Govt grants Thai citizenship to stateless scholarship students

BANGKOK, 14 March 2016 (NNT) - The Ministry of Interior has instructed local offices to review student rosters of educational institutions to establish the number of stateless students and determine who may be eligible for Thai citizenship.

Permanent Secretary for Interior Krissada Boonrach revealed that the ministry has initiated a project to provide stateless individuals with Thai citizenship to address the issue of statelessness among students. He said the project also serves to tackle the problem of human trafficking.

According to an ongoing investigation that began in January of last year, the number of stateless students stands at more than 69,600. Of this figure, more than 45,200 have been evaluated and almost 19,800 were determined to be eligible for Thai citizenship. Those who qualify have been informed to report to their local registration office.

So far, more than 8,700 stateless individuals have requested Thai nationality, of which more than 5,500 have been provided with citizenship.

Mr. Krissada said relevant officials have been assigned to implement and closely monitor the program, while coordinating with local school administrators to raise awareness.


-- NNT 2016-03-14

So the local teachers will decide. Talk about asking for corruption.

I think the problem is that the hilltribes people don't have the nationality for whatever reasons..

I think the problem is that the hilltribes people don't have the nationality for whatever reasons..

I don't understand why the "hilltribe people" aren't Thai nationals. They have lived in the country for generations, speak the language (as well as their own languages of course) and seem fully integrated in society. I've had a little contact with them, and have found them to be rather pleasant people.

Apart from anything else they provide a useful butt for the sneers of some of the more xenophobic tossers around, like that "teacher" who was filmed beating those schoolgirls about the head for "dressing like hilltribe children" in the cold weather.

Has anyone any idea why they don't have citizenship?

I think the problem is that the hilltribes people don't have the nationality for whatever reasons..

I don't understand why the "hilltribe people" aren't Thai nationals. They have lived in the country for generations, speak the language (as well as their own languages of course) and seem fully integrated in society. I've had a little contact with them, and have found them to be rather pleasant people.

Apart from anything else they provide a useful butt for the sneers of some of the more xenophobic tossers around, like that "teacher" who was filmed beating those schoolgirls about the head for "dressing like hilltribe children" in the cold weather.

Has anyone any idea why they don't have citizenship?

Racism? Nationalistic paranoia? Fear of anyone different?

I would suggest "Thainess", but have yet to get a definition of that.

An interesting catch 22 situation. Many without Thai ID cards find it impossible to register for public schools (though a donation may fix that if the applicant can afford it). The chance of acquiring citizenship is about as good as their parents' if they cannot attend school.

What happens to the 40% who get denied citizenship? Permanently stateless? How does that work?

Not all hill tribe people speak Thai.

A lot of Galiang people only speak Galiang.

Before anybody tells me i am wrong, i lived in Nong kao klang village 39 kilometers outside Mae hong son for 15 months and even my Thai wife who was the school director at the time was unable to understand most of the villagers.

I don't know if this is on or off topic but i thought i would try to see what you guys think.

Back in 2011,i was at Mahidol University doing the new Thai culture course that was required.I got talking to one of the lecturers there and the subject of Mixed race Thai students came up.She told me that it was known that these children would never be given true Thai citizenship or recognition.I asked why she would think this,she replied that she had been party to a conversation between some elite university board members.Their general consensus was Thailand should only ever be governed by true Thai's and they were concerned that most of the academic prizes and qualification's seemed to be acquired by mixed race students.By mixed race i mean children, the result of Western(European and Russian) fathers and Thai mother's.And that Thai students just didn't seem to get into the top academic ratings.One opinion, was that one day a mixed race Thai might just get elected into government and might just start to see things in a more foreign friendly way.And that could lead to more of these new world elected ministers trying. to change the old Thai ways.

I thought that this was a very interesting train of thought. I wonder if i came back in 100 years,any of this could actually have happened.

I don't know if this is on or off topic but i thought i would try to see what you guys think.

Back in 2011,i was at Mahidol University doing the new Thai culture course that was required.I got talking to one of the lecturers there and the subject of Mixed race Thai students came up.She told me that it was known that these children would never be given true Thai citizenship or recognition.I asked why she would think this,she replied that she had been party to a conversation between some elite university board members.Their general consensus was Thailand should only ever be governed by true Thai's and they were concerned that most of the academic prizes and qualification's seemed to be acquired by mixed race students.By mixed race i mean children, the result of Western(European and Russian) fathers and Thai mother's.And that Thai students just didn't seem to get into the top academic ratings.One opinion, was that one day a mixed race Thai might just get elected into government and might just start to see things in a more foreign friendly way.And that could lead to more of these new world elected ministers trying. to change the old Thai ways.

I thought that this was a very interesting train of thought. I wonder if i came back in 100 years,any of this could actually have happened.

Yes very interesting.

My daughter is " mixed race". Because of the way that the genes have panned out she actually looks much more European than Thai. Her first language is Thai. This often leads to some alarm from officialdom. When we went to register her birth the junior registrar refused to enter the name "Lucy" in the book. When I explained the meaning of the name ( from the Latin for "light") the senior registrar, who was busy cooing over Lucy overruled him. Simmilarily when we took her to get her first ID card, uniformed officialdom were very uneasy. Again seniors overuled them, although in both cases the overuled officials looked like a bulldog chewing a wasp.

There is certainly a xenophobic trait, which firmly ties race to nationality. I can perhaps understand it in relatively junior but elderly civil servants, with their uniforms, medals and "status" but it is very sad that it is evident so high up in the academic community. Says a lot about those at the top of this society.

In general younger people accept my daughter as Thai much more readily.

I wonder, if she had been born a boy, looking so European, whether she would be liable for conscription?

Edited March 17, 201610 yr by JAG

I don't know if this is on or off topic but i thought i would try to see what you guys think.

Back in 2011,i was at Mahidol University doing the new Thai culture course that was required.I got talking to one of the lecturers there and the subject of Mixed race Thai students came up.She told me that it was known that these children would never be given true Thai citizenship or recognition.I asked why she would think this,she replied that she had been party to a conversation between some elite university board members.Their general consensus was Thailand should only ever be governed by true Thai's and they were concerned that most of the academic prizes and qualification's seemed to be acquired by mixed race students.By mixed race i mean children, the result of Western(European and Russian) fathers and Thai mother's.And that Thai students just didn't seem to get into the top academic ratings.One opinion, was that one day a mixed race Thai might just get elected into government and might just start to see things in a more foreign friendly way.And that could lead to more of these new world elected ministers trying. to change the old Thai ways.

I thought that this was a very interesting train of thought. I wonder if i came back in 100 years,any of this could actually have happened.

Yes very interesting.

My daughter is " mixed race". Because of the way that the genes have panned out she actually looks much more European than Thai. Her first language is Thai. This often leads to some alarm from officialdom. When we went to register her birth the junior registrar refused to enter the name "Lucy" in the book. When I explained the meaning of the name ( from the Latin for "light") the senior registrar, who was busy cooing over Lucy overruled him. Simmilarily when we took her to get her first ID card, uniformed officialdom were very uneasy. Again seniors overuled them, although in both cases the overuled officials looked like a bulldog chewing a wasp.

There is certainly a xenophobic trait, which firmly ties race to nationality. I can perhaps understand it in relatively junior but elderly civil servants, with their uniforms, medals and "status" but it is very sad that it is evident so high up in the academic community. Says a lot about those at the top of this society.

In general younger people accept my daughter as Thai much more readily.

I wonder, if she had been born a boy, looking so European, whether she would be liable for conscription?

Perhaps, look at how many Chinese Thai are in government or civil service (appreciate many here for generations), then yes, consider how many Euro Thais there are. I've never seen one.

My daughter also doesn't look Thai, but never encountered any dramas with officialdom.