Deputy government spokesman Kharom Polpornklang said the Provincial Administration Department has launched a project to test the DNA of stateless Thais so that they could be given ID cards and be eligible for all the rights of Thai citizens.
Kharom said the aim of the project is to help Thais become recognised as citizens even though they lack household registration and birth certificates.
The project is also aimed at helping Thais whose names have been on household registrations but who have been registered as stateless persons.
Those eligible for free DNA tests to prove they are genetically Thai and so eligible for Thai citizenship fall under three groups:
- Those whose parents failed to seek their child’s birth certificates within deadlines
- Hilltribe people who seek Thai nationality
- Those who wish to change their status on household registrations from stateless to Thai.