# Possible to Avoid Military Conscription for our Children



## PrTKD (Jul 13, 2017)

Hi, My family and I are seriously consisting moving to Thailand. I'm a British man married to a Thai woman and we have 2 children together (currently both toddlers, both boys and both British citizens). 
One question we have is regarding the possibility of our children being conscripted into the THAI Army once they're older. As I understand it there is some kind of lottery system in Thailand whereby an unlucky few are randomly selected to join the military service for a period of time. Clearly we'd prefer that our children not be included in the military service selection process if at all possible, but if they've been living in Thailand since the age of 1, 2 years old then this may not be possible. Any advice on this?
Obviously the conscription process may well change in the next 18 - 20 years, but would be good to know based on the current process.

Also what's the process with regards to VISAs for immigration into Thailand? Will we need to renew VISAs regularly or is dual nationality a possibility eventually?

By the way, I won't need to work so that's one less thing to worry about.

Many thanks for any advice in advance.


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## Xynoplas2 (Jan 4, 2017)

Under which circumstances does the Thai army draft British citizens? And toddlers yet?


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## PrTKD (Jul 13, 2017)

Neither! My question was for "once they're older" 

If they'd been living in Thailand for 18 - 20 years then would they still be British citizens? I'm guessing they'd be Thai nationals at that point.


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## Mweiga (Sep 24, 2010)

It will depend on what nationality they end up with - determined by what passport they will hold.

It they are currently on your British passport then they should be able to have their own British passports in due course. Becoming a Thai national is not mandatory and is actually not as easy as you might think even if their mother is ethnic Thai.


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## PrTKD (Jul 13, 2017)

That's good to know. Thanks for the useful reply Mweiga.


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## Xynoplas2 (Jan 4, 2017)

Who knows what nationality they will choose in 20 years time? Or what sort of government Thailand will have.


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