Mong Thongdee, a stateless youth who grabbed headlines when he won a national paper plane contest nine years ago when he was 12, is finally close to achieving his dream of gaining Thai citizenship.
The 21-year-old on Tuesday submitted a letter to the Royal Thai Police Office Criminal Records Division for a records check, after Muang district authorities in Chiang Mai province handed him the letter as part of the procedure in seeking Thai citizenship.
Police helped him complete the computerised form. He then had his fingerprints taken.
Pol Col Assanee Intharakhanchit, the division superintendent, said Mr Mong’s fingerprints would be run through the RTPO’s database, to see if he had been involved in any crime. The process normally took about five working days.
Any collated information would be forwarded to the Interior Ministry where officials would process his request and necessary documents before deciding whether to grant him Thai citizenship.
Pol Col Assanee said he would accelerate the criminal record check, to ensure it took only 1-2 days.
Mr Mong, born to a family of Myanmar migrant workers in Chiang Mai, expressed his delight that his dream for Thai citizenship would finally become true after nine years of waiting.
He had not previously submitted a request personally, causing a delay in the process, he said.
He thanked all people for their encouragement. He was also proud that he was chosen to represent Thailand at a paper plane contest in Japan next year. He hoped his citizenship would be approved before he competed.
In the meantime, he would focus on fine tuning his paper plane folding and flying skills, and would do his best at the contest to bring pride to the nation and himself.
Mr Mong became a minor celebrity when he won the Thailand national paper plane flying championship nearly 10 years ago.
He was promised citizenship by effusive government officials and politicians at the time, but it never eventuated.
On Monday, Mr Mong competed again for the first time in almost 10 years and again won the Thailand paper plane championship in the general individual category at Muang Thong Thani.
He will now represent Thailand in a paper plane competition in Japan next year. Nine years ago he also represented Thailand in Japan, and won a third-place prize.
