Interview with the “Bangkok Podcast”

So a little while ago in March 2021 I appeared on the “Bangkok Podcast” for an interview on anything and everything to do with getting Thai citizenship.

In case you haven’t heard of the ‘Bangkok Podcast’, it is the essential ‘must listen’ podcast just about anything and everything about Bangkok and Thailand, and I listen to them most weeks.

Greg Jorgensen, one half of the duo who present the show, interviewed me on the ins and outs of Thai citizenship application process. It was a great experience as I’ve never had the chance to be on a podcast, and Greg was a great and knowledgeable interviewer, as well as just being a really nice guy. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet the other half of the hosting team, Ed Knuth, who appears at the start and the end of podcast. One little known fact is that Ed is actually a Thai Permanent Resident.

The link to the show is available HERE, where you can listen to it from their website. Or you can download it too wherever you like to get your favourite podcasts.

Rundown of the show (mm:ss)

We’ve outlined the key topics discussed in case you want to fast forward to a particular topic or issue, as well as providing links to our websites where we discuss each of the topics in a lot more depth. Enjoy!

0:33 – Introduction with Greg and Ed

4:30 – Greg’s intro to www.thaicitizenship.com

5:40 – Interview begins

7.03 – Chris introduction

10:00 – Do you need Thai Permanent Residency first? What are the qualifications?

11:50 – Scoring criteria for qualifying as a Thai citizen

14:30 – Who needs to sing the national and royal anthems?

14:55 – The final interview at the Ministry of Interior

15:50 – Discussion on the differences between male and female applicants when married to a Thai citizen

16:40 – Do you need to be ‘connected’ to apply for Thai citizenship?

17:00 – How long does citizenship process take? What are the steps?

19:00 – Why you shouldn’t put off applying(!)

20:20 – The mindset of the citizenship related bureaucrats when you apply

24:07 – Can I have dual citizenship? Do I have to renounce my original citizenship?

30:30 – Do I need a lawyer to apply for Thai citizenship?

32:45 – Navigating the thaicitzenship.com website

33:25 – The yellow tabieen baan and why you should register yourself in Bangkok

35:30 – Your rights following naturalising as a Thai citizen (and how life becomes easier!)

39:45 – Questions from listeners

44:35 – Greg and Ed wrap up