Chiang Rai News
Four Members Wild Boars Football Team Granted Thai Citizenship
CHIANG RAI – The district of Mae Sai in Chiang Rai province has granted Thai national identification cards to four members of the youth football team who were trapped in Tham Luang Cave for 18 days, validating their status as Thai citizens but claiming the validation did not result from their ordeal.
Mae Sai District Chief Somsak Kanakam chaired a ceremony to grant Thai identification cards to 30 people, including four members of Moo Pa Academy youth football team.
: Adul Sam-on, Mongkol Boonpiam, and Pornchai Kaluang who had filed for citizenship based on place of birth and Ekkapol Chantawong, who was found to have been born to parents who were born in Thailand.
Somsak assured those in attendance that the validation of the citizenship of the four was not related to their ordeal in Tham Luang Cave but rather due to their meeting requirements for national identity cards.
He explained that they had previously been pending citizenship due to issues with their documentation that may have been the result of misunderstandings of the law or inaction, pointing out that once all necessary steps were taken they were granted citizenship.
By Itiporn Lakarnchua
