Thai Citizenship For Male Falung?

[grapetable]

Maybe this has been dealt with before....??

1997 law change states that foreigners married to Thai women can apply for Thai citizenship. Anyone on the forum tried this?

Is dual citizenship allowed by Thai law?

G

[geoffphuket]

Maybe this has been dealt with before....??

1997 law change states that foreigners married to Thai women can apply for Thai citizenship. Anyone on the forum tried this?

Is dual citizenship allowed by Thai law?

G

I've never heard of, or met, any Farang with Thai citizenship. I'd also be interested of other's opinions

[samran]

permanent residency is a very very possible step, especially for those who are working here and are deemed to have made a contribution to Thai society.

Citizenship is a big step beyond this, but there are noteable examples such as Bill Hineke the head of the Minor group of companies (Pizza hut in Thailand). There are also long standing Frang families in Thailand who are Thai nationals by birth.

An aunt in law of mine (not male...but farang) is also a Thai national. She's been here since the 60's. And a uncle in law (Philippino) was naturalised Thai many moons ago too.

Yes, and dual citizenship is now not a problem under Thai law.

[geoffphuket]

permanent residency is a very very possible step, especially for those who are working here and are deemed to have made a contribution to Thai society.

Citizenship is a big step beyond this, but there are noteable examples such as Bill Hineke the head of the Minor group of companies (Pizza hut in Thailand). There are also long standing Frang families in Thailand who are Thai nationals by birth.

An aunt in law of mine (not male...but farang) is also a Thai national. She's been here since the 60's. And a uncle in law (Philippino) was naturalised Thai many moons ago too.

Yes, and dual citizenship is now not a problem under Thai law.

Thanks Samran for the input. I wonder if there are any lesser mortals, not billionaires or involved in Law, that have citizenship.

[samran]

not billionaires, but upper middle class definetly with accumulated connections as time goes on. The uncle in particular, came from a base of not being anything apart from a smart bloke just off the plane in to being a senior partner at a business advisory firm.

But granted, I think at this point, the process is still a bit of mystery to most. But, if we can take Permanent Residency as an example, the process is quickly being de-mystified (See Camerata's pinned post in this forum), so if history repeats, there will be a batch of not so well connected PRs in a couple of years deservedly breaking though the citizenship barrier.

[p_brownstone]

I personally know 7 Farang who are now Thai Citizens - all are long time Expats here in Thailand, not billionaires by any means but quite comfortably off.

I considered getting Thai Citizenship many years ago mainly to bypass a particularly irritating piece of Thai bureaucracy, however that legislation has long since been rescinded so in my situation there is no longer any real advantage; I have Permanent Residence and lifetime Work Permit so in most respects - other than the right to vote - I am on a par with a Thai Citizen.

Well, except of course that I cannot own Land in my own name, but having been married to my Thai wife for over 30 years I have no reservations about having all our Property here in either in her name or in that of my Daughter, who has dual Thai / British nationality.

Patrick

[naka]

I personally know 7 Farang who are now Thai Citizens - all are long time Expats here in Thailand, not billionaires by any means but quite comfortably off.

I considered getting Thai Citizenship many years ago mainly to bypass a particularly irritating piece of Thai bureaucracy, however that legislation has long since been rescinded so in my situation there is no longer any real advantage; I have Permanent Residence and lifetime Work Permit so in most respects - other than the right to vote - I am on a par with a Thai Citizen.

Well, except of course that I cannot own Land in my own name, but having been married to my Thai wife for over 30 years I have no reservations about having all our Property here in either in her name or in that of my Daughter, who has dual Thai / British nationality.

Patrick

I am sure they all got citizenship prior to Thai Rak Thai coming on the scene

Not a snowball's chance in hel_l now !, anyway, why would anyone want it ?.

Would make travelling overseas much more difficult.

Naka.

[p_brownstone]

Would make travelling overseas much more difficult.

Naka.

Only if one renounces ones' origianal Nationality, which in the majority of instances is not necessary.

Patrick

[samran]

I must admit, both my eg's were done in the 1970's or early 80's. I didn't realise that naturalisation laws had changed.

Patrick - could you outline how the laws have made it harder to be naturalised?

[p_brownstone]

I must admit, both my eg's were done in the 1970's or early 80's. I didn't realise that naturalisation laws had changed.

Patrick - could you outline how the laws have made it harder to be naturalised?

Hi Samran,

Actually it was Naka who intimated that obtaining Thai Citizenship is now much harder, in his estimation because TRT is now in power and, I assume, he feels that Party is more xenophobic than its’ predecessors.

I personally did not follow up on the next step after receiving PR (i.e. to become a Thai National) since I could see no real reason to do so. As I mentioned in an earlier Post I seriously considered the idea at one time; specifically when it was a requirement that Farang who had been Resident in Thailand for more than a certain length of time (90 days if I recall correctly) had to obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate from the Revenue Department confirming that all Income Tax liabilities had been met before being allowed to leave the Country. In practice this meant obtaining a Bank Guarantee and spending the better part of a day in the Revenue Department offices having ones’ financial status questioned by quite junior staff there.

When this legislation was rescinded, by the Anand Panyarachun Government, in my situation there was no advantage in applying for Thai Citizenship.

As an aside I should add that all the Farang I know who have obtained Thai Citizenship did so many years ago, and on the basis of their own qualifications, length of stay in Thailand and contributions to Thai Society etc.. I have no knowledge of the precise change in 1997 to which Grapetable refers, nor do I know if the requirements for applying for Citizenship on the basis that one has a Thai wife are different from those required in other circumstances.

Patrick

Edited July 7, 2006 by p_brownstone

[samran]

Patrick - apologies. My own misinterpretation of the posts.

[BKK90210]

Just curious...

If falangs are allowed to have a thai citizenship, my question is... Are we also signing up for the thai military service by default?....or in the reserved automatically?

I don’t know…..if they don’t like us for some reasons later on, will they be putting us on the front line first?

[samran]

Just curious...

If falangs are allowed to have a thai citizenship, my question is... Are we also signing up for the thai military service by default?....or in the reserved automatically?

I don’t know…..if they don’t like us for some reasons later on, will they be putting us on the front line first?

All Thai males, except those naturalised, are required to undertake military service.

In any case, even if it was a blanket rule, all those above 30 years of age are automatically discharged even if drafted.