Question about Thai Nationality Law

[KimDidMeGood]

Translated excerpt of Thai Nationality Code:

 

Section 7. The following persons acquire Thai nationality by birth:

(1) A person born of a father or a mother of Thai nationality, whether within or outside the Thai Kingdom;

(2) A person born within the Thai Kingdom except the person under Section 7 bis paragraph one.

 

Section 7. bis. A person born within the Thai Kingdom of alien parents does not acquire Thai nationality if at the time of his birth, his lawful father or his father who did not marry his mother, or his mother was:

(1) the person having been given leniency for temporary residence in Kingdom as a special case;

(2) the person having been permitted to stay temporarily in the Kingdom;

(3) the person having entered and resided in the Thai Kingdom without

permission under the law on immigration.

 

My wife and I are not Thai and do not have residence in Thailand, therefore our daughter, born in Thailand did not get Thai nationality at birth, I suppose because of provision (2) of section 7 bis. However, I find the provision to be somewhat ambiguous (perhaps a problem of translation?): â??the person having been permitted to stay temporarily in the Kingdomâ? could be interpreted as applicable to ANY alien staying in Thailand as far as all visas are temporary.

 

So I have two questions:

1. Is there any chance that if asked to, the Thai State would consider our daughter as a Thai National anyway, even though our stay in the kingdom at her birth was under a tourist visa?

2. If not, does having a Thai birth certificate facilitate an hypothetical future application for Thai nationality?

 

[Flashermac]

I've never really heard of citizenship being granted in such a case, though I'd imagine it would be a help if she applied for permanent residency or Thai nationality at a later date. But I'm just guessing. Maybe you should ask the question of www.thaivisa.com

 

 

[KimDidMeGood]

Thanks for trying to answer!

[Flashermac]

Thais are quite nationalistic, and if your daughter learns to speak fluent Thai they'd probably be more sympathetic. One of the complaints I've heard from Thais about Tiger Woods is that despite having a Thai mother, he can't speak Thai and has shown no interest in the country.

 

[Perv]

Small thread hijack and rant then I'll be fine.......Tiger Woods is a dick. Doesn't even acknowledge he's Thai. Yes, he's Thai more than anything else. His father was 1/2 Chinese, 1/2 African-American which really makes him 3/4 Asian. Prick.

[Pom Michael]

Troy - he is American. I feel your rant is out of line.

 

He has no reason to acknowledge that he is Thai.

 

Rant over.

[Perv]

You're right.....I didn't word it correctly. He doesn't acknowledge his Thai backround but seems to allow the media to play up that he's African-American.

[KimDidMeGood]

You're right.....I didn't word it correctly. He doesn't acknowledge his Thai backround but seems to allow the media to play up that he's African-American.

 

Well... The general perception is that he's African American, just like Obama.

[Perv]

To get back on topic (sorry) jmho but I think you will not have any luck getting Thai citizenship for the little one for exactly the reason you mention.

 

That being said, TIT, so anything goes.

[KimDidMeGood]

Yeah, so far that's what I know. It sucks that they changed the law; apparently, a few years ago she would have been automatically Thai; anyway that's what we were told by Thai immigration policemen.

 

Who knows, perhaps they'll revert the law to its former version? Maybe I should make some offerings at a Wat.