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Home » Reader question » Reader question: How can I help a boy in Thailand to acquire Thai nationality?
Dear readers,
I have a question and I don't know how to handle this in Thailand, perhaps you as Thailand connoisseurs have tips, or do you know the way.
I want to help a boy in Thailand to obtain a Thai nationality. He was born in Thailand but was not declared by his parents at birth and therefore has no nationality. His parents come from the Karen tribes in former Burma. A Thai nationality would give this boy some more options, who would like to get further than the work with the lowest incomes.
I started an action to collect some money, so if we can somehow get his nationality (with money) he would be very much helped. Is this possible and how do we go about it?
Thanks in advance for your answer.
With kind regards,
Ellen
Dear Ellen,
It is not clear from your story whether the parents are legally in Thailand. The child's nationality follows that of the parents, so the child is Burmese. Birth in Thailand does not give any right to obtain Thai nationality. Applying for Thai nationality on your own behalf is an expensive and long process. For example, one of the conditions is that you must have a legal job (read: with a work permit) in Thailand for at least 3 years that yields at least 2000 euros per month. In addition, a good command of Thai.
My wife is a Cambodian refugee in Thailand with official status. She has been a temporary resident for 26 years. There is a chance that she will be eligible for Thai citizenship in the next 3/4 years based on cosangruanity. With that, our son (who is now only Dutch) becomes Thai. We have been waiting for this for 5 years now (and therefore a passport for her).
If the Karen parents you mentioned also have such an arrangement (temporary residency, blood relationship with Thai) the boy has a chance, otherwise not.
Totally agree. The boy is Burmese and can get Burmese papers. That takes some time, but it is being worked on in Karen State, for example for Karen migrant workers, of whom about 500.000 work in Thailand (out of a total of approx. 5 million guest workers in Thailand; something few people know about). is). In the long term, there is certainly a future for him in Myanmar, but that may take some time.
No Thai authority is willing to help the boy get a Thai passport; there are also at least thousands of other Karen children in line for him. It's an unholy road.
You don't say how old the boy is, where he lives now, with whom (& what relationship), and in what circumstances. In the border regions there are many Karen 'community=based organizations' (CBOs) that help these kinds of children. I have been working with some of these organizations for 10 years. Good education and medical care are first requirements, and you could sponsor him. He may already be under the care of such a CBO. Have you talked to that yet?
The boy turned 22 in May. He works at an elephant shelter, and has a small salary including board and lodging. His father no longer works (previously on the rice fields). He no longer has a mother and two younger brothers and a sister whom he also has to take care of (financially)
He has a relationship with a Dutchman, who would like to live there with him in the long run. That in itself is very difficult, but certainly without a Thai nationality, which is why we wanted to help him with this. but I understand an impossible assignment?!I don't know CBO.
The boy is therefore no longer a child. He takes care of himself (and others). He is not de jure stateless, as he has Burmese parents, and that can (I presume) be proven. He works without papers = illegal and risky (he can be transferred across the border).
The least he (and his family) should do is apply for Myanmar identity papers. You can do that on the Burmese side of the border. That will take a while, and cost some money, but then everyone will at least have an ID card. This card allows you to work/stay in Thailand under certain conditions – for a limited period of time.
For assistance and further information on this, he should contact a Karen support organization (it doesn't matter which one, there are dozens), who can then put him on the right track for the ID card, etc., or refer him to another Karen organization that can do that,
Incidentally, it is almost certain that he or his father are already aware of this. Identity papers are a prerequisite for almost everything, and that must be arranged (he is 1 of many). Really, forget Thai nationality, because that's not possible.
Living together in Thailand is a second complication. The Dutch must meet the Thai standard conditions for this, and residence on the basis of, for example, marriage to a Thai is excluded, because the young man is not Thai. Thai visa regulations are restrictive, because Thailand is definitely not an 'emigration country', but a country with a lot of guest workers.
In due course you may think of settling in Myanmar and living together there and possibly getting married, but I do not know the rules of Myanmar for this. In the long run, this is definitely a better option. Use if necessary. resources to build a livelihood there.
These kinds of situations are heartbreaking, but the worst part is giving false hope.
A (legal) job in Thailand with 2000.– € (88.000.– baht) as income seems to me an almost impossible task. For the average Thai it is already difficult to earn amounts of this size.
Typically a piece of legislation that has the sole purpose of demotivating people!
Dear Guzzi,
It seems like you don't agree. Of course there is a high threshold: why else would Thailand be interested in it? There are enough poor people already. It is no different in the Netherlands and the rest of the world. Knowledge workers (with a good income) are welcome, the rest have to wait their turn. There is no one who forces you to adopt a nationality other than your own.
Thank you MACB for your quick and honest answer. I don't know exactly what happened, but I thought he was not there illegally. He does have a work permit, which he has to have stamped/renewed every certain time in Saiyok. Is it possible to leave the country with a Burmese ID card? for example to the Netherlands for a month or so? or to Australia to work together there for a while? or what about that? I don't know at all how it all works, I would like to help them together and try to figure out how it all works and what is possibly possible. Thanks in advance for answer.
In any case, the story is getting more and more complete.
Just like everyone else, he needs (a) a passport to travel abroad – which is very different from an ID card, and (b) a visa for the country to be visited.
For the Netherlands, this is a so-called Schengen visa that must be applied for in Myanmar. I have no information from the Dutch consulate, but that can be found on the internet. There are different rules for Australia, which can also be found on the internet, and can also be applied for in Myanmar.
Working in the Netherlands is not possible with a Schengen visa; you are asking for a lot of complications. For Australia I thought too, but I'm not sure. The rules there have been tightened up considerably in recent years.
A trip to NL is probably the easiest, because there is certainly a 'guarantor' there. He will have to have money with him on arrival, and of course a return ticket.