Yonladee Phiyatat, 17, of Rayong and Nampeung Panya, 18, of Chiang Rai were both born in Thailand.

Yonladee’s request for citizenship was quickly approved earlier this week when word spread online and in news outlets that she risked losing the opportunity to attend the Genius Olympiad in the United States.

Ploy, as she’s nicknamed, won a national competition and the chance to move up to the international level in New York next month.

But her stateless status meant she couldn’t get a passport and thus wouldn’t be allowed to enter the US.

Ploy didn’t automatically acquire citizenship because her parents are foreigners who’d migrated here.

But on hearing of her plight and the public sympathy it stirred, the Interior Ministry’s Provincial Administration Department fast-tracked her application.

Yonladee was delighted when she received her ID at the Muang Ranong District Office on Friday, her parents and teacher on hand.

Ranong Governor Chatupoj Piyumputra and Muang Ranong district chief Boonchai Somjai were at the office to facilitate the matter.

“She is qualified in accordance with the law to receive citizenship,” Chatupoj said. “She’s going to bolster Thailand’s reputation at the international level.”

Nampeung followed Ploy into the media limelight and garnered the same support and prompt action.

She’s been invited to compete at both the Genius Olympiad and next month’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the US Midwest state of Minnesota.

Chiang Rai Governor Prachon Pratsakun on Friday handed her not just her new ID card but also cash to help cover expenses on her trips.

Nampeung’s parents are members of the Tai Yai ethnic minority. She’s attended school in Chiang Rai since kindergarten.

Thammasat University’s Bangkok Clinic run by law lecturers has helped both teens in their quest for citizenship.

Communities in Dawei are turning to tourism as a new source of income and as an alternative to negative impacts from the industrial development that has already displaced many families and now threatens the pristine environment.

Set amid fruit orchards and betel-nut plantations, the village of Kalonehtar seems peaceful enough. But the tranquillity is mere surface appearance as residents fight waves of mega-projects continually crashing over the the Tanintharyi region.

Aung Kyaw Thet, a 21-year-old campaigner, said the massive projects ruin their land and traditional livelihoods.

Kalonehtar, with a population of just 1,200, is facing twin threats from a nearby dam that’s part of the Dawei Deep Seaport and Industrial Estate Development Project and a Dawei-Kanchanburi road link. People are worried their land will be expropriated.

United under the leadership of their village abbot, Punya Wunta, they have managed to halt both projects. But everyone knows the battle against unwanted development is far from over, as investors and Myanmar authorities continue to push mega-projects that would turn the peaceful countryside into one of the biggest industrial zones and major deepwater seaports in Southeast Asia.

“Everyone in Kalonehtar lives with fear and uncertainty,” Aung Kyaw Thet said. “If we fail to deter these harmful projects, we’ll be driven off our ancestral lands and lose our farming livelihoods for good.

“The community’s youth network has initiated community-based tourism development. Our aim is to teach the wider public about our struggle here, about our precious resources and our unique way of life, which will all disappear if the big projects get going.”

Though Kalonehtar looks simple and untouched to outsiders, Aung Kyaw Thet explains that the villagers have preserved the pristine forest nearby while continuing in their traditional way of life. The result is a rural hamlet plentiful in resources for tourism.

“Apart from a cultural tour that includes a homestay so that visitors can learn about the way of life and taste local dishes and fruit, we’ve also developed two eco-tourism programmes,” he said.

“Visitors can trek a 3.5-kilometre forest trail to learn about nature or opt for a bird-watching tour with a local guide to see the native fauna.”

Though the tourism campaign only kicked off this year, the village welcomed 100 visitors in the first two months – |mostly Westerners and Myanmar students.

“We consider it a good start and intend to push our campaign further, because it not only raises public awareness about why we should protect Kaloneta and Dawei from large-scale industrialisation, it also generates income for the people. And it helps people maintain a good quality of life,” Aung Kyaw Thet said.

The campaign is just one of the many sparks emanating from communities in the Dawei area, with tourism plans being based on alternative development choices, said Luntharimar Longcharoen, a Thai independent researcher.

In the fishing village of Tizit, tourists can stay and learn their way of life or enjoy a cruise on the Dawei River, hopping onto fishermen’s rafts anchored mid-stream and learning how shrimp paste is made there. The village sites on the proposed site of the deepwater port.

“Dawei and Tanintharyi regions are rich in natural resources, picturesque and have pristine environments – all perfect for creating a booming tourism industry,” Luntharimar said.

“It gives the locals a great opportunity to build their economy in a sustainable way through tourism, which is not only a better option than heavy industry, but also ensures that profits generated go directly to them.”

She said the strategy is more promising because people find their own path of development, one in which they earn directly, whereas industrial development only profits investors.

“Even though work on the Deep Seaport and Industrial Estate has been halted, it can resume at any time once the investors and the authorities have sorted out their problems with the project,” she warned.

A May 3 report by the newspaper Prachachart Turakit noted that Premchai Karnasuta, chairman of Italian-Thai Development Co – a key investor in the Dawei development – had revealed that his firm was seeking assistance from both the Thai and Myanmar governments to restart the project. He claimed work could resume in the next few months.

According to the Dawei Development Association, the initial phase of the Deep Seaport and Industrial Estate has already displaced about 40 families in two communities in Yebyu township.

It was estimated that 22,000 to 43,000 people from 4,384 to 7,807 households in 36 villages will be displaced if the mega-projects proceed.

Also, a projected 790,000 people in Dawei will be affected by pollution and other environmental and health impacts due to large-scale industrialisation.

The newly amended narcotics law and associated organic regulations have complicated procedures, say Decha and community-rights advocates. They believe the law should be further amended to “truly free” medical cannabis, which remains classified as a narcotic, so it can be used unconditionally.

The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) approved changes to the 1979 narcotics law that came into effect on February 19. Use of marijuana for medical purposes became legal under conditions set out in the law itself and in new regulations issued by the Public Health Ministry.

The law includes a 90-day amnesty period for anyone in prior possession of marijuana for medical purposes or research.

Research institutes, practitioners of both modern and traditional medicine and individuals using cannabis as a curative or for pain relief need to report the fact to the ministry to avoid penalty.

“The law is well-intentioned in spirit, allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, but conservative people are concerned, and that’s resulted in complicated rules and procedures,” said Witoon Lianchamroon, a director of BioThai, a non-profit organisation involved in community rights, food security and biodiversity.

“It doesn’t make it easy for any traditional medical practitioner, let alone Ajarn Decha. It’s the big drug firms that can meet these rules, not traditional practitioners.”

Courtesy of BioThai.

Ancient roots

Marijuana has been used in traditional medicine in Thailand for more than 300 years, BioThai research determined. It’s first mentioned as a formula ingredient in the “King Narai Medicine Book” published in 1659. Subsequent medical treatises credited its benefits in treating various illnesses, even psychosis.

But the development of its use in traditional medicine came to a halt with its listing as a narcotic in 1979. Anyone caught producing, distributing or just in possession of marijuana could be jailed for up to 15 years and fined up to Bt1.5 million.

The criminalisation of “ganja”, as it’s commonly known here, resulted in the gradual loss of knowledge of its possible uses in curing illness. Only now has the quest for further knowledge been able to resume following the law amendment.

Inspite of that, marijuana is still listed as a narcotic and strict controls remain in place regarding its use. Only government-endorsed agencies, researchers, medical practitioners and groupings of cooperatives are allowed to possess, produce and distribute marijuana-based medicines.

The ministry’s added regulations specially require practitioners of traditional medicine to be registered as such with the ministry first.

Decha himself had never before done so, though he’s had years of training in the production of traditional medicine and began examining marijuana’s potential 10 years ago when a family member was diagnosed with cancer.

Decha’s main work has been in the conservation of rice variety at his Khao Khwan Foundation in Suphan Buri.

Settling on a formula he believed could help cure cancer and other diseases, Decha has been giving the medication to patients for free at temples for the past two years. Threatened with arrest even after the law was amended, Decha sought formal registration.

After clearing up issues with the Office of the Narcotics Control Board of Thailand, Decha applied for a licence late last month. He underwent a week’s training before the provincial health office in Suphan Buri approved the registration.

But it still doesn’t mean he can now legally distribute his marijuana medicine. His famous formula and any others like it he concocts must also be approved by the ministry and endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration or the Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine Department. Or he has to get his medicine formula approved and added to the list of already endorsed 16 ancient formulas by the TAM.

Or else, new formulas must be approved under a “special access” scheme extended to particular groups of people in need, or by conducting joint research with state-endorsed institutions.

Decha’s medicines could be approved through at least three approaches of these, but he’s decided the last way is the least complicated in terms of regulations.

Just the same, BioThai expects he’ll still have at least four more steps to cover before he can resume distribution.

Courtesy of BioThai.

Decha’s quest

Having been registered as a traditional medical practitioner, he and his fellow researchers must obtain approval for their project from a ministry committee on guard against formulas that could affect the recipient’s mental state or nervous systems.

Their research will next be subjected to “ethical testing”, another time-consuming process with no set deadline.

As a narcotic, the marijuana used in their research can only come from official sources, which currently means authorities like the police or ONCB that confiscate drugs.

While the research continues, Decha’s patients will be designated as research subjects – and no one else can be given his medicine, a withering restriction for Decha, who wants to help as many people as he can.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha instructed officials to make sure Decha’s medicines would emerge from the lab by this month, but Decha, in consultation with allies including BioThai, now says the law must be changed again.

“As Ajarn Decha’s case demonstrates, the laws is full of rules and procedures because it’s still a matter of state control,” said Witoon. “It makes the work really difficult and complicated.

“The point is that access to marijuana for medical purposes is the right of patients and medical practitioners. This is why we want to amend the law again.”

More than 10 organisations involved with community rights and alternative healthcare have proposed this principle of a “right” as the key to the needed amendment.

They’ll be promoting the idea at the Cannabis Walk set to take place once the 90-day amnesty ends on May 19. Decha will lead a 20-day procession from the Phichit temple that distributed his medicine to another one in Suphan Buri.

Decha said the government has to stop thinking of marijuana as a narcotic and regard it as a “controlled substance” such as tobacco, which allows for limitations on excessive use.

Somchai Sawangkarn, the NLA whip who led work on drafting the legal amendment, has no objection to further changes, but noted that the assembly carefully considered both pros and cons and weighed all factors, including the potential for addiction and parents’ concerns.

The amendment, he said, also faced fierce opposition from groups including transnational drug firms that feared the loss of profits from their drug sales.

Somchai said the amended law was the first step towards replacing expensive drugs with marijuana-based medicines in the healthcare system.

“The NLA made the amendment after thorough thought, taking the country’s readiness into account,” he said. “I don’t say we did the best, but this was the first step and you can take the next step from here.”

Yonladee Phiyatat’s request for Thai citizenship was quickly approved earlier this week, after she risked missing the Genius Olympiad in the United States. Her plight got the attention of the media and relevant authorities as well as public sympathy.

Nicknamed Ploy, the Ranong student has won a national-level competition to take part in an international academic contest in New York next month.

However, she found that her status as a stateless person meant she could not make the trip.

Yonladee, who was born and grew up in Thailand, did not automatically qualify for Thai citizenship because her parents were foreign migrants.

She had to submit a request to the Interior Ministry’s Provincial Administration Department, which fast-tracked her case this week.

Yonladee went to the Muang Ranong District Office on Friday with her parents and teacher, where she applied for and received her Thai ID card.

With the card she can now get a passport and apply for a US visa.

Ranong Governor Chatupoj Piyumputra and Muang Ranong district chief Boonchai Somjai showed up at the office to facilitate Yonladee’s case.

“She is qualified, in accordance with laws, to receive Thai citizenship. She is going to bolster Thailand’s reputation at an international level,” he said.

Mong Thongdee, who was in the same situation after he won a paper-plane competition a decade ago, said on Friday that Yonladee contacted him recently to discuss her case.

“I recommended the Bangkok Legal Clinic (operated by lecturers at Thammasat University) because lecturers there helped me out of statelessness before,” Mong said. “Now I am happy that she has got Thai citizenship too.”

Mong became a Thai citizen last October.

ONCB secretary-general Niyom Termsrisuk said on Friday that during October 2018-March 2019, Thai authorities had intercepted 197.42 million meth pills in border areas from flowing into Thailand.

Proactive operations to search and arrest drug retailers and abusers led to the arrest of 177,067 suspects in 165,688 drug busts nationwide, Niyom said.

Among them were 38,711 cases, covering 45,337 suspects, that involved five key drug offences: manufacturing, importing, exporting, distributing/selling, and having in possession with intent to sell.

These ‘key offence’ busts also saw officers seize 317.85 million meth pills, 9,271.75 kilograms of marijuana, 4,916.20 of crystal meth or ‘ice’, and 10.30 kilograms of cocaine.

Niyom also said the ONCB also advanced strategies under the Safe Mekong Joint Operation Project (implemented during 2019-2022 by Laos, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) and co-operation with officials in related countries that resulted in the interception of reactant or chemical substances that are used in making narcotics.

They included 19,854 kilograms of caffeine (which could result in the production of 270-310 million meth pills) and 32,044 litres of hydrochloric acid (which could result in the production of 105,000 kilograms of ‘ice’). The crackdown – which saw narcotic-manufacturing sources in 10 locations within the Golden Triangle area destroyed – also prompted trans-national drug gangs to use the route through Myanmar’s Koh Song in Andaman Sea, where the authorities seized about five tonnes of illicit drugs.

As for the rehabilitation of drug abusers, Niyom said the ONCB had joined with 15 related agencies to establish a “harm unit” in each province to provide care to those suffering drug-addiction-triggered psychotic ailments.

So far, 80,101 drug addicts had undergone the rehabilitation programs, while 11,031 drug abusers received the harm reduction intervention services, he said.

Officials also followed-up with 76,202 people who had completed previous drug rehabilitation to ensure they wouldn’t resume the habit, and 2,413 were given additional help.