Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application

[qualtrough]

Thanks to all of your responding with my questions about the Thai name process.

 

I did some research on surnames and came up with about a half dozen that passed the on-line test.

 

A question. So now I am going down to pick a Thai name at the Amphur. But that doesn't mean I have to change my Thai identification card or household registration to match?

[yankee99]

5 minutes ago, qualtrough said:

Thanks to all of your responding with my questions about the Thai name process.

 

I did some research on surnames and came up with about a half dozen that passed the on-line test.

 

A question. So now I am going down to pick a Thai name at the Amphur. But that doesn't mean I have to change my Thai identification card or household registration to match?

No nothing changes now. Just get the rest of the docs and send them to SB. 

 

SB is working very quickly now they informed me my file will go to the moi next month. 

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, yankee99 said:

No nothing changes now. Just get the rest of the docs and send them to SB. 

 

SB is working very quickly now they informed me my file will go to the moi next month. 

That's great! Did they say they would and some confirmation?

In a bit concerned they send it to my Bangkok address, and not my up country one.

[yankee99]

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

That's great! Did they say they would and some confirmation?

In a bit concerned they send it to my Bangkok address, and not my up country one.

My wife didnt ask our SB contact actually volunteered the info so i dont know about confirmation but he will tell us.  He knows im also on a bkk book and my wife is in a pattaya book

[khongaeng]

11 hours ago, yankee99 said:

No nothing changes now. Just get the rest of the docs and send them to SB. 

 

SB is working very quickly now they informed me my file will go to the moi next month. 

They have been telling me mine would be sent to MOI next month since December. Fingers crossed I made the cut during SB meeting this month. 

[SWW]

On 5/16/2018 at 10:49 PM, sathuluv said:

- Not yet until I get my Thai ID card.
- Approx 2 years plus

That is actually one of the questions in the SB interview!!

 

Q: "At which stage during the process do you legally become a Thai citizen?"

A: "Once it has been announced in the Royal Gazette"

 

So it's a nitpicky detail I know, but you are now officially a Thai citizen.

[Neeranam]

15 hours ago, khongaeng said:

They have been telling me mine would be sent to MOI next month since December. Fingers crossed I made the cut during SB meeting this month. 

Maybe it would be an idea to ask them the reason for the delay.

I was told mine was sent in March, two months after my NIA interview.

[Neeranam]

5 hours ago, SWW said:

That is actually one of the questions in the SB interview!!

 

Q: "At which stage during the process do you legally become a Thai citizen?"

A: "Once it has been announced in the Royal Gazette"

 

So it's a nitpicky detail I know, but you are now officially a Thai citizen.

I wonder if there is a legal time limit to get an ID card, as all Thai citizens should have one.

[yankee99]

15 hours ago, khongaeng said:

They have been telling me mine would be sent to MOI next month since December. Fingers crossed I made the cut during SB meeting this month. 

I have no reason not to believe them at this point. Everything they have said has been 100% and they certainly could have had me chasing my tail if they wanted to

[qualtrough]

Regarding the name change process, that went pretty smoothly. I ended up creating and checking six surnames online. All six passed. I was actually surprised when my favorite was given the OK because it seemed like one that must surely already exist. Everyone here that I mentioned it to liked it.

I then chose a Thai name suitable for my birth day from an online site. It was a name I was already familiar with.

 

The submission process at the Amphur was pretty straightforward. I handed over the letter from the SB, copy of tabien baan, ID card, passport, etc. They wanted to see my marriage license as well.

 

I was unable to obtain the name change documents (separate pages for name and surname) that day because the head guy wasn't there, but I came back the next morning and finished the process.

 

Today I submitted the marriage certification and name change docs to the SB and was informed that everything on their end is complete (knock on wood) and that the NIA has already been contacted. When I saw the SB last week I was told I would be getting a call within 3 weeks. Today he said they had already been informed and he asked me if I had been called yet. If told me to check my phone because they might not call back if they don't get an answer. Scary.

 

So, now I just sit tight and hope for the best. Thanks again to everyone here helping me to this point!

[yankee99]

Qualtrough 

 

The NIA is easy when they call get a pen they will give you a list of original documents to bring to the meeting. 

[qualtrough]

1 hour ago, yankee99 said:

Qualtrough 

 

The NIA is easy when they call get a pen they will give you a list of original documents to bring to the meeting. 

Hope so. Thanks. I have all my original docs in one place. Need to sort them out neatly again for easy access.

[sathuluv]

On 5/24/2018 at 8:24 AM, SWW said:

That is actually one of the questions in the SB interview!!

 

Q: "At which stage during the process do you legally become a Thai citizen?"

A: "Once it has been announced in the Royal Gazette"

 

So it's a nitpicky detail I know, but you are now officially a Thai citizen.

Thanks SWW for sharing this bit of information. Then as per the process I am Thai.

[khongaeng]

On 5/24/2018 at 2:06 PM, yankee99 said:

I have no reason not to believe them at this point. Everything they have said has been 100% and they certainly could have had me chasing my tail if they wanted to

The reasons have been legitimate for the delays as far as I can tell. The  กรรมการ (guy in charge) seems to be rarely in the office and it seems that they have added an extra step in the process that requires his approval before everything is sent to MOI and as a result my application has been pushed out a number of months. 

 

I hope that your application goes smoothly as your officer has indicated.  For me, in the end, I just want to get past the MOI hurdle before the lifelong politicians get voted back into office. 

[yankee99]

3 hours ago, khongaeng said:

 I just want to get past the MOI hurdle before the lifelong politicians get voted back into office. 

Me too!! 

[MrPatrickThai]

On 5/24/2018 at 8:24 AM, SWW said:

That is actually one of the questions in the SB interview!!

 

Q: "At which stage during the process do you legally become a Thai citizen?"

A: "Once it has been announced in the Royal Gazette"

 

So it's a nitpicky detail I know, but you are now officially a Thai citizen.

After the announcement in the Royal Gazette, surely it doesn't take 2 years to get a Thai ID card.

Is the oath done after the MOI interview, then the name in the Gazette?

[Johnniey]

8 hours ago, khongaeng said:

I hope that your application goes smoothly as your officer has indicated.  For me, in the end, I just want to get past the MOI hurdle before the lifelong politicians get voted back into office. 

I don't think it is a hurdle, quite easy I heard.

[khongaeng]

22 minutes ago, Johnniey said:

I don't think it is a hurdle, quite easy I heard.

I'm not worried at all about the interview, I'm concerned about the bureaucratic snail of a machine that has historically existed at the MOI when a "democratically elected" government is in power. Lately applications have seemed to sail through this step of the process, to the shock and awe of applicants from earlier years where 5+ years was normal at this step of the process alone.  It seems now that this step has been reduced to a mere 1-2 years (or less).

[Johnniey]

13 hours ago, sathuluv said:

Thanks SWW for sharing this bit of information. Then as per the process I am Thai.

Congratulations but you can't do anything like get a passport, or buy land.

[Arkady]

17 hours ago, yankee99 said:

Me too!! 

Apart from the slow pace of organising MOI interviews the minister's signature has often been a huge stumbling block under civilian governments.  One of the worst regimes for this in recent times was the first Thaksin government with Mr 'Social Order' Purachai as Interior Minister, who knocked back all the citizenship and PR applications for re-checking, declaring publicly that all looked fraudulent to him, causing delays of years. The Abhisit government was also pretty bad as hardly any citizenship applications were signed and I think no PRs.  In order to get a wafer thin majority Abhisit had to give away key ministries to SME parties, with less than squeaky clean records, including the Interior Ministry. The minister was actually an extremely affable businessman but was basically a nominee for the party owner who was banned from politics.  The year long Sarayud military installed government with Sarayud himself as Interior Minister was better than all the Shinawatra governments and the Abhisit regime, although not as good the current government.

 

For citizenship and PR applicants military rule is the way to go.  Prayut might come back as an elected PM after elections but things would depend on who gets the Interior Ministry and Prayut, as PM, would likely be in the same situation as Abhisit, having to give it away to the largest SME party in his coalition.  Hopefully the current, more transparent system set up by Interior Minister Gen Anuphong will have some momentum but the jungle has a tendency to grow back quite fast in Thailand.

 

[sathuluv]

On 5/28/2018 at 8:52 PM, MrPatrickThai said:

After the announcement in the Royal Gazette, surely it doesn't take 2 years to get a Thai ID card.

Is the oath done after the MOI interview, then the name in the Gazette?

Yes. After MOI, Oath then RG Announcement.

[sathuluv]

On 5/28/2018 at 10:34 PM, Johnniey said:

Congratulations but you can't do anything like get a passport, or buy land.

Ofcourse. That is why I mentioned on official records (RG) I might be Thai today. Without ID I will not be considered as one. Even after that few places still won't be considered that is a different story. As I witnessed with my friend (Brit-Thai) who has Thai ID and we went to Naval beach and the person in the counter denied to accept him as Thai even he carried his Thai ID. So, the story goes.... 

[Arkady]

40 minutes ago, sathuluv said:

Ofcourse. That is why I mentioned on official records (RG) I might be Thai today. Without ID I will not be considered as one. Even after that few places still won't be considered that is a different story. As I witnessed with my friend (Brit-Thai) who has Thai ID and we went to Naval beach and the person in the counter denied to accept him as Thai even he carried his Thai ID. So, the story goes.... 

 

I emailed a copy of my RG announcement before I got my ID card to a tour company arranging a tour to the Similan Islands where foreigners have to pay a much higher national park entry fee and to my surprise it was accepted that I was Thai and I paid the lower fee.

 

If anyone refuses to accept you as Thai when you present your ID card, you should make a fuss, citing your constitutional right to equal treatment and ask to see his superior.  I did that in the BTS when the ticket clerk refused to sell me a senior card which she said was not available for farangs.  The superior looked pretty shaken when he saw the girl was trying to refuse me the Thai price on racial grounds and told her to sell me the card immediately.  I had a similar experience to the above at an army base in Bangkok with a shooting range which is theoretically only open to Thais and where I have a life-time membership.  I showed the armed guard my membership card and then my ID card but he still tried to insist that farangs were not allowed in and told me to park over there and wait while he called his sergeant.  So I just ignored the idiot and drove to the range to do my shooting without exchanging my ID for the normal visitor card.  I went and did my shooting and, as I left, I gave the guard a big smile as I drove past his guard post where he lifted the barrier without further comment. It seemed that he just panicked when he saw a white face and was unable to take in any more information after seeing that. Presumably his sergeant had set him straight by then, as I am not the only Thai-Farang member there. 

 

Mrs Arkady always tells me these misunderstandings are quite understandable because Thais are not used to meeting Thai-Farangs and I should have sympathy for the misunderstanders who are only trying to do their jobs.  But for me the priority when these incidents take place is protecting my rights as a Thai and my dignity as a human being.  I agree with the missus that the mistakes are understandable but see them as caused by doltishness and racism and thus not deserving of my sympathy.

[Johnniey]

6 hours ago, Arkady said:

But for me the priority when these incidents take place is protecting my rights as a Thai and my dignity as a human being.  I agree with the missus that the mistakes are understandable but see them as caused by doltishness and racism and thus not deserving of my sympathy.

Absolutely, well said and thanks for being part of the fight for equal rights!

I've just found out that my bank has not being paying me interest for years. When explaining the law to a woman there, she said she would change it immediately but not to ask for back payments(I wonder why?). Not sure what action to take on this as it is about 30,000 baht that is due to me, and probably much more from other foreigners. 

[Big Guns]

Although I now have a Thai ID card I tend to expect problems at certain institutions. I also took my SB stamped copy of the RG and my naturalisation certificate to both the bank and the council. That immediately quashed their initial denials 

[samran]

8 hours ago, sathuluv said:

Ofcourse. That is why I mentioned on official records (RG) I might be Thai today. Without ID I will not be considered as one. Even after that few places still won't be considered that is a different story. As I witnessed with my friend (Brit-Thai) who has Thai ID and we went to Naval beach and the person in the counter denied to accept him as Thai even he carried his Thai ID. So, the story goes.... 

They are a bit stricter there with checking IDs but I’ve been there a couple of times with by blond haired blue eyed wife and kids (with Thai ID) and things were fine. 

[Arkady]

1 hour ago, samran said:

They are a bit stricter there with checking IDs but I’ve been there a couple of times with by blond haired blue eyed wife and kids (with Thai ID) and things were fine. 

 

BTW Where is Naval Beach?

[samran]

1 hour ago, Arkady said:

 

BTW Where is Naval Beach?

Sathahip. 

 

Basically the entrance is where routes 3 and 332 intersect. You take your car in and swap one ID (ie DL) for a base pass for your car. Drive in further towards Hat Sai Kaew where you’ll see a booth where you pay the fee to go to the beach. Weekends the place is packed so they make you park there and get a songtaew over the hill to the beach but during the week they normally let you drive through. 

 

The beach is stunning - as good as anything you get down south and a reminder of what made Pattaya popular in the first place. Fortunately naval ownership means it won’t be spoilt 

 

Edited May 30, 2018 by samran

[Arkady]

2 hours ago, samran said:

Sathahip. 

 

Basically the entrance is where routes 3 and 332 intersect. You take your car in and swap one ID (ie DL) for a base pass for your car. Drive in further towards Hat Sai Kaew where you’ll see a booth where you pay the fee to go to the beach. Weekends the place is packed so they make you park there and get a songtaew over the hill to the beach but during the week they normally let you drive through. 

 

The beach is stunning - as good as anything you get down south and a reminder of what made Pattaya popular in the first place. Fortunately naval ownership means it won’t be spoilt 

 

I have driven into that naval base to see the turtles and eat at the restaurant. Exchanged my ID card and was allowed through with no comment. The only problem was finding the gate we had entered by to get the ID card back, as the base is fairly large. Reminds me of Clark Air Base in the Phils and was presumably built by the Americans at about the same time.

[MrPatrickThai]

Hi All,

 

I'm in the process of citizenship. I applied last year and had the NIA interview last November. I'm waiting to hear from the MoI.

 

My main question is what happens when I change my job next month. I've been offered a really good one, much better than my current one. I was hoping to keep things simple by staying where I am but financially, I'd be stupid to refuse.

 

Would you recommend I ask SB what to do? I'm worried they say to start the whole thing again.

Would it be better to say nothing, and hope the MoI don't ask to see my WP, or accept my new one?

I would get my new WP immediately, or maybe after a couple of weeks at the most.

 

Also, when doing the oath, would they accept any WP?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Patrick