Heart-warming moment three schoolboys and their coach rescued from flooded cave beam with delight as they are granted Thai citizenship
- 12 Thai schoolboys and their coach were rescued from flooded cave last month
- Now three of the youth players and trainer have been granted Thai citizenship
- The four were officially stateless because they had never applied to be nationals
- Heart-warming pictures showed the boys beaming with delight at a ceremony
Three of the schoolboys and their coach rescued from a flooded cave have been granted Thai citizenship.
Heart-warming pictures showed the boys beaming with delight at yesterday’s ceremony where they were handed ID cards.
Ardoon Sam-aon, Mongkol Boompiam, Ponchai Khamluang, and assistant coach Ake Chanthawong were previously stateless because they had never applied to be Thai nationals.
Mongkol Boonpiam, who was born in Burma, beamed with delight as he was handed his ID card
Adul Samon smiles as he accepts his ID card. The lack of citizenship deprived the boys of some basic benefits and rights
Lack of citizenship deprived them of some basic benefits and rights, including the ability to travel outside of Chiang Rai, the northern province where they live.
The area is home to ethnic minorities with roots in neighbouring Burma, where 14-year-old Ardoon, who spoke English to his British rescuers, was born.
The boys were trapped in the cave for three weeks until their dramatic rescue by Thai navy SEALs and other experienced divers finished on July 10.
-
The jet-set monk is jailed: Buddhist leader who wore…
Newborn boy is rescued after being abandoned in a filthy…
Share this article
Nopparat Kanthawong, the head coach of the Wild Boars team, said the four received official Thai ID cards along with another teammate who had not been in the cave but also applied for citizenship.
‘I’m happy,’ he said. ‘I want to say that football can elevate the lives of kids whose families may not be in the best position.’
‘If they have Thai citizenship, in the future, if they don’t want to play football they can take exams to become public officials or find good work that is related to their field of studies,’ he said.
Buddhist monk and former soccer coach Ekkapol Chanthawong receives his identity card
The boys were trapped in the cave for three weeks until their dramatic rescue by Thai navy SEALs and other experienced divers that finished on July 10
Mr Nopparat said he submitted documentation on Wednesday to help apply for citizenship for seven other Wild Boar players who are stateless.
The boys given citizenship on Wednesday in their home district of Mae Sai had all applied for it before the cave incident, and all were fully qualified for the change in status, said district chief Somsak Kanakam.
‘There are many people who are born in Thailand but haven’t received citizenship yet,’ he said, adding that residents seeking Thai nationality should apply quickly, while he still holds his job, because he has ‘no corrupt intentions’.
He said that most people present at Wednesday’s ceremony were aware of under-the-table payments that some officials had asked for in the past.
There are 488,105 stateless people registered in Thailand, according to government statistics.
The actual number could be as high as 3.5 million, according to the International Observatory on Statelessness.
The group says stateless people in Thailand are unable to vote, buy land, seek legal employment, work in certain occupations or travel freely.
On Saturday the players and their coach who were trapped inside a flooded cave for two weeks were ordained as novice Buddhist monks
Eleven members of the ‘Wild Boars’ Thai football team pray during a ceremony to mark the end of their nine day retreat as novice Buddhist monks at the Wat Phra That Doi Tung temple
Source: Read Full Article