BANGKOK, Thailand – Mong Thongdee is a rare champion.
The 12-year-old boy lives just behind Chiang Mai airport, in northern Thailand, and makes paper planes for hobby. That’s where he gets scolded by his father for littering the place and wasting papers.
"I barely have enough money to buy notebooks for school and there he was, tearing papers to make airplanes," said his father, Yoon Thongdee.
Mong’s parents, who came from Shan state in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, earn $7 a day from construction work to feed their family of four. They all squeeze into a tiny square room in a row house where their neighbors are other migrant workers.
AP
Mong Thongdee, left, poses with Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and paper airplanes during a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on Sept. 3, 2009.
At the national paper plane contest late last year, Mong’s dart floated 12.5 seconds in the air and made him a winner. Ever since that victory, he’s been training two hours a day to prepare for the origami airplane competition in Japan this month, where he will represent Thailand.
But when Mong requested to have a travel document to go Japan he was rejected. Even though he has lived in Thailand since he was born, he is still a son of migrants and doesn’t have citizenship. Like his parents, Mong resides on a temporary permit – which will be terminated when he leaves the country, and turns him into an illegal immigrant if he returns.
"Mong isn’t a Thai citizen nor he is recognized by Myanmar’s government," said Achara Sutthisoontharin, a case worker at Bangkok Clinic, an organization that provides legal counseling on personal rights and status. "His parents left Myanmar since 1995 and never went back. So Mong doesn’t exist there."
Achara sent Mong’s story to a newspaper and very quickly a troupe of reporters were following him to chronicle his struggle with various authorities. His plight also highlights overdue issue of stateless and nationality-less people – or those without official status and citizenship – which is estimated to be over half a million living in Thailand.
"Most of them are migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia who come to look for a better job, but some are also Thais whose parents – out of ignorance, poverty and inconvenience – did not register them when they were born," Achara said.
Stateless children like Mong are entitled to basic education and can file a request for Thai citizenship. However, the request will be considered on a case by case basis by a Thai authority. Achara said some cases took as long as seven years.
Without official status and proper documents, a stateless person has no access to basic health care and faces hurdles in career choice – which places them at a disadvantaged position that often leads to abuse.
The initial rejection of Mong’s call for travel documents – sparked an outcry. Activists, lawyers and ordinary people poured their support and encouragement after they saw a picture of him silently shedding tears while sitting next to an official.
Finally the Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva stepped in to intervene. Mong now holds a temporary passport that allows him to travel and a Japanese visa that’s valid for 90 days.
"I know some people thought, ‘A son of migrant making paper plane? Big deal!’" said Winasrin Meesap, Mong’s teacher at Ban Huay Sai school. "But it’s their only pastime. They can’t afford other kinds of toys. And we should support our children to achieve their best no matter what."
Ban Huay Sai is a primary school with only six teachers and 83 students. About 60 percent of them are children of Myanmar laborers whose main source of income is from construction works.
Teacher Winasrin said that after completing 9th grade, most of her students tend to drop out because their parents cannot afford further education.
But now Mong’s victory has become an inspiration. After school boys and girls gather to make airplanes from papers in a recycle bin, dreaming of their own highflying day.
Mong said he wants to be a pilot so he can fly an aircraft for real. He also wants to win in the Japan competition. "I hope to fly longer. Maybe 17 seconds."
"But if I don’t win, I hope that other children will not give up," he said as he sat next to his father, ready to go buy a nice pair of jeans for the trip. "I hope they can be as good as I am."
