Thai Wife with US-citizenship Owning Property

[luangtom]

My wife is a US-citizen and it is her name on the "tabian baan", blue-book, for the house and 1-rai of land that it sits on.
She went in to the amphoe-office in Sawang Daen Din to get her Thai-id updated and they voided it when they saw she had a US-passort and was a US-citizen. The gent that did this also told her to get her name removed from the tabian-baan, as no "foreigner" can own property in Thailand. She took her voided i.d. and left. She did not go elsewhere in the amphoe to remove her name from the tabian-baan.

Is there anywhere we can find English-language copy of Thai-law pertaining to land-ownership by Thai-born US-citizens?
Can Thai-born US-citizens own property?

Is anyone else on the forum with a Thai wife that is a US-citizen and owns property and possesses a tabian-baan?

[maaka]

I will kick off this reply ..if she is a thai born US citizen, then she is a US citizen, not a thai citizen, unless she has a dual citizenship and two passports, only Thai citizens can own land..I am not sure how she came to have her name on the blue book if she is a US citizen, but if the man told her to remove her name, then the question now is, who does own the house you live in?.

The Thai Land Act is online and in english , sorry I have forgotten the link, but will endeavour to find for you. maybe just goggle thai land act...if I was you I would get the misses to get a thai passport also, take out dual citizenship, and this might solve the problem....

[luangtom]

Thanks for your reply. I e-mailed two Thai legal services, Siam-Legal and Isaan Lawyers, to get input from them, hopefully as a free, first-time consultation.

[maaka]

great , I have had dealings with Isaan lawyers.com and found them to be most helpful..they gave several free email advice

[Farang1]

It would seem to me that, unless she renounced her Thai citizenship, she would still be a Thai citizen and all she would need to do would be to update her paperwork.

[luangtom]

There is no documentation that renounces her Thai citizenship. She still has her voided i.d. and an outdated Thai passport. I will await a response from one of the legal-eagles in Thailand before we proceed with anything.

[lighspur1]

My wife is a Thai born US citezen, she tells me when they swore her in she had to renounce her Thai citizenship. Whether Thailand honors this renouncement of citizenship as it happened in the US is another matter.

[luangtom]

I was at my wife's swearing-in and cannot remember any renouncement of citizenship or not. I will have to ask her what she signed and what it said. It was over 20-years ago that she became a US-citizen.

[Farang1]

My exwife is from New Zealand. When she became a naturalized citizen of the USA, she kept her NZ citizenship.

But, TIT, wait to hear from the legal dept.

[UdonExpat]

My wife is a naturalized Thai citizen and a naturalized US citizen. She became a naturalized Thai citizen first. Prior to then she was not a citizen of any country; having been born in Thailand, but not to Thai parents.

She owns land in Thailand. Of course, she has never displayed her US passport to any Thai official, nor mentioned it.

When she took the oath of citizenship for the US she had to swear she would hold the US above all others in her fidelity. The US doesn't require renouncement of any dual citizens, only that the hold the US first.

[papaguido]

Here's the specific law: Thailand Nationality Act

http://burmalibrary.org/docs3/THAILAND% ... ty_Act.htm

Chapter 2. Loss of Thai Nationality.

Section 13. A woman of Thai nationality who marries an alien and may acquire the nationality of her husband according to the nationality law of her husband, shall, if she desires to renounce Thai nationality, make a declaration of her intention before the competent official according to the form and in the manner prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

Section 15. Except in the case under Section 14, a person who has Thai nationality and other nationality, or who acquires Thai nationality by naturalization shall, if he desires to renounce Thai nationality, file an application with the competent official according to such form and in the manner prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

The granting or refusal of permission for renunciation of Thai nationality shall lie with the discretion of the Minister.

[maaka]

oyiiiiiiiiiii you beat me to it papaguido..yes the above full documents outlines how one becomes a thai national, how one can choose to renounce that, or how one can choose to recover their thai nationality, and other little interesting bits..good luck

[Aardvark]

She was born Thai and remains Thai and can therefore own land in her own name. The only thing I can think of is she may have used her US Passport as ID and the schmuck behind the counter assumed she was no longer Thai. Remember that not too long ago a Thai Woman who Married a Falang lost all her right to own Land, However that Law was repealed and she can now legally own the Land.!!

[luangtom]

Here's the specific law: Thailand Nationality Act

http://burmalibrary.org/docs3/THAILAND% ... ty_Act.htm

Chapter 2. Loss of Thai Nationality.

Section 13. A woman of Thai nationality who marries an alien and may acquire the nationality of her husband according to the nationality law of her husband, shall, if she desires to renounce Thai nationality, make a declaration of her intention before the competent official according to the form and in the manner prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

Section 15. Except in the case under Section 14, a person who has Thai nationality and other nationality, or who acquires Thai nationality by naturalization shall, if he desires to renounce Thai nationality, file an application with the competent official according to such form and in the manner prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

The granting or refusal of permission for renunciation of Thai nationality shall lie with the discretion of the Minister.

Thank you for the link. I do believe that she did not renounce citizenship. She pledged to "hold above all others" her US citizenship. I will await legal rule and advice from an attorney versed in this area.

[luangtom]

She was born Thai and remains Thai and can therefore own land in her own name. The only thing I can think of is she may have used her US Passport as ID and the schmuck behind the counter assumed she was no longer Thai. Remember that not too long ago a Thai Woman who Married a Falang lost all her right to own Land, However that Law was repealed and she can now legally own the Land.!!

This is EXACTLY how this transpired. He would not even allow her to address it or convey that she was and still wished to be a Thai citizen. Luckily, she grabbed her "punched" i.d. and left to avoid argument and make matters worse.

[easterneye]

Excuse me , I dont want to hijack or change this post , but just wondered if anyone reading this knows if the same applies to a Thai / UK wife of dual nationallity ?

[Aardvark]

I can assure you my Wife has both Thai and Australian Citizenship and owns her own Home and Land in Thailand !!

[maaka]

yes dual nationality of any country does not seem to be a problem. the problem if there is one arises if the thai persons renounces his/her citzenship/nationality, and even then that can be fixed with the right paperwork..i think the orignial poster said his wife had an expired thai passport, which in itself does not mean she renounced her thai nationality..

indeed it is good evdience to support her claim as a thai person, so I suggest she applies to re new it, and takes out dual nationality..if you wife was a US citizen, and not a thai citizen , then thai immigration would have required her to have a visa in order to stay in thailand, wouldnt you think...

parrot maybe right about the office man stuffing up, but having said that you need to make sure all is in order before you take them on again...

I have two passports and when I come and go from NZ I have to be careful which one I use, because if I use my Irish passport, and not my kiwi pasport, I am required to have a visa, even though I am in my own country of birth..thats what a passport does, it describes your nationality.

[luangtom]

We got a quick note from "siam-legal" and they said that she is okay. They quoted the statute that another poster did and told us to contact them if we have trouble upon our next stay. Thanks for the input.

[easterneye]

Thanks for the info ,, as my missus is up for her UK passport soon ,, we shall make doubly sure she NEVER renounces her Thai status