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Stateless in Chiang Rai, but armed with a dream

MAE SAI (Thailand) — For several weeks, the world's gaze was transfixed on Chiang Rai — Thailand's northernmost province which was thrust into the international spotlight, as rescuers raced against time to save a bunch of boys and their football coach who were trapped in a flooded cave.

(Left) Gong Namsaengkondoi, 38, from the Lua tribe in Myanmar. She walked and hitchhiked  from  Myanmar for several days before settling in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, Thailand. (Right) Gong’s tribal tattoos

(Left) Gong Namsaengkondoi, 38, from the Lua tribe in Myanmar. She walked and hitchhiked from Myanmar for several days before settling in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, Thailand. (Right) Gong’s tribal tattoos

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MAE SAI (Thailand) — For several weeks, the world's gaze was transfixed on Chiang Rai — Thailand's northernmost province which was thrust into the international spotlight, as rescuers raced against time to save a bunch of boys and their football coach who were trapped in a flooded cave.

Millions of people around the world kept up with the breathless media coverage, especially during the three-day successful rescue operation, with prominent personalities ranging from world leaders to football stars offering their well wishes.

Before this, the Chiang Rai province, which has a population of 1.2 million, was perhaps best known as the gateway to the notorious Golden Triangle — the epicenter of the drug smuggling trade in Southeast Asia which is demarcated by the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.

Above: A sign at the Thai-Burma border. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

The vast and porous borders — in some areas, one can easily swim across the Mae Sai river separating Chiang Rai and Myanmar, or trek through the forests — have allowed the illicit drug trade to flourish for decades.

The ease with which people and goods could move across the borders also meant that over the years, huge swathes of people, most of whom hailing from tribes in Myanmar and Laos, have sought refuge in the hills of Mae Sai before making their way to the Thai villages and cities in search of a better life.

The plight of this segment of Thailand's population have also come under the media glare, after it was revealed that three of the boys rescued and their coach are stateless.

Official government statistics showed there are over 486,000 stateless people in Thailand, with more than a third of them under the age of 18. No data was available on the number of these people in Chiang Rai.

STARTING AFRESH

One of them is Ms Gong Namsaengkondoi. Eleven years ago, she set out barefooted from her hut on the hills of Kengtung, a town in the Shan state of Myanmar.

Above: (Left) Gong holds a sickle, one of the few items she brought with her from Myanmar, as she was afraid that she could not afford to buy one when she reached Thailand. She used to be a rice farmer in Myanmar but the income was insufficient. (Right) Gong demonstrates how she carries a basket supported on her forehead to collect vegetables from the farm. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

Carrying a basket woven out of bamboo that is two-thirds the size of her petite frame, the then-28-year-old had two young daughters in tow. And she knew exactly where she was heading to.

For one full week, she walked to Ban Jong, a village in the town of Mae Sai located in Chiang Rai province, where others from her Lua tribe have settled down.

"The reason I decided to walk to Thailand is to get a job, to have a more comfortable life for my daughters," Ms Gong, now 38, told TODAY. "I can barely get by when I was in Myanmar, so I decided to come to Thailand. Living there, there's no job for me."

Currently staying in the village of Baan Pha Mee, she works as a farmer on one of the farms under the royal agricultural project. The place has been her home for the last five years, and it is a 10 minutes' drive from her previous village, where she stayed for six years.

Under Thailand's laws, getting a citizenship requires five years of residence and a minimum monthly income of 40,000 Baht (S$1,638).

Despite living in the country for more than a decade, Ms Gong, who earns 21,000 Baht (S$860) a month does not meet the salary threshold. But people like her can get a temporary identification card which states how long they have been in Thailand.

Like most people from the tribes in Myanmar, she also does not hold citizenship in her home country, since she did not register for it.

Stateless people in Thailand receive basic education and healthcare, but they face restrictions in buying land or property as well as travelling around the country.

Moving within a province is also problematic for this group. They may get stopped at police checkpoints if they are travelling into the city centre. Sometimes, they could be arrested and deported. Fearful of the potential consequences, stateless people tend to stay put in the villages.

Above: Main market in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai, Thailand. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

But in Chiang Rai, as far as the man-in-the-street is concerned, the stateless people are one of his own — even though there are some gripes over their mannerisms. They are boisterous and reckless in their driving, some Thais claimed.

Retail assistant Mr Narong Namjaipet, 43, said, "There have been generations of them coming and living here. They have become like our brothers and sisters. They are not a nuisance."

Some employers in fact welcomed them. Ms Natachapal Promachak, 27, who runs a mushroom farm, said: "Stateless people are not lazy like some Thais. Hiring one stateless person is the equivalent of two Thais." Three of her employees are stateless.

She noted that even if a stateless person is deported by the authorities, they could return "the next day". She added: "They can move in and out freely from Mae Sai. They want better livelihoods, and there's no stopping them."

As much as the ordinary Thai citizens are welcoming of the stateless people, they contribute to the drug problem in the country.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Suchart Pitipunnachat of Mae Sai Provincial Police Station told TODAY that 70 per cent of people arrested last year for drug offences were stateless people.

But he stressed that this does not mean that police officers are on a witch-hunt for them. "Most are largely peaceful by nature. We are fair, we treat all criminals the same. We don't discriminate," he said.

Above: (L) Lichoo Keawdee and Chai Homnuan both 14 and best friends of Mongkol Boonpeam, one of the boys from the “Wild Boars" youth soccer team who was rescued from a flooded cave. Mongkol is stateless and so are his two friends. (Right) 74% of the students in the school are of tribal heritage not from Thailand. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

Over at Pa Mueat School in Mae Sai, almost three quarters of the 697 students are stateless.

The school's head of curriculum Kanjana Yajaimun, 33, noted that some of these stateless students still live in Myanmar, where shuttle buses will ferry them across the customs, located 15 mins away from the school.

They came to study in Thailand because its education system is significantly better than neighbouring Myanmar, she said.

Above: (Left) Children learn Mandarin in the school. Some students originate from tribes in China. (Right) Forms that teachers in the school get the students to fill in to help them apply for a Thai ID. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

Lessons are taught in Thai, and all students are treated "fair and square". "The students also never talk about the topic of nationality, so when they are together, they don't see the difference among themselves," she added.

Concurring with his teacher, 14-year-old Chai Homnuan said: "Right now I don't feel like i'm missing anything. I'm being treated just like a Thai here."

The school teachers also assist stateless students in their citizenship applications by filling them up and submitting them to the authorities, said Ms Kanjana. That is because their parents might not understand the procedures involved.

"We do want to see them get citizenships. We try our best," she added.

THE DREAM OF CITIZENSHIP

For the stateless people, their dream is to gain Thai citizenship. And some have succeeded.

Above: (Left) Phakakan Rungpracharat, 39, originally from the Akha Pha Mee tribe in Yunnan province, China, moved to Myanmar then settled in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, Thailand. She received her Thai ID card when she was 15-years-old. (Right) Phakakan owns a popular cafe at Doi Pha Mee (Bear Mountain). Her family grows coffee and she learnt to roast the coffee beans in Bangkok.

(Left) Phakakan Rungpracharat, 39, originally from the Akha-Pha Mee tribe in

Yunnan province, China, moved to Myanmar then settled in Mae Sai, Chiang

Rai, Thailand. She received her Thai ID card when she was 15 years old.

(Right) Phakakan owns a popular cafe at Doi Pha Mee (Bear Mountain). Her

family grows coffee and she learnt to roast the coffee beans in Bangkok.

Ms Phakakan Rungpracharat, 39, who owns a hilltop cafe in Mae Sai, used to be stateless but received her citizenship at the age of 15.

Above: (Left) Family photo taken when Phakakan Rungpracharat was 3-years-old, when she first came to Thailand. (Right) Traditional Akha-Pha Mee tribal dress. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

She was born in the Yunan province in China. Her parents later migrated to the village of Kengtung in Myanmar, before finally settling down in the Wiang Phang Kham village where they are currently staying.

She recalled how happy she was that she could get a proper Thai name after receiving her citizenship.

A descendant of the Akha tribal group, she was named "Ahmee" by her parents, but her teacher gave her a Thai name "Surang". "When people call me, they will say Sura, which means drugs," she added, with a grimace on her face.

To the stateless people, getting Thai citizenship means so much more than a piece of card stating that they are legal citizens.

Aourawean Kaewsaeng, 17, said she dislikes the anxiety that consumes her whenever she approaches a police checkpoint. "I always look downwards when they peer into the windscreens," she said. "I want to be able to look at them in the eyes and smile back, because I have nothing to hide."

The teenager aspires to be a singer so that she can perform at shows all over the country. "From stateless to singer. That sounds like a good song title, no?" she quipped.

For Ms Gong, a citizenship would make up for that arduous journey from Myanmar to Chiang Rai.

She still remembers it vividly: When exhausted, she and her daughters sought refuge in the forest. To bathe, they headed to a nearby stream or river. When they were hungry, she would use a hoe that she carried along to scavenge for herbs and vegetables to eat with the rice or bread that she had packed.

"It was difficult when I try to come here. Sometimes I cried, my daughters also cried," she said.

Her daughters are now 21 and 19, with the eldest married while the youngest is studying for a degree.

Though Ms Gong said she has managed to achieve a dream of giving her daughters a better future, there is one that is still unfulfilled.

"My heart is a Thai now, I just don't have a Thai citizenship card. That's what I want," she said.

 

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