Satish Sehgal faces deportation now

[mrtoad]

The RBSC as you mention TAH is a bizarre place, with a lot of people living in a cocoon. Nice spot though.

[mrtoad]

7 days ? great. marked on my calendar. its going to be great to watch him squirm, he has put on a good show ill give him that. zero sympathy for anti-democratic dumbasses like this

champagne is chilling in the fridge...

You have a fridge?? You have Champagne?

You must be an elitist, amart.

[Thai at Heart]

The RBSC as you mention TAH is a bizarre place, with a lot of people living in a cocoon. Nice spot though.

The irony of it is, of course that Thailand wasn't colonised apparenlty, but the Thai's went off on their own and copied an old colonial sytled sports club. And the type of discussion hasn't apparently moved on much from that era either.

[metisdead]

Posts using derogatory nicknames or intentional misspelling of people’s names will be removed. If you don’t want your post to be removed, spell people’s names correctly.

[Fat Haggis]

Can he not take the other PDRC mouthpiece with him?

[Arkady]

The RBSC as you mention TAH is a bizarre place, with a lot of people living in a cocoon. Nice spot though.

The irony of it is, of course that Thailand wasn't colonised apparenlty, but the Thai's went off on their own and copied an old colonial sytled sports club. And the type of discussion hasn't apparently moved on much from that era either.

The Thais didn't go off on their own to set up RBSC a Russian expat petitioned the King with the support of some nobles for a grant of land for the purpose of training horses and this was granted. The club was run as a colonial club largely by the British until about 1960 when the British lost their dominance, as the colonial trading companies declined in Asia, and it was taken over by Thais. The bylaw limiting one nationality to not more than half of the general committee was put in place to reduce British dominance. Now it applies to Thais but was reduced to not more than one third a few years ago. The only difference between RBSC and other colonial style clubs in the region was that natives were allowed in as members but this was originally restricted to the royal family and nobility. They fitted right in because they had been to Eton, Harrow, Oxford, Cambridge and Sandhurst and were generally better British educated than the expats who were often sent out to the Far East by trading companies straight from public school. They happily joined the rugger, soccer and cricket teams, as you may see from the old photographs at the club. Naturally, the Chinese were only welcome as club servants and expats regarded employing them as a necessary evil because it was virtually impossible to find Thai butlers, cooks etc that could speak any English.

[saakura]

Is he the publisher of Look East magazine? A glossy magazine aimed at tourists...a lot of it appears to be reviews and recommendations by 'celebrities' endorsing restaurants, products, shops...owned by other 'celebrities'.Indus restaurant seems to be well covered.. I guess tourists wouldn't know that.

Indus restaurant is owned by his brother Ravi Sehgal.

[Thai at Heart]

The RBSC as you mention TAH is a bizarre place, with a lot of people living in a cocoon. Nice spot though.

The irony of it is, of course that Thailand wasn't colonised apparenlty, but the Thai's went off on their own and copied an old colonial sytled sports club. And the type of discussion hasn't apparently moved on much from that era either.

The Thais didn't go off on their own to set up RBSC a Russian expat petitioned the King with the support of some nobles for a grant of land for the purpose of training horses and this was granted. The club was run as a colonial club largely by the British until about 1960 when the British lost their dominance, as the colonial trading companies declined in Asia, and it was taken over by Thais. The bylaw limiting one nationality to not more than half of the general committee was put in place to reduce British dominance. Now it applies to Thais but was reduced to not more than one third a few years ago. The only difference between RBSC and other colonial style clubs in the region was that natives were allowed in as members but this was originally restricted to the royal family and nobility. They fitted right in because they had been to Eton, Harrow, Oxford, Cambridge and Sandhurst and were generally better British educated than the expats who were often sent out to the Far East by trading companies straight from public school. They happily joined the rugger, soccer and cricket teams, as you may see from the old photographs at the club. Naturally, the Chinese were only welcome as club servants and expats regarded employing them as a necessary evil because it was virtually impossible to find Thai butlers, cooks etc that could speak any English.

I stand corrected. Not sure where you equate Eton or Harrow, but they are public schools. Not all public school boys go to Cambridge or Oxford however.

However, it still retains a disctinctly colonial air,

[ianf]

He knew the law like any other Farang in Thailand, Foreigners are allowed to express their political opinion but taking part in an attempt to overthrow the government is not within their political rights!

For tee money all ready paid, would be considered as an act of corruption, the case is to high profile to be brought off by any amount of tea money, it is a warning to all farangs!

Cheers

I was hoping they'd also deport you Kikoman!!!!!! But they won't as you are the Sociopath's buddy.

[p_brownstone]

Appreciate that it's your opinion Richard and of course my posts are mine - at that particular moment in time if course. I just find it odd that a law would differentiate between the rules relating to a Thai woman married to a Thai national rather than just a spouse of a Thai national. That smells to me of discrimination between sexes. A bit odd don't you think?

Well, some of the original laws have actually been drafted in the far past and then just additions were made to them.

Not long ago a Thai woman was forced to adopt the husband's family name when getting married until this was found to be unconstituional. Also the title was turned from Miss (Nang Sao) to Mrs. (Nang) for once and forever which was also judged to be unconstitutional. Now, there is free choice.

Anyway, society has always be male dominated. Even in Germany. I remember that only the father's nationality was crucial for the nationality of the child. This has been amended. In Germany and Thailand as well.

The present Thai National Act seems still to be based on the old times and hence between Thai husband and Thai wife is still being differentiated in individual sections.

No doubt about it, foreign men getting married to Thai women surely overwhelm relatonships the other way around. Imagine, just getting married to a Thai woman and after five years acquiring Thai nationality would just be a piece of cake just as it is in Germany nowadays. Frankly said, I have my doubts that this would do the Kingdom any good.

Personally, Thai nationality will be the "cherry on the cake" for myself after living in this country for 14 years and not having been on Thai soil for a mere five days in all those years. Once an Immigration Officer even asked me why I would not go for naturalization. I told her that it is quite an obstacle and I just haven't dared to make the move. Firstly you have to reach a certain number of points to just qualify to file an application. Afterwards, the decision process requires years and even the endorsement by His Majesty the King. Means one has to be in real love with this county to actually endure this. The officer indicated that I would surely quality to 80% already which I responded to that this I consider not good enough and that I am just going to give it a go when I have a 101% confidentiality level that I will pass. That's me, after "just" 14 years. After 50 years plus I guess I will even have problems with my mother tongue. That's why I am indeed wondering whether Mr. Sehgal really considers the Kingdom his true home when obviously just being satisfied with Permanent Residence rather than Thai citizenship.

If you really appreciate the Kingdom as your actual home wouldn't it be a honour to hold the nationality and being officially part of it? With all the advantages and possibly also disadvantages this may bring? How deep is your love, actually? Deep enough to do the move and eventually succeed or still not fully convinced?

Frankly said, I am quite a bit puzzled about Mr. Sehgal's case. Obvioulsy, a stern political activist to form a better Thailand but not as a Thai but an Indian citizen. Even after living more than 50 years in the Kingdom? If I could turn my German passport in for a Thai passport I would rather do it today than tomorrow. Despite all the seemingly imperfection when compared to the "more developed countries". For me is the Kingdom how it presently is and not what it could be. Otherwise, I would not live here but rather look for greener pastures. Actually, that was what I did when I came here.

Richard - sorry, off Topic I know!

You should visit the Thai Police Special Branch in Rama I - opposite Central World - and get updated on the Legislation .... they are very helpful and speak pretty good English by the way.

If you have been married to a Thai National and paid Income Tax for a minimum of 3 years then you can apply for Thai Citizenship. Yes, it used to be the case that this only applied to a Foreign woman married to a Thai man but the discrimination was recognised a few years ago and the Law amended so it now also applies to a Foreign man married to a Thai woman.

Patrick

Edit : to add

Immigration have absolutely nothing to do with either Permanent Residence nor Thai Citizenship - go to the Police Special Branch in Rama I or the Interior Ministry for proper guidance.

Patrick

Edited March 6, 2014 by p_brownstone

[Arkady]

That said I find your post most interesting because it seems to be very discriminatory against gender.

Not necessarily.

My post just reflects an extract referring to the five years pattern. If you follow the link provided as source you will find the entire Thai Nationality Act. There are also much for options as section 10 and section 11 already indicates. For example also the situation of a foreign female married to a Thai national.

Or the option just by time if you are not related to any person holding Thai nationality. In this case you must hold a least a Residence Permit for a minium of ten years. The Indian dude in question surely qualifies under these circumstances easily.

No need to come up with any discrimination paranoia which seems to become more and more bizarre in nowadays Premiumworld. One can commit any crime but not discriminate. A situation that sometimes goes so far that the legal system seems to get ridiculed. But anyway, just my own impression and opinion.

Appreciate that it's your opinion Richard and of course my posts are mine - at that particular moment in time if course. I just find it odd that a law would differentiate between the rules relating to a Thai woman married to a Thai national rather than just a spouse of a Thai national. That smells to me of discrimination between sexes. A bit odd don't you think?

Don't know why the Indian man didn't apply for citizenship - he has permanent residence - I don't think the 200k fees for the pleasure would be beyond him either - or maybe that's for PR. I get lost with all these laws that seem to be so poorly drafted

The fee for naturalisation is only B5,000 today and it was much easier and faster 20+ years ago. Satish would also have got his PR very easily. Until the 70s it only took a few months and orginally it was, in fact, granted by immigration officers at the port. Most of those applying were Chinese coolies and they had to convince the immigration officer they had a trade or profession they could support themselves with.

The Nationality Act retains some anachronisms that reflect what used to be common practice in the Western world until the late 40s. Women were automatically stripped of their nationality for marrying an alien. Therefore it was incumbent on nations to grant foreign wives nationality automatically. The UK did this until 1981 when you only had to take your new Thai bride to the embassy with your marriage certificate and she got a British passport right away. However, the Brits stopped stripping British women of their nationality for marrying aliens in 1948. Thailand has also preserved some of the anachronism latterly for fear of being overrun by the vast numbers of foreign men who have settled down with Thai wives in retirement or unemployment. A bill in 2008 to put foreign husbands of Thai women on exactly the same basis as the foreign wives (i.e. retirees and the unemployed would have qualified as long as the Thai spouse had income of B15,000 a month) was watered down by the Interior Ministry's legal department on grounds of national security before the bill became law. Nevertheless, it resulted in a major concession in the form of Section 11.4 of the Act which means that foreign males with Thai wives no longer need PR first, neither do they have to sing the National and Royal Anthems.

Anyway Satish didn't pay his B5,000 fee for naturalisation and now he may be regretting it.

[saakura]

I forgot to say that in reality he is being deported for his political views.That's a very dangerous / undemocratic path

I thought he was being deported for defying the laws of the land as a foreigner, even after several public warnings. Saw him (from our office in a high rise) on the day he was leading a big group to the Aeronautical Radio threatening to close it down and was wondering as just the previous day i had read in the papers about him being warned.

[p_brownstone]

The RBSC as you mention TAH is a bizarre place, with a lot of people living in a cocoon. Nice spot though.

Well, I love my Cocoon - apparently Satish did too, ergo hereditary Committee positions etc. may have gone to his head.

Patrick

[Arkady]

I forgot to say that in reality he is being deported for his political views.That's a very dangerous / undemocratic path

I thought he was being deported for defying the laws of the land as a foreigner, even after several public warnings. Saw him (from our office in a high rise) on the day he was leading a big group to the Aeronautical Radio threatening to close it down and was wondering as just the previous day i had read in the papers about him being warned.

Perhaps he got mixed up in the Aeronautical Radio nonsense but it seemed that it was just the hardline PEFOT fringe group that was advocating that against Suthep's wishes. It doesn't seem consistent with his Silom community based approach but I guess we all have bad days.

[slipperx]

Appreciate that it's your opinion Richard and of course my posts are mine - at that particular moment in time if course. I just find it odd that a law would differentiate between the rules relating to a Thai woman married to a Thai national rather than just a spouse of a Thai national. That smells to me of discrimination between sexes. A bit odd don't you think?

Well, some of the original laws have actually been drafted in the far past and then just additions were made to them.

Not long ago a Thai woman was forced to adopt the husband's family name when getting married until this was found to be unconstituional. Also the title was turned from Miss (Nang Sao) to Mrs. (Nang) for once and forever which was also judged to be unconstitutional. Now, there is free choice.

Anyway, society has always be male dominated. Even in Germany. I remember that only the father's nationality was crucial for the nationality of the child. This has been amended. In Germany and Thailand as well.

The present Thai National Act seems still to be based on the old times and hence between Thai husband and Thai wife is still being differentiated in individual sections.

No doubt about it, foreign men getting married to Thai women surely overwhelm relatonships the other way around. Imagine, just getting married to a Thai woman and after five years acquiring Thai nationality would just be a piece of cake just as it is in Germany nowadays. Frankly said, I have my doubts that this would do the Kingdom any good.

Personally, Thai nationality will be the "cherry on the cake" for myself after living in this country for 14 years and not having been on Thai soil for a mere five days in all those years. Once an Immigration Officer even asked me why I would not go for naturalization. I told her that it is quite an obstacle and I just haven't dared to make the move. Firstly you have to reach a certain number of points to just qualify to file an application. Afterwards, the decision process requires years and even the endorsement by His Majesty the King. Means one has to be in real love with this county to actually endure this. The officer indicated that I would surely quality to 80% already which I responded to that this I consider not good enough and that I am just going to give it a go when I have a 101% confidentiality level that I will pass. That's me, after "just" 14 years. After 50 years plus I guess I will even have problems with my mother tongue. That's why I am indeed wondering whether Mr. Sehgal really considers the Kingdom his true home when obviously just being satisfied with Permanent Residence rather than Thai citizenship.

If you really appreciate the Kingdom as your actual home wouldn't it be a honour to hold the nationality and being officially part of it? With all the advantages and possibly also disadvantages this may bring? How deep is your love, actually? Deep enough to do the move and eventually succeed or still not fully convinced?

Frankly said, I am quite a bit puzzled about Mr. Sehgal's case. Obvioulsy, a stern political activist to form a better Thailand but not as a Thai but an Indian citizen. Even after living more than 50 years in the Kingdom? If I could turn my German passport in for a Thai passport I would rather do it today than tomorrow. Despite all the seemingly imperfection when compared to the "more developed countries". For me is the Kingdom how it presently is and not what it could be. Otherwise, I would not live here but rather look for greener pastures. Actually, that was what I did when I came here.

Nice post. I am just not so enamored with countries be it the UK, Germany, Japan or the USA. It strikes me that religion and nationalism cause way more problems than they solve. I also love this country but many things I don't like too. I think that is normal. Really would just like to live in peace and safety in the warm with nice people around me which Thailand fulfills better than my country of birth. I do understand you and applaud your thinking. I wish you good fortune too.

[Soutpeel]

7 days ? great. marked on my calendar. its going to be great to watch him squirm, he has put on a good show ill give him that. zero sympathy for anti-democratic dumbasses like this

champagne is chilling in the fridge...

What champagne would that be ? château 7/11 2014 and buying ice from the same place doesn't count as a fridge dear boy

[slipperx]

Good to see all foreigners being treated equally and no special treatment just because you are His so. The fool now joins the fools from Australia and England who got involved in demos and got deported.

This person has been in thailand all his life but not a citizen. Obviously bears no loyalty to the country keeps indian citizenship probably to get benefits while leeching off thailand.

You are aware of how difficult it is to get Thai citizenship?

But its possible if you really want it.

Well the other question is whether voicing a political opinion warrants deportation. In some cases I think it should but was this guy really subversive when mostly he was praising the most important person here?

Anyway you are right in that he should have kept a lower profile

[Crushdepth]

Is he the publisher of Look East magazine? A glossy magazine aimed at tourists...a lot of it appears to be reviews and recommendations by 'celebrities' endorsing restaurants, products, shops...owned by other 'celebrities'.Indus restaurant seems to be well covered.. I guess tourists wouldn't know that.

Indus restaurant is owned by his brother Ravi Sehgal.

It's a good restaurant though. Food is excellent.

[Thai at Heart]

Well the other question is whether voicing a political opinion warrants deportation. In some cases I think it should but was this guy really subversive when mostly he was praising the most important person here?

Anyway you are right in that he should have kept a lower profile

I think that standing on stage wanting the overthrow of the sitting goverment is normally enough to get most people into trouble, let alone a foreigner. In most cases, the invective that has come off the stage would have got dozens of people arrested. Expressing his opinions, would in other parts of the world be on a case by case basis. But if you lead a protest to close down a government office, that would normally get you arrested, in many cases because you were a foreigner deported from many countries.

He isn't afforded the same rights as a Thai, and that in itself is not unusual. Many countries deport people for all sorts of offences every day.

[jayboy]

The RBSC as you mention TAH is a bizarre place, with a lot of people living in a cocoon. Nice spot though.

The irony of it is, of course that Thailand wasn't colonised apparenlty, but the Thai's went off on their own and copied an old colonial sytled sports club. And the type of discussion hasn't apparently moved on much from that era either.

The Thais didn't go off on their own to set up RBSC a Russian expat petitioned the King with the support of some nobles for a grant of land for the purpose of training horses and this was granted. The club was run as a colonial club largely by the British until about 1960 when the British lost their dominance, as the colonial trading companies declined in Asia, and it was taken over by Thais. The bylaw limiting one nationality to not more than half of the general committee was put in place to reduce British dominance. Now it applies to Thais but was reduced to not more than one third a few years ago. The only difference between RBSC and other colonial style clubs in the region was that natives were allowed in as members but this was originally restricted to the royal family and nobility. They fitted right in because they had been to Eton, Harrow, Oxford, Cambridge and Sandhurst and were generally better British educated than the expats who were often sent out to the Far East by trading companies straight from public school. They happily joined the rugger, soccer and cricket teams, as you may see from the old photographs at the club. Naturally, the Chinese were only welcome as club servants and expats regarded employing them as a necessary evil because it was virtually impossible to find Thai butlers, cooks etc that could speak any English.

An interesting digression on a lost world.I became a member of the RBSC about 15 years ago and until today I believed, that Sehgal was on the new members interviewing committee - but I think it may perhaps have been a relative.Whichever Sehgal he was I recall he was very slightly aggressive but a nice enough guy.Arkady touches on the delightfully English class distinction between the Thai aristocracy and the (mostly) minor public school boys at Borneo,Anglo-Thai etc.There were of course a few exceptions like the late Dacre Raikes, a genuine though untypical toff.The more blokey Brits tended to gravitate to the British Club, not as depressingly plebeian as it is now.The top rank Brits tended to belong to both clubs, although RBSC was the one with cachet.Anyway the action towards Sehgal seems petty and spiteful and I hope he is in the event able to stay - though he exercised extremely poor judgement (not that someone like that would ever understand why).

[Arkady]

Appreciate that it's your opinion Richard and of course my posts are mine - at that particular moment in time if course. I just find it odd that a law would differentiate between the rules relating to a Thai woman married to a Thai national rather than just a spouse of a Thai national. That smells to me of discrimination between sexes. A bit odd don't you think?

Well, some of the original laws have actually been drafted in the far past and then just additions were made to them.

Not long ago a Thai woman was forced to adopt the husband's family name when getting married until this was found to be unconstituional. Also the title was turned from Miss (Nang Sao) to Mrs. (Nang) for once and forever which was also judged to be unconstitutional. Now, there is free choice.

Anyway, society has always be male dominated. Even in Germany. I remember that only the father's nationality was crucial for the nationality of the child. This has been amended. In Germany and Thailand as well.

The present Thai National Act seems still to be based on the old times and hence between Thai husband and Thai wife is still being differentiated in individual sections.

No doubt about it, foreign men getting married to Thai women surely overwhelm relatonships the other way around. Imagine, just getting married to a Thai woman and after five years acquiring Thai nationality would just be a piece of cake just as it is in Germany nowadays. Frankly said, I have my doubts that this would do the Kingdom any good.

Personally, Thai nationality will be the "cherry on the cake" for myself after living in this country for 14 years and not having been on Thai soil for a mere five days in all those years. Once an Immigration Officer even asked me why I would not go for naturalization. I told her that it is quite an obstacle and I just haven't dared to make the move. Firstly you have to reach a certain number of points to just qualify to file an application. Afterwards, the decision process requires years and even the endorsement by His Majesty the King. Means one has to be in real love with this county to actually endure this. The officer indicated that I would surely quality to 80% already which I responded to that this I consider not good enough and that I am just going to give it a go when I have a 101% confidentiality level that I will pass. That's me, after "just" 14 years. After 50 years plus I guess I will even have problems with my mother tongue. That's why I am indeed wondering whether Mr. Sehgal really considers the Kingdom his true home when obviously just being satisfied with Permanent Residence rather than Thai citizenship.

If you really appreciate the Kingdom as your actual home wouldn't it be a honour to hold the nationality and being officially part of it? With all the advantages and possibly also disadvantages this may bring? How deep is your love, actually? Deep enough to do the move and eventually succeed or still not fully convinced?

Frankly said, I am quite a bit puzzled about Mr. Sehgal's case. Obvioulsy, a stern political activist to form a better Thailand but not as a Thai but an Indian citizen. Even after living more than 50 years in the Kingdom? If I could turn my German passport in for a Thai passport I would rather do it today than tomorrow. Despite all the seemingly imperfection when compared to the "more developed countries". For me is the Kingdom how it presently is and not what it could be. Otherwise, I would not live here but rather look for greener pastures. Actually, that was what I did when I came here.

Maybe more suitable for another thread but you don't need to be so shy of applying for Thai nationality, if you are interested and qualify thro having PR or a Thai wife and a job in Thailand. The police will give you an informal opinion whether you are qualified or not in a few minutes, if you go and talk to them and take you basic documents along, like passport, WP, tabien baan and wife's ID and tabien baan. Nearly everyone who qualifies even borderline will eventually get processed, although there is no telling how long each case will take. Even guys earning the bare minimum salary of B40,000 a month are getting interviewed by the Interior Ministry because they qualify. It is a very legalistic process. You either qualify or you don't. You don't need to pass with flying colours and many of the applicants I have seen at the police office and the Interior Ministry don't speak wonderful Thai and are quite modestly dressed, so presumably not that wealthy. In most cases it's just a case of running around for a few weeks getting documents, putting in the application and waiting. The documentation is far less burdensome that what Immigration requires for PR applications and, unlike PR where there is a window of only a couple of weeks to apply at the end of Dec, you may apply any working day of the year. Also the fee is only B5,000 plus B1,000 for your naturalisation certificate.

[commie Joe]

Going after one Indian Thai taxpayer demonstrates how vindictive and subjective Thai law and its people are.

It,s not how vindictive and subjective Thai law is, it,s how vindictive and small minded the present government is ! Criticism will not be tolerated

This has nothing to do with the government of today (caretaker) It is a Thai Law that rubber stamps that Thailand is for Thais. Not sure but my bet is that it was made under a Yellow goverment that was named whatever at the time. I actually feel sorry for this guy even though he no doubt thinks he his a special foriegner .

I also feel that if Thailand want to advance from their 3rd world status then they (all parties) she set up ways for minorities to voice their opinions. However Thailand seems to want to follow the 3rd world country that is USA. .

[Arkady]

The RBSC as you mention TAH is a bizarre place, with a lot of people living in a cocoon. Nice spot though.

The irony of it is, of course that Thailand wasn't colonised apparenlty, but the Thai's went off on their own and copied an old colonial sytled sports club. And the type of discussion hasn't apparently moved on much from that era either.

The Thais didn't go off on their own to set up RBSC a Russian expat petitioned the King with the support of some nobles for a grant of land for the purpose of training horses and this was granted. The club was run as a colonial club largely by the British until about 1960 when the British lost their dominance, as the colonial trading companies declined in Asia, and it was taken over by Thais. The bylaw limiting one nationality to not more than half of the general committee was put in place to reduce British dominance. Now it applies to Thais but was reduced to not more than one third a few years ago. The only difference between RBSC and other colonial style clubs in the region was that natives were allowed in as members but this was originally restricted to the royal family and nobility. They fitted right in because they had been to Eton, Harrow, Oxford, Cambridge and Sandhurst and were generally better British educated than the expats who were often sent out to the Far East by trading companies straight from public school. They happily joined the rugger, soccer and cricket teams, as you may see from the old photographs at the club. Naturally, the Chinese were only welcome as club servants and expats regarded employing them as a necessary evil because it was virtually impossible to find Thai butlers, cooks etc that could speak any English.

An interesting digression on a lost world.I became a member of the RBSC about 15 years ago and until today I believed, that Sehgal was on the new members interviewing committee - but I think it may perhaps have been a relative.Whichever Sehgal he was I recall he was very slightly aggressive but a nice enough guy.Arkady touches on the delightfully English class distinction between the Thai aristocracy and the (mostly) minor public school boys at Borneo,Anglo-Thai etc.There were of course a few exceptions like the late Dacre Raikes, a genuine though untypical toff.The more blokey Brits tended to gravitate to the British Club, not as depressingly plebeian as it is now.The top rank Brits tended to belong to both clubs, although RBSC was the one with cachet.Anyway the action towards Sehgal seems petty and spiteful and I hope he is in the event able to stay - though he exercised extremely poor judgement (not that someone like that would ever understand why).

All correct. The British Club was originally only a drinking club for the heads of companies. It had no kitchen or sporting facilities (until it bought the Danish tram company's tennis club next door) and didn't need sporting facilities because all Brits could join the Sports Club almost immediately for that. They needed the young expats at RBSC for the games which the Brit Club didn't. Before RBSC's golf course was built, the area in the middle of race track was a wooded area where members could go to enjoy shooting snipe. Before the Brit Club and RBSC there was club for all Europeans called the United Club somewhere on Charoen Krung Road near the river. It was apparently quite a splending affair in its day but the Brits apparently got into a dispute with the other nationalities and went off to form the Brit Club and the United Club eventually closed down.

I was interviewed by Satish when I joined RBSC, although the time with each committee member was very brief. He seemed pleasant enough but very much in name dropping mode and was keen to establish how many family members he knew of my sponsor who was from a prominent business family.

[p_brownstone]

Before RBSC's golf course was built, the area in the middle of race track was a wooded area where members could go to enjoy shooting snipe.

Snipe?

In Bangkok?

Not at all sure where you got that from but :

From the Official Club History :

1901 King Chulalongkorn grants the Royal Charter establishing The Royal Bangkok Sports Club on 6 September

1903 Horse racing begins at the Club in January

1904 Drainage of the Club grounds begins in preparation for introduction of other sports

1905 Cricket begins at the Club

1906 Golf course opens

1907 First rugby games are held at the Club

Again - sorry, WAY off topic I know, but as an amateur student of Bangkok history I seriously would like to know the source for your comment.

Patrick

Edited March 6, 2014 by p_brownstone

[cocopops]

I feel kinda sorry for him. He lived here all his life. So, although he might not officially be Thai, he feels and thinks like a Thai. You can't really blame somebody like that for wanting the best for Thailand. He probably believed supporting Suthep was the best for Thailand.

He should have know after the first rumors he should back off. In stead he chose to go on stage again. That was stupid.

The real victims of this political game are children, normal people and businessmen - like him.

They are just used as tools in an extremely dirty game.

It seems pretty obvious that the government has been vindictive in his case. Their actions here are nothing to be proud of. That he is not a citizen seems to be more or less a technicality here. He's clearly a member of the community, not an outsider.

But I think you are incorrect to cast him as a "normal businessman" caught expressing an opinion. He's not one of the big names, but he's a player.

Nobody can seriously claim that the other side are not also aggressively using the courts and diligently searching out any legal technicality to target PT. And surely nobody is going to protest that members of the government and the family that dominates it are not being targeted personally as well by any legal means that can be found. It seems, unfortunately, to be part of the game at this stage.

He has been singled out because he is a foreigner. No doubt about it. But he is also one of the people who has gone out of his way to contribute to the disruption of ordinary peoples lives and businesses. Now at least one of them knows how it feels. Bummer.

Edited March 6, 2014 by cocopops

[Thai at Heart]

I feel kinda sorry for him. He lived here all his life. So, although he might not officially be Thai, he feels and thinks like a Thai. You can't really blame somebody like that for wanting the best for Thailand. He probably believed supporting Suthep was the best for Thailand.

He should have know after the first rumors he should back off. In stead he chose to go on stage again. That was stupid.

The real victims of this political game are children, normal people and businessmen - like him.

They are just used as tools in an extremely dirty game.

It seems pretty obvious that the government has been vindictive in his case. Their actions here are nothing to be proud of. That he is not a citizen seems to be more or less a technicality here. He's clearly a member of the community, not an outsider.

But I think you are incorrect to cast him as a "normal businessman" caught expressing an opinion. He's not one of the big names, but he's a player.

Nobody can seriously claim that the other side are not also aggressively using the courts and diligently searching out any legal technicality to target PT. And surely nobody is going to protest that members of the government and the family that dominates it are not being targeted personally as well by any legal means that can be found. It seems, unfortunately, to be part of the game at this stage.

He has been singled out because he is a foreigner. No doubt about it. But he is also one of the people who has gone out of his way to contribute to the disruption of ordinary peoples lives and businesses. Now at least one of them knows how it feels. Bummer.

Well, I would like to know at what level you arbitrarily can become safe from the law in Thailand as a foreigner and be let off like a Thai.

I would so dearly love to be able to say "Do you know who I am " in Thai....

[samran]

Going after one Indian Thai taxpayer demonstrates how vindictive and subjective Thai law and its people are.

You will find in many countries, when a foreigner involved in activities that violated the rights of other people and its citizen and political activities against a government, he would be either arrested or deported immediately.

What you forget us that in many civilised countries people are entitled to become citizens after 5 years - less in some countries.

Thais love to go abroad and buy houses, become citizens and take advantage of all the benefits those countries offer when they become sick or get old - regardless of how much they have 'paid in'.

Some even become politicians in those countries and have businesses they control 100% because those countries realise discrimination of the kind practiced in Thailand neither benefits the progress of society nor is it morally conscionable.

The fact the establishment is trying to deport a guy who has lived here 50 years itself says something about the rights and wrongs of the way things are here as well as the pettiness of the mindset.

Thailand has pretty straight forward citizenship rules. You should look them up.

As for pettiness. It isn't only a Thai trait last I saw. Australia has deported convicted criminals in their adulthood who came to Australia when they were only days old but never took out citizenship. In a couple of cases they ended up destitute back in their 'home' country where they couldn't even speak the language.

Not defending chalerm in any way. Just saying posters who like to imply Thais are small minded should remind themselves that their own posts.

[ultimate weapon]

After more than 50 years in Thailand not holding Thai citizenship but "fighting" for a better future of the beloved country? Why not getting naturalized after such a long time which comes with the right to vote and form the future of the country democratically? I love to swim but I don't like to get wet? I know Indians and other nationalities with much lesser background having acquired Thai citizenship.

This then begs the question what is his reason for doing so? It must be for benefits and his family or himself has links to india that he sees would be more beneficial to him to retain indian citizenship instead of becoming a thai. This guy isn't doing any of it for the simple fact of removing some dictatorship and aiding the ordinary thai people. His speaking out publicly probably would endear him even more to the thai elites and maybe the royalty that would provide him with even more benefits economic or political.

[kikoman]

Looking at reality, he is a citizen of India, how long he has been in the country has no effect on his personal choice to keep Indian citizenship. If he wanted to be a Thai citizen he should have done so a long time ago.

Has nothing to do with what government is in power, it is Thai law!

I remember about 12-13 years ago an expat was deported from Thailand for stealing a towel from a local hotel, a common ocurrance in the home country but against the law here.

He broke the law, and can appeal the order, but he should be allowed do so from his home country of India.

Cheers

[Richard Hall]

Maybe more suitable for another thread but you don't need to be so shy of applying for Thai nationality, if you are interested and qualify thro having PR or a Thai wife and a job in Thailand. The police will give you an informal opinion whether you are qualified or not in a few minutes, if you go and talk to them and take you basic documents along, like passport, WP, tabien baan and wife's ID and tabien baan. Nearly everyone who qualifies even borderline will eventually get processed, although there is no telling how long each case will take. Even guys earning the bare minimum salary of B40,000 a month are getting interviewed by the Interior Ministry because they qualify. It is a very legalistic process. You either qualify or you don't. You don't need to pass with flying colours and many of the applicants I have seen at the police office and the Interior Ministry don't speak wonderful Thai and are quite modestly dressed, so presumably not that wealthy. In most cases it's just a case of running around for a few weeks getting documents, putting in the application and waiting. The documentation is far less burdensome that what Immigration requires for PR applications and, unlike PR where there is a window of only a couple of weeks to apply at the end of Dec, you may apply any working day of the year. Also the fee is only B5,000 plus B1,000 for your naturalisation certificate.

Thanks for the advice being convincing enough to give it a try in the next three months.

No, nothing to worry even if successful there are no plans at all turning into a political activist.