Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Tax and Nationality Law here in Thailand. I did another video contemporaneously with this one where I was talking about the local population here in Thailand is somewhat concerned by a recent Government proposal to change certain aspects of Thailand's Nationality Law, primarily to allow for folks who are primarily Hilltribe folks to gain Thai nationality. Many of those folks do not have Thai documentation or documentation as to their Thai nationality; they are not considered legally Thai nationals. There are some who believe that that is not the correct state of affairs and are trying to rectify that. Now there have been concerns raised in Phuket specifically - and other places that have large foreign populations - about widening it out to allow too many foreign nationals in, and that seems to be a major concern and quite frankly, as I discussed in that video, I don't think at the end of the day we are going to see anything open up with regard to nationality, Nationality Law where we see like a huge influx of Westerners becoming Thai. What this is being done for is primarily for again hilltribes and other folks that have effectively ended up de facto stateless to become Thai. Now that said there's a component of this that pertains to tax, so let's jump in here. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Thai Examiner, that's thaiexaminer.com, the article is titled: Government moves to assure Thai nationals in Phuket that long-term foreigners are not going into politics. Again the thrust of the article goes a different direction but this stuff involving tax is pertinent, and there are a couple of excerpts here worth noting. Quoting directly: "Tax rules and foreign residency debates add to the misunderstanding over citizenship reform in Thailand. Meanwhile, another factor contributed to public misunderstanding. Thailand has introduced measures in some areas to treat foreign residents in the same manner as Thai nationals from a taxation perspective. Some people connected these tax developments with citizenship policy. Nevertheless, taxation rules and Nationality Law are separate legal areas." 

Yeah, the last Nationality Act was from 2008. There is relevant legislation pertaining specifically to tax, and let's bear in mind, these recent changes such as they are regarding aspects of Thailand's Tax System came about as a result of a promulgated memo, not actual legislation. So again, it's important to point that out. "Being subject to similar tax obligations does not provide a foreign resident with a right to acquire Thai citizenship. The Government has previously sought to make that distinction clear." Yeah look. I have been through naturalization. Tax and the amount of tax one has paid, or one's operation has paid at the point of which one is going through nationality or the process of gaining nationality, it's something to look at, but it's not dispositive. There's nothing that says, "oh if you pay X amount of tax, you can just become a Thai". No, far from it. Again, taxation and recordation of one taxes being paid is a component of the naturalization process, but it is most assuredly not the, again it is just not going to be something that in and of itself is going to lead to a granting of nationality. There is a whole process associated with that. There are linguistic requirements; there are other requirements including being in long-term visa status, long-term work permit status, long-term tax status. So again, these are things that although again not dispositive, being married has an impact, having Thai children has an impact, one's age, one's educational background, what is brought to the table. You know what, we might make this the thumbnail for this. I have often likened it to - there's a scene in one of the later Harry Potter movies, I think it's Deathly Hollows 1 - where they're reading this sort of story. They are talking about the Sword of Gryffindor, and they say, "oh the Sword of Gryffindor only takes in that which makes it stronger."  Having gone through, especially the final major interview with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, yeah, the interview questions they were asking, the things that they were concerned about; their concerned about bringing somebody into the country, bringing someone into the fold at it were that is going to help Thailand, that is going to make it stronger. They're not overly interested in just if you pay taxes, or they're not overly interested in one specific thing. It is sort of a totality of everything. But yeah, taxes play a role in nationality, but they again are not controlling when it comes to the issue as to whether or not one will be naturalized to Thai citizenship here in the Kingdom of Thailand.