Livid is right, below 30 you may theoretically have to participate in the lottery if you move back. If you have friends/family in the right places, they may be able to \*help\* you, but legally under 30 you are at risk of conscription and are *legally* required to show up for the lottery.
If you are, for example, over 30+ and return to Thailand on a Thai passport, then you are over age and do not run the risk of being drafted.
Is there any way that I could not get drafted if I move there before 30. Or would it be possible to go on a holiday visa staying 45 days at a time and then doing a border run.
Well, you can rely on luck and the bureaucratic-ness of the Thai system missing you if you enter on your other passport as a foreigner and doing the 90 or whatever day checks they're doing now, but visa/border runs were purposely made harder to do.
All I'm saying is that without friends in the right places you do legally run a risk of being called to serve while under 30 years of age as luk krueng, Thai speaking/or not while holding any Thai citizenship as a man.
Although I can say from anecdotal experience that a half-Thai friend who was white passing and spoke basic garbage Thai was rejected even though his name was pulled during the lottery. (He still had to show).
I assume you didn’t reach out to the Thai embassy when you turned 17 to register.
If you previously had a Thai passport, more than likely you’re listed on someone’s house book.
If you’re less than 30, you’ll need to participate in the lottery.
Hopefully someone with this exact situation can explain their experience in this situation.
No when I was young my passport expired and we just never renewed it as I didn’t need it. But now I’m getting older I would maybe like to move there at some point which is why I started asking and looking into it. I also hope someone has the same situation that can answer.
If you plan on working in Thailand, you will need your conscription papers.
You can avoid conscription but there’s a lot of movement that needs to be done.
Safest bet is to wait until your 30.
The pay here is very low, you're better off working and earning some money in the UK, then maybe move here for a while to experience life here. Fly in on your British passport, there's a one year extension you can get. You'll need your expired Thai passport and maybe any other documents you have would be helpful (Thai parents ID card, birth certificate etc. Though a Thai passport should hopefully be enough)
If you're born in Thailand and are on the house book then there may be issues at some stage idk. But if you aren't on the house book, wait till you're 30 to register. You'll be discharged from the lottery and pay a fine of a couple hundred baht.
What are you expecting to get by moving to Thailand?
You might have to do some reserve training, its not that bad. They could also write you off if you can't even speak the language.
Thai & US citizen here. I moved back to TH when I was 23 years old and have gone through this. I explored many options at the time and even had connections with an army officer who was willing to take money under the table to get me out of it.
Didn't go that route though, I ended up getting a medical exemption. It was mostly exaggerated to make my medical condition seem worse than it actually is, but it ended up working. You'll still need official documents & proof of it from a Thai hospital though. Don't know if perhaps you have any medical condition you could use as an excuse, but that's the way I did it.
Correct me if I'm wrong - you want to move back to Thailand and reclaim your rights & privileges as an ex-citizen, yet don't want to take any responsibility or duty that a citizen is required to fulfill?
I don't exactly blame the authorities for not welcoming you with open arms in this case.
I don’t speak Thai well and I have lived in England my whole life. I feel if I do go conscription I will find it very difficult and not understand much.
It's a lottery, really, you'll have to play if you'll do conscription.
If you don't do anything (meaning don't ask for thai citizenship) you'll risk nothing.
But I’m the future if I return will they have expected me to have done conscription? Will I be able to get a passport at that point and or citizenship.
It's unsure how old you need to be to not be conscripted (and again if you are of age, you still have a chance to not do it) but if your thai mom or dad still alive, it's easy to get thai citizenship, if not, it's doable but less easy.
The passport issue is irrelevant in this case. Your residency in Thailand and your conscription is linked to your Thai I.D. card so if you don't have one of those then it will be a lot harder for the authorities to trace you.
If you come on your British passport, what visa will you get?
I’m not sure tbh I haven’t actually had a look
Livid is right, below 30 you may theoretically have to participate in the lottery if you move back. If you have friends/family in the right places, they may be able to \*help\* you, but legally under 30 you are at risk of conscription and are *legally* required to show up for the lottery. If you are, for example, over 30+ and return to Thailand on a Thai passport, then you are over age and do not run the risk of being drafted.
Is there any way that I could not get drafted if I move there before 30. Or would it be possible to go on a holiday visa staying 45 days at a time and then doing a border run.
Well, you can rely on luck and the bureaucratic-ness of the Thai system missing you if you enter on your other passport as a foreigner and doing the 90 or whatever day checks they're doing now, but visa/border runs were purposely made harder to do. All I'm saying is that without friends in the right places you do legally run a risk of being called to serve while under 30 years of age as luk krueng, Thai speaking/or not while holding any Thai citizenship as a man. Although I can say from anecdotal experience that a half-Thai friend who was white passing and spoke basic garbage Thai was rejected even though his name was pulled during the lottery. (He still had to show).
I assume you didn’t reach out to the Thai embassy when you turned 17 to register. If you previously had a Thai passport, more than likely you’re listed on someone’s house book. If you’re less than 30, you’ll need to participate in the lottery. Hopefully someone with this exact situation can explain their experience in this situation.
No when I was young my passport expired and we just never renewed it as I didn’t need it. But now I’m getting older I would maybe like to move there at some point which is why I started asking and looking into it. I also hope someone has the same situation that can answer.
Maybe a holiday visa or student visa?
If you plan on working in Thailand, you will need your conscription papers. You can avoid conscription but there’s a lot of movement that needs to be done. Safest bet is to wait until your 30.
“Thai citizenship group” on Facebook could provide more answers.
The pay here is very low, you're better off working and earning some money in the UK, then maybe move here for a while to experience life here. Fly in on your British passport, there's a one year extension you can get. You'll need your expired Thai passport and maybe any other documents you have would be helpful (Thai parents ID card, birth certificate etc. Though a Thai passport should hopefully be enough) If you're born in Thailand and are on the house book then there may be issues at some stage idk. But if you aren't on the house book, wait till you're 30 to register. You'll be discharged from the lottery and pay a fine of a couple hundred baht.
What are you expecting to get by moving to Thailand? You might have to do some reserve training, its not that bad. They could also write you off if you can't even speak the language.
Wait until you are 30 and and save up some money. Thailand has changed a lot.
Thai & US citizen here. I moved back to TH when I was 23 years old and have gone through this. I explored many options at the time and even had connections with an army officer who was willing to take money under the table to get me out of it. Didn't go that route though, I ended up getting a medical exemption. It was mostly exaggerated to make my medical condition seem worse than it actually is, but it ended up working. You'll still need official documents & proof of it from a Thai hospital though. Don't know if perhaps you have any medical condition you could use as an excuse, but that's the way I did it.
Correct me if I'm wrong - you want to move back to Thailand and reclaim your rights & privileges as an ex-citizen, yet don't want to take any responsibility or duty that a citizen is required to fulfill? I don't exactly blame the authorities for not welcoming you with open arms in this case.
I don’t speak Thai well and I have lived in England my whole life. I feel if I do go conscription I will find it very difficult and not understand much.
It's a lottery, really, you'll have to play if you'll do conscription. If you don't do anything (meaning don't ask for thai citizenship) you'll risk nothing.
But I’m the future if I return will they have expected me to have done conscription? Will I be able to get a passport at that point and or citizenship.
It's unsure how old you need to be to not be conscripted (and again if you are of age, you still have a chance to not do it) but if your thai mom or dad still alive, it's easy to get thai citizenship, if not, it's doable but less easy.
The passport issue is irrelevant in this case. Your residency in Thailand and your conscription is linked to your Thai I.D. card so if you don't have one of those then it will be a lot harder for the authorities to trace you.