'67,000 stateless children can't access healthcare'

[rooster59]

'67,000 stateless children can't access healthcare'

Stateless students from Takolang School in Kanchanaburi attend a Bangkok seminar to discuss their problems accessing public healthcare.

BANGKOK: MORE THAN 60,000 stateless students cannot access public healthcare, academics have revealed.

The head of the Karen Studies and Development Centre, Surapong Kongchantuk, said 67,511 students across the country had no access to state-supported medical services because they were stateless.

"Many of them have insisted they are Thais and entered the nationality verification process to prove that. However, the process has been delayed because there are changes of the Public Health Ministry's executives," Surapong said.

The Interior Ministry is recounting the number of stateless students - a process that would take at least half a year, it was revealed.

Speaking at the same event, Carole, a 15-year-old stateless student, said: "I have never been to the hospital even when I fell ill. I was told that it is quite expensive and it could cause me trouble, because I don't have an identification card.

"Therefore, my parents buy me medicine instead of running through the complexity of the hospital system and the risk of getting caught by the police."

Carole attends the Takolang School in Suan Phung district in Kanchanaburi.

Like the thousands of other stateless students across the country, she cannot become a Thai citizen due to a lack of documents.



Figure based on surveys

The 67,511 figure was determined based on surveys conducted at primary and secondary schools by the Education Ministry.

Chaleaw Tuanpao, the director of the Takolang School, said there were almost 700 students in the school and 144 were stateless.

He said if stateless students went to hospital it would cost between Bt100 and Bt1,000, plus the cost for transport, and that was quite expensive given their families' meagre incomes.

"There was a student who got sick one weekend and he had to wait until Monday for a teacher to bring him to hospital, because our school has it own budget to take care of the students," he added.

He said because most people in the district were stateless, they did not have adequate healthcare despite the high incidence of dengue hemorrhagic fever there.

He believed health problems affected students' academic performance.

"This is worrying," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/67000-stateless-children-cant-access-healthcare-30273417.html

-- The Nation 2015-11-21

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/67000-stateless-children-cant-access-healthcare-30273417.html

[BSJ]

The government will resolve the problems eventually.

[whatproblem]

And the Thais think of themselves as charitable people ,

[Gonsalviz]

How does a 3rd world country pay for medical for all the people that just drop in?

[ggt]

Send them to the US...where Obamacare is designed to have those who toil for a living pay the healthcare of those who do not...

[USNret]

Send them to the US...where Obamacare is designed to have those who toil for a living pay the healthcare of those who do not...

That's pretty much how all civilized nations in the world do it. Virtually every developed nation (U.S. excluded) have universal health care, which is paid for by people who work. Many consider access to health care a basic human right.

[oncearugge]

This is disturbing news .

Most of these children will have been born in Thailand, Their Mothers are likely daughters of stateless Mothers.

Thailand is not , when compared to others , a poor country .......

Renewed effort should be made to solve the problem of "Statelessness" and to at least provide basic health care (including routine vaccination) to children who did not ask to be born "stateless"

I sincerely hope the Government will take urgent steps toward resolving this issue.

[MaiChai]

To me it says minority ethnic groups residing/born in Thailand are not considered Thai. It reminds me of certain other ethnic groups living in Europe around the 1930s who were outcast and not considered citizens of the country they were born in; I am sure u can figure this out. Goes against basic human rights and terrible to see in this modern day and age?

[Seastallion]

"Speaking at the same event, Carole, a 15-year-old stateless student, said: "I have never been to the hospital even when I fell ill. I was told that it is quite expensive and it could cause me trouble, because I don't have an identification card.

"Therefore, my parents buy me medicine instead of running through the complexity of the hospital system and the risk of getting caught by the police.""

If she said that, she is more than worthy of a very good scholarship.

[Toknarok]

Did I not read a couple of days ago that the Thais are one of the most generous people on this planet? Charity begins at home, for these kids Thailand is their home. The Thai Government actions in this matter are deplorable.

[puukao]

How about this......impossible to be stateless. oh, you don't know where born or address? guess what, i just entered a date (guess) and default location for all these "stateless" kids. done..you are now Thai, born somewhere in BKK at this date...next.

[Seastallion]

"Stateless students from Takolang School in Kanchanaburi attend a Bangkok seminar to discuss their problems accessing public healthcare"

Sorry, I can not imagine any Thai students discussing issues, especially personal issues.

[kaorop]

How does a 3rd world country pay for medical for all the people that just drop in?

Hardly a 3rd world anymore, though they do use that when the filthy rich politicians have their hands out to foreign countries.

Plenty of wealth thats not taxed in this country and plenty of corruption seeing gov money into pockets not programs.

[kaorop]

"Stateless students from Takolang School in Kanchanaburi attend a Bangkok seminar to discuss their problems accessing public healthcare"

Sorry, I can not imagine any Thai students discussing issues, especially personal issues.

Yes listening only, or possibly a rehearsed and prompted "discussion".

A stateless student in this country would be very cautious and nervous at the best of times, little own in front of officials.