needs to make any response but, if they feel the need, they can only say that they are not permitted to provide such information under British law.

The request about Abhisit's nationality while studying at Eton and Oxford is moronic to a degree, since nationality would have made no difference to his status at either institution and probably would not have been recorded. They are looking from their own perspective where every possibility to discriminate against foreigners is avidly seized upon.

[Sao Jiang Mai]

The PTP is just grandstanding in preparation for the next parliamentary election. Surely they have somebody literate enough to read and understand the constitution and therefore know that having a second nationality and even having used it does not disqualify a Thai national from being Prime Minister.

Unless and until Apisit either affirms or denounces his ultimate intention in hanging on to dual citizenship....

many Thai would regard such silence from Apisit as a trait of a traitor.... or a two headed snake งูสองหัว.... at the very least....

In terms of specificities concerning Thai Constitution, neither does it state that a dual Thai national could become Thai PM....

Most rural Thai already regard their current PM Apisit a traitor.... to them.... accepting the British citizenship means denunciation of his Thai ancestry....

Just want you to know.... rightly or wrongly....

Sorry but I think it is wrongly! Plese don't presume to speak for 'most'Thais. I live in Chiang Mai and most of those I speak to (note I am not referring to most Thais, just my fellow Thais who I have spoken to) really have stopped giving a dam_n. All they/we want is stability at this point. Abhisit is as Thai as I am and I too hold duel nationality with the UK.

[Sao Jiang Mai]

Woops don't know what happened to my quote above. My comments were only the last three sentences. Sorry.

[jdinasia]

Unless and until Apisit either affirms or denounces his ultimate intention in hanging on to dual citizenship....

many Thai would regard such silence from Apisit as a trait of a traitor.... or a two headed snake งูสองหัว.... at the very least....

In terms of specificities concerning Thai Constitution, neither does it state that a dual Thai national could become Thai PM....

Most rural Thai already regard their current PM Apisit a traitor.... to them.... accepting the British citizenship means denunciation of his Thai ancestry....

Just want you to know.... rightly or wrongly....

"Most rural Thai ...."? What a great load of .... Please substantiate this outrageous claim. Some rural Thais might think that if they are stuck in the Isaan with no access to the news, but MOST? LOL

Your boy Thaksin has accepted foreign citizenship as an adult ... assuming you are correct in anything you state above, what does that say about Thaksin who was not, by the law according to the country he was born in, eligible for citizenship even though his parent's Thai citizenship gives him all he needs to have to be in his position (in other words Abhisit is Thai, and that is not open to question) but Thaksin took foreign citizenship by choice, not by birth.

[Soutpeel]

Your boy Thaksin has accepted foreign citizenship as an adult ...

Bought...

[loonodingle]

The PTP is just grandstanding in preparation for the next parliamentary election. Surely they have somebody literate enough to read and understand the constitution and therefore know that having a second nationality and even having used it does not disqualify a Thai national from being Prime Minister.

Unless and until Apisit either affirms or denounces his ultimate intention in hanging on to dual citizenship....

many Thai would regard such silence from Apisit as a trait of a traitor.... or a two headed snake งูสองหัว.... at the very least....

In terms of specificities concerning Thai Constitution, neither does it state that a dual Thai national could become Thai PM....

Most rural Thai already regard their current PM Apisit a traitor.... to them.... accepting the British citizenship means denunciation of his Thai ancestry....

Just want you to know.... rightly or wrongly....

If he never had a British passport, there is no evidence that he was a dual national.

The fact that he may or may not have applied for a passport does not decide he's nationality or citizenship.

He was born in th UK. He is a British Citizen.

Running Thailand.

Nice one

Rule Britannia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited March 8, 2011 by loonodingle

[Sao Jiang Mai]

So? In what way is Britian involved in ruling Thailand?

[JohnAllan]

With the problems this country is facing, Pheu Thai can find nothing better to do than find the swamp, extract the mud, and sling it. And why on earth the British Government with, I would hope, much more important issues with which to concern itself than this farcical 'request', would agree to it, I can't imagine. <BR> <BR> But then . . . it has to be much easier than trying to harness the resources that would be required to establish Thaksin's 'current' nationality . . . .

[JohnAllan]

The PTP is just grandstanding in preparation for the next parliamentary election. Surely they have somebody literate enough to read and understand the constitution and therefore know that having a second nationality and even having used it does not disqualify a Thai national from being Prime Minister.

Unless and until Apisit either affirms or denounces his ultimate intention in hanging on to dual citizenship....

many Thai would regard such silence from Apisit as a trait of a traitor.... or a two headed snake งูสองหัว.... at the very least....

In terms of specificities concerning Thai Constitution, neither does it state that a dual Thai national could become Thai PM....

Most rural Thai already regard their current PM Apisit a traitor.... to them.... accepting the British citizenship means denunciation of his Thai ancestry....

Just want you to know.... rightly or wrongly....

If he never had a British passport, there is no evidence that he was a dual national.

The fact that he may or may not have applied for a passport does not decide he's nationality or citizenship.

He was born in th UK. He is a British Citizen.

Running Thailand.

Nice one

Rule Britannia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Depends on the law at any given point in time. My son is Thai/British, but being born in Thailand, I had my work cut-out to obtain his British entitlement. Then, some eight years after his birth, the nice perople at the Foreign Office suddenly realised, that everyone else realised . . . that they were contravening the British sex equality law. Law changed . . .

[Arkady]

Depends on the law at any given point in time. My son is Thai/British, but being born in Thailand, I had my work cut-out to obtain his British entitlement. Then, some eight years after his birth, the nice perople at the Foreign Office suddenly realised, that everyone else realised . . . that they were contravening the British sex equality law. Law changed . . .

I wonder what all this means. Sounds like you are talking to yourself, as you don't bother to explain the situation.

British entitlement - is this a certificate of entitlement (CoE) or nationality?

Who was born in Thailand? You or your son or both?

What was the FCO doing in contravention of gender equality laws?

Edited March 8, 2011 by Arkady

[jdinasia]

Your boy Thaksin has accepted foreign citizenship as an adult ...

Bought...

I humbly stand corrected!

[Puccini]

But IN the documents, i've seen, I found for the political position of Councilor (so so and so jo in Thai) is precisely that nominate, candidate HAS to be Thai nationality(no any other).

I didn't look about the PM but it is logical, if Councilor must to be Thai-so more than sure is PM must to be.

For the Prime Minister, the constitution (section 101) says that he must be "of Thai nationality by birth" (มีสัญชาติไทยโดยการเกิด). It does not say that he must have no other nationality in addition to his Thai nationality.

Abhisit is a "Thai national by birth". The fact that the laws of the UK in force at that time also made him a British national by birth does not change the fact that he is without any doubt a Thai national by birth.

Constitution 2007 Thai text.pdf