Mong Thongdee (born c. 1997) is a formerly stateless person from

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. He became known in 2008–2009, when he won a national paper plane competition and was chosen to represent Thailand in the All Japan Origami Airplane Competition in

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

. However, being born to Shan migrant worker parents from Myanmar, he did not have Thai nationality, and his stateless status meant that he could not obtain travel documents in order to leave the country. His case became a focus of national attention, and after meeting with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Mong was granted a temporary passport allowing him to travel. He placed third in the singles competition and with two other teammates won the team event for Thailand. Despite the case raising awareness on the issues facing stateless children in Thailand, and promises of citizenship by government officials, by 2017 Mong still had not obtained Thai nationality. He works as a drone pilot trainer in Chiang Mai. Mong's case resurfaced following the

Tham Luang cave rescue In June and July 2018, a junior association football team and their assistant coach were rescued from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand. Twelve members of the team, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old assi ...

in 2018, where several of the boys involved were granted citizenship, and his resubmitted application was approved in October 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thongdee, Mong Stateless people Mong Thongdee Mong Thongdee Living people Mong Thongdee Year of birth missing (living people) Origami artists

See also

References