A stateless 17-year-old student has thanked the authorities for providing her with Thai citizenship so she can participate in an academic contest in the United States next month.
Yonladee "Ploy" Phiyatat posted a photo of a letter that she received from Arthit Boonyasopat, director-general of the Provincial Administration Deparment, on Facebook late on Wednesday.
The letter showed that Yonladee had qualified to obtain Thai citizenship due to the fact she had certification from a government organisation and because she had lived in Thailand for at least 10 years.
Yonladee was born to parents from Myanmar who have lived in Muang district in Ranong for about two decades.
Yonladee and her schoolmates at Satri Ranong School recently won a national award for their automatic bottle-sorting machine project. As a result, they were invited to attend the Genius Olympiad event in New York on June 17.
