It takes 14 years to (not) get to be a Thai citizen.
เมื่อวันที่ 18 เม.ย.ศาลปกครองสูงสุดพิพากษา รมว.มหาดไทยปฏิบัติหน้าที่ล้าช้า ในการพิจารณาคำร้องขอมีสัญชาติไทย ของลูกผู้อพยพชาวเวียดนาม ซึ่งได้ยื่นคำร้องไปตั้งแต่ปี 2537 และ 2544 นับเป็นการวางบรรทัดฐานที่สำคัญให้กับเรื่องนี้… โครงการเฝ้าระวังสภาวะไร้รัฐรวบรวมข้อมูลนำเสนอ
It’s funny how some of us Thais want so badly to become a US citizen. Do you know that acquiring a Thai nationality can take forever, or longer? It’s not because the rule says it needs 14 years to complete the process, but it just happens to this Vietnamese immigrant, unfortunately.
Even a Farang finds it hard to become a Thai citizen.
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Tags: Thaicitizen, Thailand, Thai nationality
2 comments
It’s a bit different because of the ethnic make-up of the countries. The U.S. is much more diverse and quite a young country (~200 years). This means that the population is comprised of mostly immigrants or descendants of immigrants. Therefore, it’s quite “natural” that there should be an established process of “naturalization” (pun intended).
In Thailand, however, the ethnic demographics are a bit different. Although Thailand has a large population of non-natives, many identify with a sense of Thai nationalism. Ask almost any Thai of Chinese descent what they are and they will tell you that they are Thai. Someone asks me what I am and as a U.S. Citizen I reply that I’m 1/2 Thai and 1/2 Chinese. I’m Chinese on my father’s side, but he was born and raised in Thailand. Therefore, identifying oneself as being Thai is almost considered to be, exclusively, a birthright. Either you’re born Thai or you’re not Thai. This means that you are either Thai by blood, or you were born in Thailand.
Since many U.S. Citizens who are born citizens don’t even identify with their citizenship, it makes it less meaningful. On the other hand, being Thai is something to be proud of. It’s a different way of thinking altogether.
Great insight. Believe it or not, being Thai doesn’t seem like something to be proud of for a lot of Thais, especially those coming from Thailand, not a foreign born (like you?). Look at all the Thai undergrad/grad students in the states, they generally try to hide their origin if nobody asks them.
What is their reason? Ashame that they come from a third world country? They don’t think being Thai is something to be proud of? Maybe so, I don’t know. It seems to be that way…
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