the wife has shown me a document published in a thai magazine [ thai smile] that states in thai, that if you do not vote and you are a thai national, then upon your return to thailand you can loose some rights i.e maybe the right to buy land, has she understood this correctly.

Not very likely.

this is the article

Nice to see Benz is still looking good.

Too bad she's teamed up with that Army draft-dodger whose name eludes me.

AFAIK you lose the right to run for parliament or petition a senator or MP...apart from that, not much else.

I actually can't read the text, the photo is too small on my PC.

The missus says there's nothing in there about losing the right to buy land. Only that you lose "some rights", which are as Samran points out, aren't all that major.

The ad does, however, point out the need to register to vote at the Embassy in February, in order to actually vote later on.

Thais are lucky to be able to vote when overseas.

I am British and lost my rights years ago.

I've been living outside Thailand most of my adult life and I still get calls to vote in every election that comes up. And I will do so again next month as I haven't casted a voted in any election anywhere else in the world till the last one a year ago. I tried to vote in the election for the other country of my citizenship last year but I lost the registration paper....

As far as I'm aware, if you don't vote then you lose your right to vote in the next election.

In the article you posted it simply says that if you don't vote you may lose some rights - it doesn't specify which rights!

As far as I'm aware, if you don't vote then you lose your right to vote in the next election.

If that is the case, you would also lose out on the money you would have sold your vote for!

That's hardly fair...

As far as I'm aware, if you don't vote then you lose your right to vote in the next election.

It doesn't make sense. It means by forgeting/being unable to vote once in your 20's you are effectively disenfranchised for the rest of your life.

If that was the rule, the opposition wouldn't be advocating a boycott of this election. It would mean their supporters would be unable to vote for them in all subsequent elections.

thx for clearing that up a little boys,

some of you said 'you lose some rights but it doesn't secify'

i guess TIT

I believe it's only in the next election - not for the rest of your life. I don't know how strictly they enforce this though. My friend's mother has never voted in her life, but still they register her to vote every time!

Although there is currently a Thai Rak Thai candidate who has been disqualified because the EC say he didn't vote in the general election last year.