Paper Airplane Pilot Grounded

Mong Thongdee is Thailand's under-twelve paper airplane throwing champ; he secured that title by folding and then throwing a plane that stayed in the air for 12.5 seconds. Next up Mong should be representing Thailand at an international paper airplane event in Chiba, Japan.


But as it stands, it seems unlikely that he will be able to go. That's because Mong is stateless; he doesn't have a country that he can call home. Mong is just one of perhaps a million stateless children living in Thailand. He, like two-thirds of this number, was born to Burmese migrant workers who came to Thailand to escape the crushing poverty of home. Many of these immigrants are working illegally so they shy away from Thai state hospitals. That means they cannot get a birth certificate. Still others simply aren't issued birth certificates by Thai hospitals despite the law requiring that they do so.

Without a birth certificate it is impossible for Mong to get a passport. So he can't go to Japan unless the Thai authorities arrange some sort of temporary travel permit. They are working on it, they say.

Meanwhile Mong continues to practice, "I love to fold paper airplanes and I will continue to do so even if I can't go to Japan," he said. Should he be allowed to go, and should he win, Mong would like what any kid would like as a prize- 'Toys.' Oh, and Thai nationality.