Recently, the Thai cabinet approved a proposal from the National Security Council (NSC) to expedite the application process for obtaining Thai citizenship for some 483.000 long-term residents. This proposal specifically targets people who have lived in Thailand for more than 30 years and have been registered in official documents for decades. It is important to note that this expedited process excludes those with a criminal past.
Since 1992, a staggering 825.000 people have applied for Thai citizenship, but due to lengthy and cumbersome procedures, only 324.000 of these applications have been approved to date. This leaves approximately 483.000 applications still outstanding. During this lengthy process, many applicants have died, making it clear to the Thai government that a more efficient system is needed. Until recently, manual processing methods caused enormous delays, with an estimated wait of 44 years to clear the backlog. Thanks to the implementation of modern digital systems, including biometric data collection, it is now possible to speed up the application process considerably.
The pending applications will be divided into two main groups to streamline the processing. The first group consists of approximately 340.000 individuals who have already gone through all the necessary background checks. This group will be granted permanent resident status and can apply for Thai citizenship after a five-year waiting period. Once their citizenship is approved, they will have limited political rights for the first five years, such as not being able to vote or run for office. Only after this period of ten years will they have full political rights.
The second group consists of approximately 143.000 children born in Thailand to members of the first group and who have official birth documents. The process is also being accelerated for this group, with the Thai government recognizing the importance of integration across generations.
Jirayu Huangsap, the Thai government spokesman, stressed that Thailand has a long tradition of granting citizenship to immigrants and diverse ethnic communities. This policy underscores Thailand’s commitment to integrating long-term residents and promoting inclusion. Previous governments have granted Thai citizenship to more than one million people in total, which Jirayu said reflects the country’s inclusive approach and willingness to formally integrate long-term residents into Thai society.
Especially the reaction of Jirayu Huangsap, promises more Thai miracles that for many who strive for this, Thai nationality may once again be an illusion.
Of course, those 143000 children born on Thai soil should just be a piece of paper, as you might call it.
It's just a matter of walking by with the wife and child, the biological father, and birth documents and voila, that's it.
The other rules for adults are still laughably strict.
Not only strict and laughable, but also discriminatory dehumanizing. The application can be up to 44 years.
The application of my partner and her ThaiYai family, who fled to Thailand 38 years ago, has been running for 7 years now and so far no news about how or what.
So don't believe anything from this message, seeing is believing. Geert can still learn something from it.
It's a positive sound.
At the time, I translated the UN-sponsored webpage You Me We Us for this blog and many contributions for and by unrecognized people and refugees, especially from Myanmar, mentioned the opposition, especially by local authorities.
Children who are not allowed to go to school because a stamp is missing… Not being able to find a job and constantly running into corruption by Thai officials. That will not change overnight and those 1 will certainly not have a letter in the mail tomorrow, but I have good hope that the problem will finally be tackled vigorously. Well, vigorously, Thai style…
Indeed Erik, the You Me Us and also some other media have shown what kind of misery stateless people experience. Hopefully this is a considerable step in solving that, although we will see at what pace and to what extent they come.