Farang Becoming a Thai National

[Ian]

Syriacus, rather than indulging in a pointless attack on the British....

Ian on Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:28 p03 [124.121.74.xx]
...Anyone who wants to become a Thai citizen is in serious need of psychiatric help.

I find your comment about anyone wanting to become a Thai citizen needs psychiatric help to be condescending. ....

NO ian, NO! rather than indulging in a pointless attack on the thais, YOU need to explain your condescension:
why is anyone who wants to become a thai citizen in serious need of psychatric help? WHY??
before you explain this, we can't go on........

Well firstly the advantages of British citizenship over Thai citizenship are so obvious that it is not condecending.
So as a simple test would you would you care to find a Thai citizen (you are not Thai) to go with me to the American Embassy here to request a visa. Care to predict the outcome.
As another test, what are the Thai chances of free hospitalisation and major surgery in Thailand, compared to mine in England.
I could go on but I hope you get my drift, it was not condescension , just a comparison of relative merits.

Thus it was not an attack on Thais but on the relative merits of citizenship, would YOU want Thai citizenship?

So am I going to get an answer to my question or are you going to continue to avoid the issue with irrelevancies.

[Ian]

Well firstly the advantages of British citizenship over Thai citizenship are so obvious that it is not condecending.
...find a Thai citizen...to go ...to the American Embassy here to request a visa....
...free hospitalisation ...are you going to continue to avoid the issue with irrelevancies.

humility is better than humiliation, love is not an emotion, it's a behaviour.....
what's relevant? it speaks volumes that you retired here in thailand and not in england.
we do know many thais who have no problems in getting visa for any country. you sure need some money. that's all.
you may speak for yourself only, but most thais have and prefer thai citizenship over any other incl. british.
what is your free psychiatric help worth, when you need to buy an expensive flight (30,000 baht) to see your doctor.
in thailand thais get hospitalisation and surgery not free - indeed - they have to pay 30 baht first.
your 'argument' comparing citizenship reminds of comparing languages: what language is better, thai or english?
just YOUR wording was the stumbling-block: "in serious need of psychiatric help"
and the advantages of british over thai are NOT so obvious here in thailand.....here it sounds patronising......
we know only very few thais, who from the depth of their souls want to be farangs[/quote]

I really cannot be bothered to argue a pointless point. I moved here for the same reason as you, a cheaper cost of living and a warm climate. Everyone in my village would love to be British, perhaps some might prefer to be German. As you say, if you are Thai and have money you can get a visa, but in England you don't need to be rich to get a visa. A Thai can get free medical care here sure, but you will notice that the rich Thais use different hospitals from the poor.
Really this is all irrelevant to the basic question, still unanswered. What benefits did this man's workers get from him becoming a Thai national?
Now if you cannot or will not answer this question the discussion is ended.

[Ian]

...Everyone in my village would love to be British...the rich Thais use different hospitals from the poor.
...the basic question... What benefits did this man's workers get from him becoming a Thai national?
Now if you cannot or will not answer this question the discussion is ended.

hi ian, i remember this 'basic' question but don't take it as serious as you do,
especially because it was an assertion not supported by a reasonable explanation. frankly spoken, i cannot believe it.
as it's hard to believe that there is any village in thailand where everyone would love to be something else.
we know many thais who are quite content with what they are.
just other people, mostly strangers, come & try to tell them that they have to change, but they seem to be reluctant.

we guess that rich people everywhere in his world rather use different hospitals from the poor. is that a pointless point?
we obviously have different perceptions about thailand. it would be interesting to find out why.
many farangs love this country despite its heat, double-pricing, political system & rampant corruption,
simply because the overwhelming majority of thais are kind, friendly, happy, content & social.
some even say living here is like living with a lot of not too earnest childlikes playing life.
we recommend the book: "Tuiavii's Way: a South Sea Chief's Comments on Western Society" ISBN: 0968246907
were farangs are 'papalagis' http://papalagi.de.vu/. or http://peace.wikia.com/wiki/The_Papalagi
although rather old (1920) it provides an amusing view of a fictional asian 'savage'.

Oh well if you want to dodge the question and go off on side issues that is your problem, the topic heading is clearly about, "Farang Becoming a Thai National ".
I will agree with this comment though, " living here is like living with a lot of not too earnest childlikes playing life."

[Ian]

hi ian, i remember this 'basic' question but don't take it as serious as you do,
... it was an assertion not supported by a reasonable explanation. frankly spoken, i cannot believe it.
....

Oh well if you want to dodge the question and go off on side issues that is your problem, the topic heading is clearly about, "Farang Becoming a Thai National ".
I will agree with this comment though, " living here is like living with a lot of not too earnest childlikes playing life."

hey ian, i answered your 'basic' question as frankly as i could do, see above: i cannot believe it!
do YOU believe it or what is the difference between us here? why do you call that dodge?

Scy, my apologies you are correct, I was confusing you with the original poster, who incidentally has not posted a comment since. However I notice that his ID starts with Indo-- perhaps there lies the clue to the entire question.

[Ian]

If we ignore the tourists and work permit holders etc and just look at the resident ex-pats they seem to fall into two broad categories.

Category one, is those who have not burnt all their bridges behind them, they still have a home and family in their country of origin, even though they may also have the same here, and they still keep much of their money and assetts there.

Category two, is those who have sold up in their homeland and transferred all to Thailand, probably with a Thai wife and children. Most are on one year visas no better than those in category one.

Now whilst the situation here was good, people in both categories probably felt the same. Now times have changed and become problematic, the first category are being critical of those forces that created this change. At the same time rather than be seen as shortsighted fools by the others, the second group are supporting and justifying these forces.

It is basic human nature to react this way

Incidentally, I am in the first category, I think many here seem to be in the second category.

[klikster]

Good Lord man - are you serious or has the sun got to you?
You will NEVER be a Thai national - you may get a Thai passport, but you will never be viewed as a Thai national as long as you have a hole in your.....mouth.
For starters just look at the financial criteria.....anything there strike you as slightly out of balance??? - or are most Thai nationals on a minimum salary of eighty grand?
In most countries when you become a national you have exactly the same rights as citizens born there, i.e. your salary is whatever you can earn. God help you if you ever need to throw yourself on the mercy of the NHS with a Thai passport and don't forget the rigeramole you will have getting into most countries.
Yeah, a British guy with a Thai passport.....bring the men in white coats

While most Thais may never see you as Thai, the fact that H.M. signed your citizenship document does lay to rest the question of citizenship.

I was not aware that anyone with Thai citizenship had to have a minimum salary.

Many countries allow dual citizenship. The U.K. is one of them, I believe. Which means that the person who gave the information publish in the long post above can travel on a U.K. passport or a Thai passport.

[klikster]

Your last post is confusing the issue a little. Thread is about becoming a Thai National but the whole of the last section is about permanent residence which is a different matter entirely.

But residency seems to be prerequisite for citizenship. That's probably why the guy who managed to get Thai citizenship included it.

[klikster]

Can we not persue the question which has been avoided up until now which is about this person who obtained Thai nationality for the sake of his workers.
Namely what was his previous nationality and how did changing it help his workers.

I can't speak for the poster who said that, but perhaps the guy wanted to have 100% control of his Thai company and figured it would benefit his staff.

We really should not take this topic further until we get an answer.

Why? Here is a good example of an expat who got citizenship and that has worked out pretty well for him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Heinecke

[klikster]

Well firstly the advantages of British citizenship over Thai citizenship are so obvious that it is not condecending.
So as a simple test would you would you care to find a Thai citizen (you are not Thai) to go with me to the American Embassy here to request a visa. Care to predict the outcome.
As another test, what are the Thai chances of free hospitalisation and major surgery in Thailand, compared to mine in England.
I could go on but I hope you get my drift, it was not condescension , just a comparison of relative merits.

Ian, it is not a case of either/or. A Brit can have dual citizenship.