ASIA / PACIFIC
August 20, 2018
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
Boys rescued from cave, once
stateless, receive Thai citizenship
By Kaweewit Kaewjinda
The Associated Press
ANGKOK — Three young soccer
players who were trapped with
other team members for almost
three weeks in a cave in northern Thailand
were granted Thai citizenship along with
their 25-year-old coach.
All four had been stateless, and their
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 neighboring Myanmar.
The boys and coach were among 13
people who were trapped in the cave until
their dramatic rescue by scuba divers.
Nopparat Kanthawong, the head coach
of the Wild Boars team, said they received
official Thai ID cards along with another
team member who had not been in the cave
but also applied for citizenship.
“I’m happy,” he said. “I want to say that
football (soccer) 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.
Nopparat said he submitted docu-
mentation to help apply for citizenship for
seven other Wild Boar players who are
stateless.
The boys given citizenship in early
August 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 a local official,
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 most
people present at the ceremony were
aware of under-the-table payments that
B
A-BOMB ANNIVERSARY. Doves fly around the Peace Memorial Statue during a ceremony at Nagasaki
peace park in southern Japan, marking the 73rd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing on the city that killed an
estimated 70,000 people three days after a bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed 140,000. The bombings were fol-
lowed by Japan’s surrender, ending World War II. (Miyuki Saito/Kyodo News via AP)
Nagasaki marks 73 years since
A-bombing as U.N. chief attends
By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press
OKYO — Nagasaki marked the
anniversary of the world’s second
atomic bombing with the United
Nations chief and the city’s mayor urging
global leaders to take concrete steps
toward nuclear disarmament.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
the first United Nations chief to visit
Nagasaki, said fears of nuclear war are
still present 73 years after the Nagasaki
and Hiroshima bombings and that the
attacks should never be repeated. He
raised concerns about slowing efforts to
denuclearize, saying existing nuclear
states are modernizing their arsenals.
“Disarmament processes have slowed
and even come to a halt,” Guterres told the
audience at the Nagasaki peace park.
“Here in Nagasaki, I call on all countries to
commit to nuclear disarmament and to
start making visible progress as a matter
of urgency.” Guterres added that nuclear
weapons states should take the lead. “Let
us all commit to making Nagasaki the last
place on earth to suffer nuclear
devastation,” he said.
More than 5,000 citizens, including
Nagasaki atom bomb survivors, and
representatives of about 70 countries
remembered the victims as they observed
a minute of silence at 11:02am, the
moment the plutonium bomb Fatman hit
the city.
Emperor Akihito joined a silent prayer
from Tokyo with his wife Michiko as they
monitored the ceremony on TV, marking
the last Nagasaki commemoration before
his planned abdication next April, Kyodo
News reported.
The U.S. bombing of Nagasaki on
T
August 9, 1945 killed an estimated 70,000
people three days after a bomb dropped on
Hiroshima killed 140,000. They were
followed by Japan’s surrender, ending
World War II.
Guterres said the peace and nuclear
disarmament movement started by
survivors of the atomic bombings has
spread around the world, but frustration
over the slow progress led to last year’s
adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons.
Japan, despite being the only country in
the world to have suffered nuclear attacks,
has not signed the treaty because of its
sensitive position as an American ally
protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Nagasaki mayor Tomihisa Taue urged
Japan’s government to do more to seek
nuclear disarmament, especially in the
Asian region, to help achieve a
nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. He said
citizens of the atomic-bombed cities are
hoping to see North Korea denuclearized.
Taue urged Tokyo to sign the treaty and
“fulfill its moral obligation to lead the
world toward denuclearization.” He said
more than 300 local assemblies have
adopted resolutions calling on Japan to
sign and ratify the treaty.
Japan seeks to close the gap between the
views of nuclear and non-nuclear states
about nuclear disarmament to eventually
achieve a nuclear-free world, said Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe, repeating almost the
same phrase he used in a speech three
days earlier in Hiroshima.
At a meeting later with Abe, an atom
bomb survivor, or hibakusha, confronted
the prime minister, asking how exactly he
could bridge the divide while remaining
under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Department of Consumer & Business Services
NEW CITIZENS. Mongkol Boonpiam, left, re-
ceives an identity card denoting Thai citizenship from
Somsak Kunkam Sheriff of Mae Sai during a cere-
mony in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai province, north-
ern Thailand. Mongkol Boonpiam, Adul Samon, and
Pornchai Khamluang, three of the young soccer play-
ers who were trapped for almost three weeks in a cave
in northern Thailand, and 25-year-old assistant coach
Ekapol Chanthawon, who had been with them, had
been stateless, their lack of citizenship not only re-
stricting their upward mobility, but even their right
to travel outside of Chiang Rai, the northern province
where they live. (Chiang Rai Public Relations Office
via AP)
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.
Northern Thailand, whose porous
borders have long been a boon to migrants,
refugees, and smugglers, is a melting pot
of ethnic groups, including the Akha,
Lahu, Lisu, Yao, Shan, Hmong, and
Karen. In neighboring Myanmar, the
frontier regions are dominated by ethnic
minority groups, but underdevelopment
and conflict make opportunities scarce.
Some people flee for their lives to
Thailand; others just seek a better life.
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BCD also wants to remind you that permits help protect the safety and value of your home.
You may need a permit if you are:
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Call your local building department or check our website, www.PermitsProtect.info,
to find out when you need a permit for your building or remodeling job.
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