Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application - Part 2 - Getting the ID Card

Hi Again All,

For those who are interested, this post covers the procedure that I
followed once the Police Department had given me my certificate of
citizenship, which I previously described in an earlier post.

A certificate of citizenship is all well and good, and looks very
impressive printed on high quality thick card with various rubber
stamps and a Police General's signature. However, the certificate
itself is useless without the ID card that it entitles you to. It's
the ID card that actually allows you to do things. Surely, I thought,
all I have to do now is go to my local Ampher (disrict office),
present this flashy certificate, and I will be welcomed with open arms
and given an ID card in 5 minutes as a matter of formality. Well, I
did get the ID card, but, as usual in Thailand, the process was
entertainingly complex, to say the least. In my enthusiasm, I was
forgetting that anything that I have ever done at an Ampher takes at
least two attempts - the first to see exactly what this particular set
of officials wants according to their own interpretation of the rather
ambiguous laws; and the second attempt to provide them with the
documentation in the way that they want it ...

FIRST ATTEMPT:

1) Went to my Ampher with every conceivable document along with the
certificate of cisizenship, and presented it to one of the officials
in the Tabien section

2) Sat there for a while and waited patiently. He looked totally
confused and was frowning as he shuffled through all the papers. He
got out the rule book and read it for a while. Then, he told me to go
away and make photocopies of my citizenship certificate, all the other
papers that accompanied it, including my certificate of residence, my
alien registration certificate, my Tabien Bahn, my work permit

3) I made all the copies and went back to the same official. He made
me sign all the copies, then he went away and spoke to a couple of his
higher ups. After a while, he came back and told me that they have
never done this before, and that they would need time to "study" the
rules. He told me that I would need an interview with the boss of the
Ampher. According to his interpretation of the rules, even though I
had received the permission of both the King and the Interior
Minister, changing my citizenship to Thai was a matter of great
sensitivity and could not be done witout exhaustive checking of all my
documents. He gave me a telehone number to call the following day,
once he and his colleagues had taken a closer look

Needless to say, even my legendary patience in situations like these
was starting to wear a little thin, but of course I kept smiling and
didn't show displeasure. Looking at the dozey people in my local
Ampher, who seemed to have no grasp of the rules, I called the
official in the Police Department who handled my application to ask
for advice. I was told to go to a different Ampher, one that is more
adept at handling such applications and whose officials knew the
process. This came as a surprise to me, as I thought that such a
procedure could only be done at my local Ampher, but I am no expert
and so I followed this advice.

SECOND ATTEMPT:

1) Went to the recommended Ampher, whereupon I was initially was told
to go back to my own Ampher. Upon gentle insistence that I had been
sent there, I befriended one of the officials and told him that his
Ampher was specifically recommended. Now, at last, the process could
begin in earnest

2) I was told to go away and make copies of every conceivable document
(again)

3) I was temporarily "moved" to a Tabien Bahn within the catchment
area of this new Ampher

4) I was told to go away and come back with four photos

5) I signed a whole mass of forms

6) My photo was stuck in a big book, and the official manually wrote a
page-long commentary of my application

7) I was told to produce a Thai witness (apparently all first ID cards
need a witness)

8) My witness (one of my friends who worked nearby) kindly arrived and
filled out various forms

9) Lunch time - I was told to come back in an hour

10) Had all my forms approved by the boss of the Tabien section

11) The nationality line on my (new) Tabien Bahn was amended from my
old nationality to "Thai"

11) Went to the ID card issuing section - signed more forms.
Commentary of my application was written manually into another book,
register style, similar to the first but a different colour. I Was
asked to go away and come back with some more photocopies of sundry
personal documents that were apparently missing from the first set

12) Had my photo taken against a measure to show my height. Had my
thumb prints electronically read

13) Paid 25 Baht

14) Got my ID card - at last. In answer to a previous question, my
citizen ID begins with the number 8

Now the cleanup - I need to move back to my old Tabien Bahn. I can do
this as and when I please, and it is a simple process. Can't wait to
see the faces of the people in my old Ampher when they see that I have
made a pilgrimmage to a new Ampher to perform a task that they were
not capable fo doing.

Thai bureacracy is an interesting mix of old and new - there are
computers at the Ampher upon which citizen records are kept. The ID
card was issued in 5 minutes and made on the spot using the latest
technology, but only after wading through a bureacratic system that
can only be described as dickensian. Oh well, I did get my ID card,
and this is a once in a lifetime experience.

Cheers

.