Will I be required to serve military service?

[cotton23]

I am in a peculiar situation:

 

I am a 21-year-old male living in the states with a mother who is Thai and father who is American wanting to becoming an ESL teacher in Thailand. My mother is a dual-citizen of the U.S. and of Thailand, and my father is just a U.S. citizen. I was born in Thailand but have lived in the states since I was 2. From my understanding, I still have dual citizenship--however, I only have a U.S. passport. 

 

If I intend to live in Thailand for about a year to teach ESL with a TEFL certificate, will I be required to do the conscript military service? Again, from my understanding I still have my dual citizenship, but I haven't had a Thai passport since before I could speak. Is it possible that Thai citizenship just expires?

Edited July 23, 2017 by cotton23
I forgot a detail of my situation

[Rancid]

My understanding is that if you are registered as Thai you ill be expected to go in the lottery for military service. Of course entering on a US passport you will dodge showing up as here, but then will have all the usual foreigner visa hassles.

[nanglong218]

In this country I'm sure there are ways and means to avoid such complications in one's life.

[scubascuba3]

A Thai guy i know in the UK is also concerned about military service so he uses his British passport when going to Thailand

[Thongkorn]

If you have a Thai id card, Yes you are eligible for conscription, But you can buy yourself out,  If your eligible and just dont return to Thailand for conscription you will be arrested at the Airport if ever you return to Thailand..

[Thongkorn]

8 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

A Thai guy i know in the UK is also concerned about military service so he uses his British passport when going to Thailand

 What happens when the person in Question applys for a Visa to visit Thailand , does it not ask place of Birth on request of a Thai visa

[scubascuba3]

24 minutes ago, Thongkorn said:

 What happens when the person in Question applys for a Visa to visit Thailand , does it not ask place of Birth on request of a Thai visa

I think he has only had a visa exempt before so the question probably doesn't come up. I'll ask him next time i see him.

[douginbkk]

I was in the same situation as you about 25 years ago. You won't have any problems unless you plan to make your Thai ID card.

[nanglong218]

My Thai stepson has returned to Thailand on his Australian passport about five times since his citizenship was granted. Never a problem at the immigration desk, customs have checked him twice for cigs and booze, neither of which he uses. His place of birth is on his passport.  No one wants complications in their day job, flash that farang passport, they will wave you through, too much paperwork otherwise.

But, the big but, which affects my stepson and his new wife and their children not yet conceived, Thai citizenship is necessary for land ownership. So if your family owns land here you must have long term plans. Meantime, when the lottery comes around, don't be here.

Edit.   by that I mean it's time for vacation, a tour of SE Asia, beautiful place, even more beautiful women. Come with attitude, you'll win.

Edited July 23, 2017 by nanglong218
Clarify last sentence

[cotton23]

13 hours ago, douginbkk said:

I was in the same situation as you about 25 years ago. You won't have any problems unless you plan to make your Thai ID card.

Thanks for the the replies everyone!

 

I intend to work on a workers visa though...do you think that it's possible for me to do so?

[Berkshire]

If you only have a US passport, then you can just travel to Thailand as an American.  You'd be no different than any other 21 yr old American and will not have to serve in the military.  But you'll have visa issues like other foreigners and will require a work permit to work.  If you obtain a Thai ID and passport, that would change things.  No point doing that unless you intend to live in Thailand for an extended period. 

[thaibeachlovers]

IMO, for what it's worth, if one wants the benefits of being a Thai citizen, one should comply with the OBLIGATIONS of being a Thai citizen.

However, if one wants to be a foreigner in Thailand with all that implies, I don't see any requirement to comply.

My opinion- the Thai authorities may differ on that.

[nanglong218]

To the last two posts this is an amoral response learned from 60s/70s Vietnam. Only poor boys go to war as conscripts.

[nanglong218]

My stepson keeps a very low profile when he returns to his village, never stays over night in case someone jealous of his new prosperity  as an Australian should dob him/ shop him in. If 30 is the cut off date then, now he's 29, he will soon be able to come here with no fears. Many guys in my village have a military style uniform, often with pilot's wings when most couldn't fly a kite. Weird. 

[williamgeorgeallen]

8 hours ago, cotton23 said:

Thanks for the the replies everyone!

 

I intend to work on a workers visa though...do you think that it's possible for me to do so?

you need to contact a thai embassy in america and say you live in america to get out of the military service. if you say you dont speak thai then it helps. once you get the exemption you can come work in thailand on your thai passport. trust me you dont want to try to get a work permit on a foreign passport. i did it for 10 years.  i have researched this as my son is half thai.

[Juan B Tong]

You can always join the US military.

[nanglong218]

Does your family have land in Thailand that you could inherit??

[p_brownstone]

On 7/23/2017 at 3:27 PM, Thongkorn said:

If you have a Thai id card, Yes you are eligible for conscription, But you can buy yourself out,  If your eligible and just dont return to Thailand for conscription you will be arrested at the Airport if ever you return to Thailand..

 

Absolute nonsense!

 

"Arrested at the Airport"!!

 

Do you seriously think that the Thai Military has Squads of  personnel at Suwannaphum waiting for the   thousands of  Dual Thai Nationals arriving every month - in case just one of them may be eligible for Conscription?

 

Repeat : Absolute nonsense.

 

Patrick

 

 

 

[simple1]

9 hours ago, cotton23 said:

Thanks for the the replies everyone!

 

I intend to work on a workers visa though...do you think that it's possible for me to do so?

Depends on the nature of work you want to do, but as a qualified foreigner higher wage than a local Thai in management / professional roles, though companies are changing and seeking locally qualified nationals.

 

 I know a number of Thais who have paid not to go through the conscription process, arranged by someone at the local Amphur, cost about 30,000 baht. If you have family relatives in Thailand they will know who can arrange the process.

[chilli42]

I am assuming your birth was recorded in Thailand.  If you return, first thing you must do is get a Thai ID card ... by law you must have.  Don't worry about showing up for the military.  You are off the radar.  Nothing here is sophisticated enough to connect you to anything.  Simply don't register for the draft and they won't bother you.  Would only be an issue if you want to work in some government capacity.  Really a non issue for you.

[bobnuts]

24 minutes ago, simple1 said:

 I know a number of Thais who have paid not to go through the conscription process, arranged by someone at the local Amphur, cost about 30,000 baht. If you have family relatives in Thailand they will know who can arrange the process.

30k??? Maybe a 0 or two missing from that.

I've been "advised" that it would be a 7 figure sum.

As for my boy, he's not too bothered, he sees it as Thai rite of passage , it's who he is.

They don't even let them hold guns though during their time.

 

Edited July 24, 2017 by bobnuts

[simple1]

37 minutes ago, bobnuts said:

30k??? Maybe a 0 or two missing from that.

I've been "advised" that it would be a 7 figure sum.

As for my boy, he's not too bothered, he sees it as Thai rite of passage , it's who he is.

They don't even let them hold guns though during their time.

 

You're being conned. Around 30k baht, this was at the Amphur serving Pattaya about 2 years ago.  On this forum some more recently claim to have paid approx 40k baht elsewhere in Thailand, suppose it depends on location / contacts.

Edited July 24, 2017 by simple1

[Tony125]

You can apply for an exemption from Thai military service   before your 21st birthday at the Thai Embassy in Wash DC  You can get a Thai passport by sending copy of Thai birth certificate to the Wash DC Embassy. You need to do that because  as a Thai you would not have to do visa runs or even need any type of visa, no need for any work permit can open run a business own land ect.  After 30 yo you are exempt from military service.

 

 

[Sydebolle]

Ask your mother, if she recorded you in the House Register (your mother certainly knows what it is - the Thai writing would be ทะเบียนบ้าน); if yes, then your citizenship is still active and live - otherwise it expired and there is no problem.

If you are on the House Register, then you will be drafted (announcement goes to the address in the House Register). This needs to be forwarded to you and you ask theThai Embassy in Washington (don't ask a Consulate/Honorary Consul but the Embassy as the only legal representation of Thailand in the US) what to do and that you are presently living/working in the USA. Do this in writing, registered mail and follow up by phone if nothing happens. You're off the hook anyhow but you have to make sure that there is a paper trail - just in case ;-)  Good luck! 

[p_brownstone]

2 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Ask your mother, if she recorded you in the House Register (your mother certainly knows what it is - the Thai writing would be ทะเบียนบ้าน); if yes, then your citizenship is still active and live - otherwise it expired and there is no problem.
 

 

Again, absolute nonsense!

 

Unless you specifically renounce Thai Citizenship it can NOT "expire".

 

Patrick

[tso310]

The only way these days that the o/p will get nabbed at the airport is coming through on a Thai passport and using those computerised gates and even on the manned desks that I use when I come through with my wife I would doubt it.. American passport on the farang side no chance or if you are still paranoid pick a queue with lots of Chinese.

[douginbkk]

I am assuming your birth was recorded in Thailand.  If you return, first thing you must do is get a Thai ID card ... by law you must have.  Don't worry about showing up for the military.  You are off the radar.  Nothing here is sophisticated enough to connect you to anything.  Simply don't register for the draft and they won't bother you.  Would only be an issue if you want to work in some government capacity.  Really a non issue for you.

I was in same situation as the OP about 25 years ago. I was about 25 when I did my Thai ID for the first time. They sent me to report to the military personnel stationed at the district office (in Bangkok) because I did not have any papers about going through the draft process. The officer interviewed me about why and I explained that I was out of the country the whole time. I had to show my foreign passport as proof. They then let me get my Thai ID without problems. However note that back then all males were required to show their military papers before they could obtain a Thai passport. I believe the law has been changed since. If OP chooses to go the Thai ID route when he gets here then he will need to have a Thai passport to get out/into Thailand thereafter or he may encounter problems at immigration. I would recommend OP to research the new requirements for a Thai passport.

[Sydebolle]

On 7/25/2017 at 11:24 AM, p_brownstone said:

 

Again, absolute nonsense!

 

Unless you specifically renounce Thai Citizenship it can NOT "expire".

 

Patrick

 

Not quite so; I have three grown kids with dual nationality. The entry in the House Register requires a Thai birth certificate issued by the Amphur which has to show in the upper right corner "Thai" as nationality.
In many cases in the past a half-Thai child was entered as "Non-Thai". Prior to 1991 all children with only one Thai parent were automatically "Non-Thai", a law which got changed by the government under PM Anand Panjarachoon. For years afterwards (in my case my daughter born 1996) the Amphur initially entered "Non-Thai" and only by legal support the Amphur could be convinced that the law changes of 1991 would apply to my daughter. Then only I also applied and obtained (and got granted) Thai citizenship for my two boys born prior to 1991. 

 

If he is registered in a House Register then he is and stays Thai, otherwise the problem is obsolete as far as his military duty is concerned. As you might know or not, you can only get registered in a House Register (the blue, not the yellow one) if you're Thai or holding a Permanent Resident Permit. 

[p_brownstone]

36 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

 

Not quite so; I have three grown kids with dual nationality. The entry in the House Register requires a Thai birth certificate issued by the Amphur which has to show in the upper right corner "Thai" as nationality.
In many cases in the past a half-Thai child was entered as "Non-Thai". Prior to 1991 all children with only one Thai parent were automatically "Non-Thai", a law which got changed by the government under PM Anand Panjarachoon. For years afterwards (in my case my daughter born 1996) the Amphur initially entered "Non-Thai" and only by legal support the Amphur could be convinced that the law changes of 1991 would apply to my daughter. Then only I also applied and obtained (and got granted) Thai citizenship for my two boys born prior to 1991. 

 

If he is registered in a House Register then he is and stays Thai, otherwise the problem is obsolete as far as his military duty is concerned. As you might know or not, you can only get registered in a House Register (the blue, not the yellow one) if you're Thai or holding a Permanent Resident Permit. 

 

This is not at all what I am talking about.

 

In your earlier Post you wrote:

 

Ask your mother, if she recorded you in the House Register (your mother certainly knows what it is - the Thai writing would be ทะเบียนบ้าน); if yes, then your citizenship is still active and live - otherwise it expired and there is no problem.

 

However I absolutely contend that there is no way Thai Citizenship can "expire", regardless of whether or not he / she is listed on the Tabian Baan.

 

That said, I do concur with your point about children born to one Thai parent before 1991; my own daughter was born in 1983, mother Thai and I, British, was a Permanent Resident which, at that time, entitled my daughter to Thai Nationality. Unfortunately with all the excitement of the birth etc. we let the hospital arrange the Birth Certificate without checking and since they did not know I was a PR, I was just a Farang Father in their eyes - the Birth Certificate clearly stated "ไม่ได้สัญชาติไทย" - "Not entitled to Thai Citizenship".

 

It took several weeks of work with various Government Agencies to get the Birth Certificate amended to confirm that she was indeed entitled to claim Thai Citizenship - which she holds to this day together with both Thai and British Passports.

 

Patrick

 

 

[chilli42]

11 hours ago, douginbkk said:

 

I was in same situation as the OP about 25 years ago. I was about 25 when I did my Thai ID for the first time. They sent me to report to the military personnel stationed at the district office (in Bangkok) because I did not have any papers about going through the draft process. The officer interviewed me about why and I explained that I was out of the country the whole time. I had to show my foreign passport as proof. They then let me get my Thai ID without problems. However note that back then all males were required to show their military papers before they could obtain a Thai passport. I believe the law has been changed since. If OP chooses to go the Thai ID route when he gets here then he will need to have a Thai passport to get out/into Thailand thereafter or he may encounter problems at immigration. I would recommend OP to research the new requirements for a Thai passport.

 

The OP will have a tough time getting a clear answer on this from authorities. That said, the situation you describe remains.  If you can show a Thai or foreign passport that demonstrates you have been out of Thailand for an extended period then you are in the clear.  I just went through this process for my son.  He already had his ID card and passport since he had been living in Thailand ... but was in boarding school overseas when his time to do military service arrived.  I think it's a safe bet that ID card and passport issuance are not linked to military service.  The authorities made i clear that without military service there is no possibility to work in government, medical, teacher etc