VZCZCXRO7763
RR RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0127/01 2381014
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251014Z AUG 08
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0823
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0894

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000127 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KWMN SOCI TH
SUBJECT: CITIZENSHIP HARDSHIPS GREATER FOR HIGHLAND WOMEN THAN MEN 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000127  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified; Please handle accordingly. 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) Though the Thai government has increased its efforts to 
streamline the naturalization process for members of hill 
tribes, corruption at the tribal and local government level and 
inherent ethnic biases have delayed progress, especially for 
women.  Because most hill tribes are located in remote areas in 
Thailand, many of their members lack proper birth records, and 
therefore, are not entitled to government welfare programs, 
legal property rights or the ability to move outside designated 
areas.  Hill tribe women encounter further obstacles as cultural 
norms and gender biases confine them to a certain socioeconomic 
level that hampers their access to citizenship information. 
Moreover, by not having legal status, women face additional 
risks such as human trafficking and insufficient pre-natal 
health care.  End Summary 
 
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Citizenship Complications Greater for Highland Women than Men 
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¶2. (SBU) According to official government and NGO estimates, 
there are approximately 900,000 highland people in Thailand 
(nearly all in the north), 420,000 of whom do not have 
citizenship.  NGOs, such as the Inter Mountain Peoples Education 
and Culture in Thailand Association (IMPECT) and the Center for 
Redressing Problems for Highlanders, maintain that the majority 
of stateless persons are women, though no numbers are available 
to evaluate the extent of the gender gap in citizenship 
attainment.  External corruption and internal social barriers 
are the main factors putting highland women at a disadvantage in 
securing legal status. 
 
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Highland Women Weighed Down by Local Corruption 
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¶3. ( SBU) Externally, corruption between village leaders - who 
act as middlemen in facilitating the naturalization process and 
provide needed birth documents - and local government officials 
- who grant citizenship - have held up the process, especially 
for women. NGOs acknowledge that the central government has 
improved its laws and has increased its budget to better 
facilitate citizenship registration, but implementation has been 
complicated by inefficiency and local level corruption.  For 
example, although legally there is no processing cost for 
citizenship papers, highlanders claim to have paid anywhere from 
3,000 to 15,000 Baht (USD 90 to 450), which they allege is 
divvied up among tribal leaders and government officials.  Other 
problems that have contributed to inefficiency include 
processing delays in district offices due to a lack of central 
pressure; a poor understanding of the naturalization process by 
local officials; and inherent ethnic biases that make some local 
officials reluctant to give hill tribe members citizenship. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Under these conditions, highland women prove to be more 
vulnerable and face more difficulties than men.  Activists say 
that women tend to fit the mold of hill tribe gender roles by 
being characteristically docile and introverted, and therefore, 
are at a disadvantage when faced with a tedious naturalization 
process and uncooperative officials.  Highland women also have 
few economic opportunities outside of the home, and therefore 
may not have enough personal income to afford the 
under-the-table asking price for citizenship registration.  In 
addition, women are more susceptible to sexual advances by 
district officials, with IMPECT representatives stating they 
have encountered cases where women have solicited themselves in 
exchange for speeding up delays in citizenship registration. 
 
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Internal Social Barriers Impede Access to Citizenship 
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¶5. (SBU) Internally, tribal customs and traditions have 
subjected highland women to a lower socioeconomic level than 
that of men.  Predicated on the view that a woman's role is 
restricted to the home, this social status limits hill tribe 
women's access to post-primary education, political 
opportunities and knowledge of the citizenship process. 
According to the Center for Redressing Problems for Highlanders, 
currently no members of Parliament and a disproportionately low 
number of elected sub-district officials are hill tribe women. 
Literacy rates are low among hill tribe groups, especially among 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000127  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
the women (highland activists estimate that 30% of hill tribe 
women and 50% of men are literate).  Some highland parents place 
little value on a daughter's education and her knowledge of the 
Thai language, reasoning that she will be married off anyway and 
time would be better spent working and contributing to the 
family income.  With limited educational and political 
opportunities, most hill tribe women do not possess enough 
information about the citizenship process or speak enough Thai 
to pursue legal status individually and must rely on village 
leaders, many of whom are allegedly corrupt, for guidance and 
needed documents. 
 
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Larger Risks for Undocumented Highland Women 
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¶6. (SBU) In addition to facing more complications than men in 
securing citizenship, highland women also encounter more risks 
by not having legal status.  According to the UNESCO Highland 
Peoples Survey, lack of citizenship is the greatest risk factor 
for females to be trafficked.  This report also concludes that 
those without citizenship are 73% less likely to enter primary 
school and 98% less likely to pursue higher education. 
Undocumented women also face exacerbated health risks during 
pregnancy or labor, since they are without access to 
government-sponsored health care or do not have the money to see 
a private doctor.  According to IMPECT, the Central Government 
has only slightly improved in recent years with regard to 
increasing health care for stateless persons. 
 
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Emergent Progress in Citizenship Laws and Education 
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¶7. (SBU) In recent years there have been considerable 
improvements in the citizenship process, leading to an increase 
in the number of stateless persons receiving legal status.  Due 
to coordination efforts among NGOs, hill tribe members and the 
central government, more legal channels have opened up and more 
people are becoming informed about their citizenship rights.  In 
the past ten years, registration numbers have increased by 
100,000 people. The 2008 Nationality Act, which took effect in 
February, has dramatically sped up citizenship registration by 
decentralizing final authority from the Ministry of Interior to 
district offices.  A process that once took up to many years can 
now be completed within 90 days. Additionally, children who are 
born in Thailand to stateless parents can now apply for 
citizenship and are not considered illegal or at risk for 
deportation.  Another sign of progress is that more highland 
girls are receiving an education, which is helping to change the 
image of female roles in hill tribe society.  NGO 
representatives have observed rising literacy rates among hill 
tribe men and women, but contend that their Thai language skills 
are still very basic and insufficient to navigate the 
citizenship process on their own. 
 
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Comment 
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¶8.  (SBU) Citizenship attainment for highlanders has been 
steadily increasing due to more favorable laws and grassroots 
efforts to register stateless persons.  However, hill tribe 
women will continue to be more disadvantaged than men in 
attaining citizenship until they can break out of the 
traditional social mold and until local corruption is curtailed. 
MORROW