VZCZCXRO0259
PP RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0075/01 1550949
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040949Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1057
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1139

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CHIANG MAI 000075 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON SMIG PREF PREL KWMN BM TH
SUBJECT: NGOS ASSIST HILL TRIBES IN DIVERSE WAYS, BUT CAPACITY 
STRETCHED THIN 
 
REF: A. 08 CHIANG MAI 140 (HILL TRIBE RELOCATIONS) 
     ¶B. 08 CHIANG MAI 192 (HILL TRIBE STATELESSNESS TRENDS) 
     ¶C. CHIANG MAI 2 (CITIZENSHIP MANUAL) 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000075  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
------------------- 
 
Summary and Comment 
 
------------------- 
 
 
 
¶1.   (U)  Although the Royal Thai Government (RTG) passed two 
laws in 2008 that improved citizenship eligibility, stateless 
persons living in northern Thailand still face a host of legal, 
administrative, and practical obstacles to citizenship. 
Recognizing the many disadvantages confronting stateless 
persons, the many NGOs, academics, and faith-based groups who 
work with ethnic hill tribe minorities in the North have 
responded to these challenges in diverse ways.  Examples include 
providing legal advice about the citizenship process, appealing 
cases of revoked citizenship, improving livelihoods in the face 
of resource constraints, exposing corruption among local 
officials responsible for processing citizenship applications, 
and educating government authorities about the issues faced by 
stateless persons.  Post will continue its outreach to groups 
working on hill tribe citizenship issues, with the aim of 
creating linkages between groups and increasing awareness of 
issues related to statelessness. 
 
 
 
¶2.   (SBU)  Comment:  Although there is no doubt that NGOs and 
legal organizations have helped a great number of highlanders 
obtain citizenship, the scale of the problem remains daunting. 
Struggling to meet the growing demand for legal assistance, NGOs 
have reached a turning point where aiding each individual in the 
preparation of his or her case is no longer feasible.  Instead, 
NGOs have begun to advise groups on how to proceed with their 
own citizenship claims and have encouraged them to assist others 
with similar concerns.  There is evidence that, with just a 
little guidance, many highlanders can successfully obtain 
citizenship on their own.  For those with more complicated 
cases, however, navigating the complex waters of Thai 
citizenship law may still require more hands-on assistance from 
legal experts.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
Legislation Improved, but Implementation Still Problematic 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.   (U)  Approximately half of Thailand's ethnic hill tribe 
minorities remain stateless and continue to face many problems 
associated with this lack of citizenship (refs A and B).  The 
most recent survey of the highland population, conducted in 
1999, revealed that at least 378,000 highlanders were still 
without Thai citizenship or permanent residency.  While some of 
these non-citizens may have obtained citizenship since 1999, 
there are still many highlanders in need of official 
documentation. 
 
 
 
¶4.   (U)  The Nationality Act of 2008 expanded citizenship 
eligibility to some previously ineligible individuals, and the 
Civil Registration Act of 2008 amended earlier laws regarding 
household registration and birth certificate procedures (ref B). 
 While these recent legislative changes have ostensibly improved 
citizenship eligibility, ambiguities regarding the 
implementation of these laws still remain.  This cable will 
focus on the ways in which NGOs, faith-based groups, and legal 
organizations continue to address the problem of hill tribe 
statelessness. 
 
 
 
--------------------- 
 
The Barefoot Lawyers 
 
--------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (U)  In 2002, the Mae Ai district office of northern Chiang 
Mai province revoked the citizenship of over 1,200 highlanders 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000075  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
there based on suspicion that some individuals had obtained 
their citizenship fraudulently.  As a result, the citizenship of 
their children was also automatically rescinded.  Several 
organizations, including the National Human Rights Commission, 
Payap University, and the Law Society of Thailand, helped the 
newly stateless take their case to the Chiang Mai Administrative 
Court.  Three years later, the Court ordered the Ministry of the 
Interior to reinstate their citizenship.  This victory was 
tempered by the fact that the citizenship of their children was 
not automatically reinstated. 
 
 
 
¶6. (U)  Several of the people who had their citizenship revoked 
in 2002 became staff members at the Mae Ai Legal Clinic.  Known 
as the "barefoot lawyers," they use their own experiences to 
advise others on the citizenship process.  The clinic was 
founded and is operated by Chiang Mai's Payap University and is 
funded by UNICEF. 
 
 
 
¶7. (U)  The success of the clinic has attracted more and more 
clients, including many not linked to the 2002 case.  As a 
result, the volume of legal inquiries now exceeds the clinic's 
capacity.  As such, the clinic has changed its approach to legal 
assistance.  While staff members previously counseled 
individuals on a case-by-case basis, the clinic is now equipping 
groups to act on their own behalf.  The clinic instructs one 
hundred people at a time, separated into five groups based on 
their category of citizenship eligibility, via a three day 
"citizenship crash course" at the clinic.  Each of the 
participants is required to research his or her family 
background and prepare the necessary legal documents.  Once a 
"student" completes the course, he/she is able to advise others 
facing similar legal hurdles to citizenship.  In addition, law 
professors from Payap University are producing a manual that 
individuals with citizenship concerns can reference. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Staff members at the Mae Ai Legal Clinic note that 
while corruption among local registrar authorities is still 
prevalent (ref B), outright dismissals of citizenship 
applications have decreased, as the local officials seem to 
realize that many villagers are now quite knowledgeable about 
the new citizenship laws. 
 
 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
Administrative and Practical Obstacles 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Staff members at the Mae Ai Legal Clinic describe the 
following administrative and practical obstacles to citizenship 
(see also ref B): 
 
 
 
--When babies are delivered in a village (and not in a 
hospital), the village head is required to register the birth at 
the district office.  However, because many communities find it 
difficult to pay for the village head's transportation costs, 
some births go unregistered. 
 
 
 
--Local registrar authorities often request expensive DNA tests 
when parents apply for citizenship for their children.  Requests 
for DNA tests are often made even when witnesses can confirm a 
child's place of birth and parentage. 
 
 
 
--When Thai-citizen mothers attempt to register the birth of a 
child, their own citizenship may be questioned by local 
authorities.  As a result, a child's citizenship application 
could possibly put the mother's citizenship at risk of 
revocation. 
 
 
 
--Timely processing of citizenship applications often requires 
the payment of bribes to local authorities. 
 
 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000075  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
 
-------------------- 
 
Give a Man a Fish... 
 
-------------------- 
 
 
 
¶10. (U)  While some NGOs focus on providing legal advice to 
stateless highlanders, other groups enhance the livelihoods of 
hill tribe communities.  The Upland Holistic Development Project 
(UHDP), an American faith-based NGO, teaches hill tribe 
households how to support themselves on small plots of land. 
Specializing in both subsistence and cash crop backyard farming 
methods, UHDP is currently advising 21 communities in upper 
Chiang Mai province on projects related to sanitation, 
sustainable agriculture, and alternative fuels.  In order to 
balance the goals of conservationists and forestry officials 
with the livelihood needs of hill tribe communities, UHDP is 
also developing innovative agroforestry techniques which 
emphasize crop diversification and the use of indigenous 
species. 
 
 
 
¶11. (U)  Staff members at UHDP note that citizenship remains the 
top priority for the communities in which they work.  While 
highlanders are certainly interested in learning new 
agricultural techniques, many find it difficult to invest in 
their land and resources, knowing that without citizenship they 
could be relocated or deported at any time. 
 
 
 
¶12. (SBU)  UHDP staff members express concern about land tenure 
rights in hill tribe communities.  In the past, RTG forestry 
officials have moved highlanders from their homes in order to 
establish national parks (ref A).  In order to prevent future 
relocations, UHDP helps local communities map their land use 
with geographic information systems.  Community mapping is 
especially important in communities that rely on agroforestry. 
Unlike traditional rice paddies, agroforestry plots appear to be 
intact (and therefore unused) forest ecosystems.  As such, 
farmers face the risk of being displaced by officials seeking 
"pristine" forests for national parks.  As one staff member 
notes, "Your success [as an agroforesty farmer] can be your 
undoing." 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
Tension Grows between NGOs and Local Authorities 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU)  Staff members from a legal aid organization in Chiang 
Rai province's Mae Suai district say that local authorities 
continue to solicit bribes at various points in the citizenship 
application process (ref B).  They also note that some local 
officials see the recent increase in the number of citizenship 
applications as an opportunity for greater personal profit. 
 
 
 
¶14. (SBU)  Legal organizations who assist hill tribe communities 
contend that the relationship between local government 
authorities and NGOs working with highlanders has deteriorated 
in recent years.  In the past, local officials viewed these NGOs 
as partners, but accusations by NGOS of government corruption 
may have soured this relationship.  Local officials were 
particularly angry about a 2001 bribery complaint lodged by one 
NGO with the Ministry of the Interior.  Sources report that 
witnesses were intimidated during the investigation and that 
activists feared for their lives.  Although the case was 
referred to the Office of the National Counter-Corruption 
Commission, it was eventually dismissed. 
 
 
 
¶15. (SBU)  The deterioration in the relationship between local 
officials and NGOs assisting highlanders has also been 
detrimental to those applying for citizenship.  NGOs report that 
local officials may deliberately hold up citizenship 
applications received from NGOs.  As a result, applications 
filed by NGOs take longer to process than those submitted by 
individuals. 
 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000075  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
 
 
--------------------------- 
 
Education and Collaboration 
 
--------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶16. (U)  The law faculty at Naresuan University's branch campus 
in the northern city of Phayao has established a Legal Aid 
Center that primarily serves highlanders who face citizenship 
and other problems.  The Center is committed to the education of 
both law students and local authorities, and adopts a joint 
consultative strategy in its dealings with government officials. 
 Instead of working at cross purposes with authorities, this 
public school's Legal Aid Center collaborates with them on 
issues related to hill tribe statelessness. 
 
 
 
¶17. (U)  The Center familiarizes its law students with the 
problems faced by stateless persons and encourages community 
service in hill tribe communities.  A recent survey conducted by 
the University's law students collected data on over 1,200 
stateless persons in just two days.  The school then passed the 
data to a local NGO, which used it to assist the individuals 
with citizenship applications. 
 
 
 
¶18. (U)  The Center also sponsors programs aimed at educating 
local authorities about the new citizenship laws.  Twice a year, 
the Center organizes a public-private seminar on citizenship 
matters attended by police, lawyers, local authorities, and 
officials from the National Security Council and the Ministry of 
the Interior.  The Center also conducts mobile seminars in rural 
areas. 
 
 
 
------------------------------- 
 
Scale of Problem Still Daunting 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶19.  (U)  Many NGOs make large impacts in the local highland 
communities where they work.  However, hundreds of thousands of 
highlanders still lack citizenship, and existing NGOs struggle 
to meet the growing demand for legal assistance.  Often, their 
efforts are piecemeal rather than broadly coordinated. 
Furthermore, stateless persons who live in remote areas beyond 
the reach of local NGOs may be unable to obtain even modest 
amounts of legal guidance, making it difficult for them to 
pursue citizenship. 
MORROW