The announcement came at a meeting on Friday (Nov 24). Chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Amnuay Pinsuwan.
The aim of the move is to prevent people with criminal records from staying in Phuket by enrolling their children in international schools, Vice Governor Amnuay explained.
The meeting on Friday was held to brainstorm ideas to counter the problem, said an official report of the meeting. Joining the meeting were representatives from government agencies as well as from the private sector.
The key objective of the meeting was to “to propose to the government to approve visas to accompany children [with Phuket] as a pilot province of the country, [to] join in developing education and driving the economy sustainably.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs currently does not list a specific visa for foreign parents of foreign children enrolled in schools in Thailand.
However, the Immigration Bureau for many years has allowed foreign parents of foreign children enrolled at schools in Thailand to stay on one-year permits to stay, dependent on the child remaining enrolled in the school.
Under ministerial regulations issued August 2014, in order to apply for a one-year permit to stay, a foreign parent of foreign child attending a school in Thailand must provide the following:
- A completed application form
- A copy of the applicant’s passport.
- A copy of the passport of the alien who received permission to stay to study
- Copies of documents showing the relationship, such as evidence of marriage, copy of birth certificate, evidence of child registration, copy of house registration, evidence of adoption registration or other evidence from government agencies or related agencies
- Only in cases according to criteria (5), a letter certifying a deposit in a bank in Thailand and a copy bank account (NOTE: “criteria (5)” not clarified, and bank account amount not clarified)
“A majority of the participants at the meeting expressed their opinions and resolved to agree to grant such visas [as opposed to permits to stay]. In particular, parents who are both father and mother should be allowed,” an official report of the meeting noted.
“In addition to creating educational stability for foreign students, it is also an economic boost for Phuket Province,” the report added.
“The advantages of allowing parents having a visa to accompany their children will reduce the problem of bullying among students… In addition, parents can do self-development activities such as learning additional Thai language or have the time to bring children to access the services of institutions that enhance learning skills in education or other arts and culture in the Phuket area,” the report continued.
“However, the approval of such visa permission must give priority to the process of checking the history of parents applying for visas to accompany their children. That is, they must be parents who do not have a criminal record,” the report explained.
Phuket has 14 international schools with a total of 3,056 students from pre-kindergarten to Mathayom 6 (Grade 12), the report noted.
No explanation was given as to what problems were being encountered by parents of foreign children enrolled at schools in Phuket applying to stay through the Immigration Bureau.