Chiang Rai News
DNA is Helping “Stateless” Thais get Citizenship
Apiradee Chappanapong, communication manager for Plan Thailand, sent this blog from Chiang Rai, Thailand
Until he received his Thai citizenship and identification card this month, life was very difficult for 17-year-old Joe as a stateless person.
“I couldn’t go to places I wanted to go, though the rest of my family could. Police always stopped me from leaving my village since I didn’t have anything to prove I was Thai,” he says.
Joe was born to a couple belonging to ethnic Akha hill tribe in the northern mountainous province of Chiang Rai. At the time of his birth both his parents were still waiting to be confirmed as Thai citizens following a government ensus conducted in their village four years ago. As a result, when his parents became officially recognized as Thai citizens years later in 2002, Joe still did not exist on government records and was in effect rendered ‘stateless’ in his own country of birth.
Joe’s case is just one of the some 52,000 people in Chiang Rai who have been left stateless by inadequate registration procedures for birth and citizenship. Living in Chiang Rai further compounds the disadvantages already faced by thousands of stateless people. The town is a busy corridor of the Golden Triangle between Thailand, Laos and Myanmar – notorious for drug trafficking and illegal human migration. This means stateless people regularly endure interrogation at various police checkpoints and have to prove their valid status.
According to government estimates there are overall 1 million stateless people in Thailand, which shares porous borders with Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. Many stateless people in Thailand are born to parents from Myanmar or migrating ethnic minorities from China. They may have not had Thai citizenship when their children were born, but over the years some gain citizenship after being registered through Census surveys. Long gaps between Census surveys, which in the past have stretched to decades, have meant a generation of children born in this period go unaccounted for and become effectively stateless.
Children like Joe are little choice but to spend formative years of their life deprived of citizenship and basic human rights to education, healthcare, movement and employment despite having parents with Thai citizenship. Already poor, Joe’s parents had to pay for his education while other children confirmed as citizens got it for free. As a result Joe had to work after school as a construction worker to supplement his family’s income.
“My friends always mocked me for not being Thai as I didn’t have a Thai ID card. I was so furious with those insults, but what they said was true,” Joe recalls his experience in school.
However, Joe finally has a reason to smile. He has recently been granted the Thai citizenship following a successful DNA test that established his link to his parents for official purposes. This was made possible as part of an initiative by the global child rights organisation Plan International, which has worked with communities in Thailand for 30 years.
Plan, in partnership with local NGOs, is funding families and children in Chiang Rai to participate in a state-sponsored DNA testing project. The project aims to prove genetic ties between parents, who were given Thai citizenship after they gave birth to their children, and their children who weren’t registered at their birth. Plan’s subsidy means the families pay only one-eighth (1000 Thai Bahts) of what they are supposed to pay for DNA tests.
Plan also runs a legal clinic project for children and youth who were born to Thai parents but don’t have birth certificates, teaching them their rights and the government channels they must navigate to apply for citizenship.
“Identity is children’s first right,” said Plan Thailand country director Maja Cubarrubia.
“We are very proud in connecting the people who are in dire need of assistance to existing services provided by the government and other civil society organisations.”
Joe is one of 400 people Plan has subsidised in the DNA project over the past two years. Plan will support another 600 over the next three years.
“Three months of waiting for the result was like three years, but it was worth waiting for,” Joe said, as the result show DNA matched his parents’. He then applied for a Thai ID card and just got one this month.
“Since I’ve been given this ID card, I can now proudly say I am a citizen of Thailand. I had not been able to say that before,” said Joe, who also changed his family name to sound more Thai and is applying for a driving license to be able to travel more freely.
Police in Wiang Kaen District of Chiang Rai Province have arrested a 50 year old man after the threatened to rape a 20 year-old woman and the proceeded to murder her 2 and half month old baby.
Police with doctors from Wiang Kaen Hospital and the Chao Luang Wiang Kaen Welfare Association were summoned to the scene of the incident to a 2-story cement house, Village No. 2, Tha Kham Subdistrict, Wiang Kaen District of Chiang Rai
On arrival they found Ms. Chanikarn, age 20, in a state of distress crying uncontrollably beside her 2 and a half month baby girl (Linlada) that was dead on the floor.
After calming Ms. Chanikarn, the child’s mother, said that at approximately 2:30 p.m she was out to collect diapers that had been dried in front of the house, while her 2 and a half month old daughter was sleep on the ground floor of the house.
She said she was suddenly approached by a Mr. Lee, about 40 years old, who lived on the opposite side of the road. He came towards her and grabbed her arm and threatened her saying if she didn’t sleeping with him he will go and kill his daughter.
Miss Chanikan refused and ran away, then Mr. Lee then walked into the house and grabbed Ms. Linlada’s leg, smashing the child’s head against the cement floor of the house. The infant died immediately.
Mr. Lee then just walked away and returned to his own home, leaving Miss Chanikan and her dead baby.
When police went to Mr. Lee’s home he immediately confessed killing the infant and was taken to Wiang Kaen Police Station for further questioning. Under caution he told police that he was sexually attracted to Miss Chanikan‘s and when her husband leave for work he took the opportunity to approach her.
He said when he saw her husband leave he crossed that road and found Miss Chanikan in the yard alone, he then threatened her to sleep with him, saying he would kill her child if she didn’t have sex with him. However when she refused he flew into a fit of rage walked into her home and murdered he baby. He said he was out of control with rage.
After killing the infant he walk across the street to his home and waited for the police to arrive. The police have charged him with premeditated murder and attempted rape. He is being held without bail at the local remand center.
Meanwhile, Miss Chanikan and her family were preparing a religious burial ceremony for the child.
Other Chiang Rai News:
Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai
https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/
CHIANG RAI: Prime Minister Settha Thavisin has authorized the establishment of an emergency cyber center operated by the Royal Thai Police to combat transnational crimes committed by call center gangs along the Thai border in Chiang Rai province.
On July 19, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin directed the Center to combat information technology crimes. The Royal Thai Police (Royal Thai Police) will crack down on call center gangs in Myanmar, Laos, and along the border.
His directive comes as call center gangs ratchet up their scams to defraud people of their money, causing concern among Thais and jeopardizing the country’s economic and social stability.
Pol. Gen. Kittirat Panphet, Deputy Commander and Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division, Assigned Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai Pitanilabut, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Police/Deputy Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division, has launched the operation ‘Bombing the Thieves’ Bridge’ in collaboration with the CAT Office, G., mobile phone network operators AIS DTAC TRUE NT, and local security agencies to cut the mobile phone signal and WiFi internet that criminals illegally use to deceive Thai citizens.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai stated that they will begin pressing the first action of the ‘Explosion of Thieves’ Bridge’ in Chiang Rai Province toward the thieves’ base of operations in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.
The territory surrounding King Roman in Laos. King Roman is now a full-service entertainment destination with an airport that welcomes travelers from Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, he explained.
According to Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai, this operation will have no influence on honest people along the Thai border, and it will only target cyber criminals.
They will also increase the arrest and prosecution of unlawful service towers, such as SIM booths, which allow gangs register SIM cards to swindle the people. Dealing with criminal organizations of foreigners and Thais who band together to deceive and damage Thais.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) suspended more than three million SIM cards on July 16 because the holders had not verified their identities with their mobile phone operators by the deadline, in accordance with the NBTC’s measures to combat alleged fraudsters’ mule accounts.
The names of the holders of 80 million mobile phone numbers used for mobile banking transactions did not match the names associated with the mobile banking accounts.
The NBTC would require mobile phone companies to authenticate SIM card holders and the names of their mobile banking accounts. The verification procedure is expected to be completed by the end of September this year.
In addition, the NBTC and Royal Thai Police have collaborated to combat illegal telecom towers throughout the country’s borders, disconnecting signals at 465 places, altering antenna direction at 470 towers, and dismantling antennas at 179 locations.
They are certain that the move will disrupt contact center gangs and other types of technology-based crime.
Other Chiang Rai News:
Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai
https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/
Police in Mae Chan, Chiang Rai, shot and killed a 28-year-old man who allegedly attacked a police officer with a machete. The officer was slashed in the right leg with the machete.
According to police, the culprit, known only as Mr. Toon, had been harassing local villagers in Mae Chan district, Chiang Rai, threatening them with a knife and using violet insults.
The village headman arrived on the scene to try to calm Mr. Toon, but he was shouting hysterically and taking swipes at him with the machete, so he contacted the police.
When the responding officer arrived at the site about 9 p.m., he attempted to calm the man, but he instead assaulted the officer, slashing his right leg with the machete. In self-defense, the cop had to fire his gun at Mr. Toon, striking him in the chest.
Mr. Toon and the policeman were taken to Mae Chan Hospital, where Mr. Toon died of a gunshot wound. Pol Sgt. Sutthikiat Phanomphraisakul was released from the hospital after receiving numerous stitches for his injuries.
Local police received a tip around 9.30 p.m. yesterday that a guy was causing mayhem in the village. When authorities arrived, they discovered 28-year-old Toon strolling along a public road, holding a large knife and threatening people. Mae Chan district officials attempted to contain the incident.
During a search of Mr. Toon’s home, authorities discovered methamphetamine consumption equipment. Locals told authorities that the man was addicted to Yaba (Methamphetamine) and an alcoholic.
The authorities are conducting an inquiry to determine Toon’s motivations and whether any underlying issues contributed to his violent outburst.
Other related news:
Chiang Mai Police Offer Cash Reward After Officer Killed
https://www.chiangraitimes.com/crime/chiang-mai-police-offer-reward/
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