Saisoonthorn, P. K. (2006). Development of concepts on nationality and the efforts to reduce statelessness in Thailand. Refugee Survey Quarterly. 25(3). 40-53.
INTRODUCTION
This article addresses three important issues: (1) the development of nationality laws in Thailand, (2) efforts of the Royal Thai Government (RTG) to solve problems of statelessness3 in Thai society; and (3) challenges facing the RTG in relation to stateless persons in Thailand. Sources of information used for the writing of this article include research that the writer has conducted from 1992 to the present4 and legal assistance that the writer has provided to stateless persons from 1994 to the present.5
To provide the best understanding of these three issues, this article reviews the history of Thai nationality laws and the problems of statelessness during each historial period of legal history. As well as considering the evolution of Thai law, this article reviews the efforts of the RTG to solve problems of statelessness in Thai society and provides case studies of statelessness in Thailand.