End citizenship delay now

They were granted Thai nationality decades ago. Yet for nearly 40 years, they have lived as second-class citizens — invisible, powerless, and stripped of basic rights — all because of government red tape.

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On Oct 29, 2024, cabinet finally took the right step. Based on a proposal from the National Security Council, the government approved a procedure to fast-track nationality and legal status for 483,626 people whose lives have been stuck in limbo for far too long.

Of this group, about 340,101 people are permanent residents. Their eligibility for citizenship has already been verified. Another 143,525 are their children born in Thailand and entitled to Thai citizenship. Yet they are still treated as outsiders in the only country they have ever known due to the absence of a ministerial regulation to give final legal effect to their citizenship.

Despite cabinet's decision to speed up the process, things remain stalled. Right-wing nationalists, ultra-conservative voices, and online trolls have whipped up opposition through false claims and fearmongering. While families wait, those behind a wave of online attacks have tried to stir public fear and anger against the policy, labelling it a "Thai nationality giveaway" to aliens. They've twisted the facts.

In fact, these are permanent residents and stateless people already listed in the national registry as eligible for citizenship. Their personal data is on record, their fingerprints in the system. Newcomers and fraudsters have no way to slip through. Yet the lies keep spreading.