Phangnga: Thai authorities are helping 27 Moken sea gypsies living in the Surin Marine National Park in Phangnga's Khura Buri district to acquire Thai nationality.
A group of Moken sea gypsies from the Surin Marine National Park in Phangnga's Khura Buri district pose for a group photo at the Khura Buri district office. Plan Thailand
Authorities from the Justice Ministry's Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) and Khura Buri district office are working with Plan Thailand, a non-governmental organisation helping the poor and marginalised to gain rights to education, health and livelihoods.
The authorities last week went to the Khura Buri district office to meet the 27 Moken aged 10-60 years who traveled for four hours by boat to the office.
The Moken had earlier applied to undergo the process of nationality verification. Upon arrival, they queued up for CIFS staff to collect their DNA samples via mouth swabs, part of the initial process for testing DNA against their relatives who were born in Thailand and have already been granted Thai nationality.
Jao Klatalay, a 50-year-old Moken who is among the 27, said if he can acquire Thai nationality, he will get a Thai ID card.
"Having the Thai ID card allows me to travel freely anywhere in the country. But until then I must seek permission from authorities if I want to leave the national park," Mr Jao said, adding he hoped to meet his relatives in neigbouring Ranong province anytime he wanted.
Jitlada Rattanapan, manager of the Indigenous and Isolated Children's Project from Plan Thailand, said Plan Thailand initiated the DNA verification programme with the cooperation of the CIFS and Khura Buri district office. They shared common concerns about the identity problems of minority groups, especially among non-citizen children.
Ms Jitlada said Plan Thailand is particularly focused on sea gypsies, half of whom lack the chance to obtain Thai nationality due to limited access to legal help.
She said the Moken struggle to acquire Thai nationality because they can't find documents or reliable witnesses to confirm they were born in Thailand.
As a result, authorities have been reluctant to grant them nationality, but the DNA test is one reliable scientific method to prove the facts, she said.
Ms Jitlada said the 27 Moken are relatives of five other Moken who were previously granted Thai nationality.
The CIFS staff will check if the DNA collected from the 27 Moken matches that of their five relatives. If there are matches, the results will be used as evidence for authorities to grant them nationality, she said.
According to the Khura Buri district office, 111 Moken have previously been granted Thai nationality and ID cards. There are about 500 Moken living in Surin Marine National Park in Phangnga and on islands in Ranong.
Sumit Wophapho, a legal expert with Plan Thailand, said the process for a legal alien child for obtain nationality is complicated as the matter must go to a nationality verification panel, over which the Interior Minister has authority to grant nationality.
He said Plan Thailand and another 32 organisations are pushing for that power to be decentralised to the provincial level, where officials will have authority to grant nationality to legal alien children whose parents without Thai nationality had lived in the country before 1995.