13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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Gaybutton
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

Post by Gaybutton »

Apparently, according to the following article, the 3 stateless boys and the coach are NOT going to be granted Thai citizenship. They can apply for citizenship according to Thai law, but it won't simply be granted to them.

The article does not say how long the process might take, whether they are likely to be successful, or what that does to their chances of being able to go to the places, even places within Thailand, where they have been invited. Movements within Thailand of stateless people living in that area are restricted.

As far as I know, Thailand does not have anything similar to, for example, the USA's "Green Card" system. To the best of my knowledge, you're either a Thai citizen or you're not - no gray areas.

In my opinion, Thailand is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. While nobody wants to see any of these boys deprived of the chance to travel to accept the offers, on the other hand if they are granted Thai citizenship, what about all the other stateless children living in that area?

Of course, I don't know how major an official the district chief is, if he is in a position to be speaking for Thailand, or if he has anything to do with citizenship decisions in the first place. The article says none of that. Maybe more higher-up officials can and will override what he is saying.

I hope Thailand will at least allow them some sort of exemption to be able accept the invitations. Who would be happy if they are deprived of that?

Assuming this man is correct, once word spreads throughout the world media that the boys won't be granted citizenship and/or cannot accept the invitations, that will not exactly be beneficial for that "good image" Thailand always seems to be worried about.

One possibility I thought of - If indeed these boys are deprived of accepting the invitations, I would not be surprised if some of those teams, or even individual team members, instead come to Thailand and play some exhibition games for the boys.
__________________________________

Four cave footballers stateless: official

July 15, 2018

By Vajiravit Lertbamrungchai
The Nation

The chief of Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district has emphasised that Thai citizenship shall be granted based on the law and there will be no exemption even for four of the footballers rescued from the cave.

“I understand that society hopes the rescued boys get citizenship. But we have to comply with the law,” Mae Sai district chief Somsak Khanakham said.

He spoke after news reports said some of Mu Pa Academy’s members are stateless.

The team, stranded inside the flooded Tham Luang Cave for more than two weeks, miraculously survived.

According to Somsak, someone gets Thai citizenship when he or she was born in Thailand or born to Thai parents.

Somsak said the four of 13 rescued footballers who did not have Thai citizenship were coach Ekkapon Chantawongse, 25, and three footballers Pornchai Khamluang, 16, Mongkol Boonpium, 13, and Adul Sam-on, 14.

According to the Mae Sai district chief, the stateless members called on him for help with citizenship claims about two months ago. He said he has already offered them advice.

Somsak said he heard Ekkapon already contacted the authorities but had yet to submit all the required documents.

“For children, their parents must be the one to submit the request for citizenship,” he said.

Somsak said he expected the footballers to officially seek citizenship after they were discharged from the Chiangrai Prachanakroh Hospital.

All 13 trapped footballers are now being treated and monitored at the hospital.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30350092
fountainhall

Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

Post by fountainhall »

Civil Servants and public officials have no option - they have to obey the law and be seen to be obeying the law. But then if there is the political will, laws can always be changed. The problem for the Thai government is the huge number of stateless citizens involved.

In the case of the cave boys, the government will not wish to be seen to be caving (!) in to pressure. On the other hand, I feel sure that pressure will become quite intense. Not only are the soccer team now celebrities, they have been invited as a group to attend prestigious soccer events overseas. One of those issuing an invitation is a soccer team owned by a very rich Thai family. If they cannot accept these invitations - and I cannot believe the Thai boys will agree to go unless all the team can go - I expect to see a lot of international pressure and bad PR.

I have a friend who was granted full citizenship rights in Bhutan even though he is British by birth and has a house in the UK. He is one of only three foreigners to be accorded that honour. So other countries have precedents. I suspect the Thai government will quietly grant some form of citizenship at least to enable all the boys to travel overseas as a team. But it will prefer that it be done quietly and without fuss once all the present international attention dies down. Just my speculation.
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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fountainhall wrote:Civil Servants and public officials have no option
If they can think of a way to beat the odds and rescue all the boys, I'm optimistic they'll think of something so that the boys can all go and accept their invitations.
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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Emotional cave boys pledge to be good after being told of Navy Seal’s rescue death

July 15, 2018

By Nattawat Laping
Chiang Rai

The Mu Pa boys were shocked and sad when told of the death of a former Navy SEAL during the recent marathon operation to rescue them from Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province.

All of the footballers cried and thanked Lt-Commander Saman Kunan for sacrificing his life to save theirs, said Dr Jessada Chokdamrungsuk the permanent secretary for the health ministry.

“The boys have promised to be good persons to honour Lt-Commander Saman,” Jessada said, adding they wrote their condolences on a drawing of Saman and stood in silence.

Saman, then a former Petty Officer First class, collapsed and died on July 6 during the operation to help secure the 12 Mu Pa Academy football team members and their assistant football coach from the cave where they had been trapped since June 23.

He was the only casualty in the operation.

He was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant-Commander by His Majesty the King on Saturday to honour his sacrifice.

Jessada said the doctors allowed the boys’ families to inform them about Saman’s death on Saturday after their physical and mental health had largely improved to a satisfactory level.

The last boys and the assistant coach were evacuated from the cave on July 10, capping off a daring three-day operation. They were placed under medical care, including health check-ups, at Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital. They were found to be weak and suffering from exhaustion after 10 days inside the cave without food before being discovered.

Jessada said the boys were under the close watch of psychiatrists and psychologists when informed of the news about Saman.

Maj-General Dr Wutthichai Issara, a senior doctor of the third Army Region, told the boys on behalf of the military that their rescue effort had been an honour and a mission and brought with it prestige.

The permanent secretary revealed that the first four boys to be rescued and admitted to hospital on July 8 had returned to generally normal health and had no signs of flu or other contagious diseases. Two of them diagnosed with lung infections had improved under a week-long regime of antibiotics.

The general health of the second group of four admitted to hospital on July 9 was similar to the first group.

The last group of five footballers was also generally healthy and had no contagious diseases. Some who had ringing in their ears were improving.

Earlier reports revealed that the boys are scheduled to be discharged from the hospital on Thursday.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30350105
fountainhall

Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

Post by fountainhall »

A very nice government thank you to the world.

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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

Post by Captain Swing »

Maybe this is still a taboo subject; if so I apologize, and I understand if it's deleted. I do think it is a relevant reference as we continue to receive new angles on this amazing story. And I think it relates quite strongly to a discussion we had earlier.

Elon Musk has called a British diver who helped rescue schoolboys from a flooded cave in Thailand ‘pedo guy’ on Twitter.

The entrepreneur’s outburst came after diver Vern Unsworth told Mr Musk to “stick his submarine where it hurts” after describing his offer to help with a miniature submersible as a “PR stunt”.

Mr Musk travelled to the Tham Luang caverns in Chiang Rai this week and presented the six-foot submarine - which he said could help free 12 schoolboys stranded for weeks inside the cave.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 48366.html

A British diver who was instrumental in rescuing a schoolboy football team from a flooded cave in Thailand has told Elon Musk to “stick his submarine where it hurts”, describing the entrepreneur’s offer to help the mission with a miniature submersible a “PR stunt”.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 47166.html
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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Elon Musk has called a British diver who helped rescue schoolboys from a flooded cave in Thailand ‘pedo guy’ on Twitter.

Come across like a whining Trump wannabe. A very nasty guy.
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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thewayhelooks wrote:Come across like a whining Trump wannabe. A very nasty guy.
Be that as it may, I'm sorry, but I am not going to have this topic morph into a topic about Elon Musk and his personality. That aspect has nothing to do with the purpose of this topic. This topic is supposed to be about the boys and the rescue operation.

If anyone wants to comment about Elon Musk, start a new topic on the "Everything Else" forum. That's the place to do it, not here on this topic.

Anything more about Elon Musk on this topic will be deleted.
fountainhall

Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

Post by fountainhall »

A Thai national Artist has donated Bt. 10 million towards the erection of a monument at the entrance to the Tham Luang cave. He and other local artists have already started work on a 13 meter mural depicting the children, their rescuers and in pride of place the former Navy SEAL. The mural will be housed in a 20 meter long Pavilion and will also include a 2.4 meter high statue of Saman Kunan.

Image

The pavilion will be placed close to the entrance to the cave, has received approval from the authorities and is expected to be complete by this November.
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2018 ... -monument/
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Re: 13 Thais Missing during Caving Expedition

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A rather chilling account emphasizing how difficult the rescue was:

Thai cave rescue divers given diplomatic immunity: report

Two Australian divers who helped extract the young football team trapped in a Thai cave obtained diplomatic immunity before the rescue in case it failed, national broadcaster ABC reported Monday.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/thai-cave-re ... 15880.html
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