The Thai Soccer Boys are still in the news. This still doesn’t sit well with me, too many coincidences. It is coming out that even the Coach as well as kids aren’t Thai and that several are from Myanmar dropped off at a church, hmmmmm. They are “orphans”. Or are they trafficking victims? This kid speaks four languages, others spoke 5-6. They originate in the “Golden Triangle” Elon Musk is still calling one of the divers a pedo… There is a lot more going on here than they are letting on. I still go with that this is bringing trafficking, human/drugs et al to light.

Article from yahoo Japan…

Restricted to ripple movement to the four people in the Thai cave "stateless", invitation to watch overseas football?

Of the 13 boys who were rescued from the cave in northern Thailand, 4 people are stigmatized, spreading ripples. Since freedom of movement is limited, attention is gaining attention from the government, as there is a possibility that it may not be possible to receive the invitation of watching games received from overseas professional soccer teams.

Both parents are seen as ethnic minorities in the mountainous area, saying that they have not acquired their nationality because of the lack of evidence of being born in Thailand.

Adun (14) who got a conversation in fluent English when discovered by a British submarine in the cave is one of them. I was born in the northeastern part of Myanmar and was deposited by the parents at the age of 6 at the church in Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand.

The northeastern part of Myanmar is called "Golden Triangle (Golden Triangle)" and is a core area of narcotic production. Due to the conflict between the armed forces and the Myanmar army, Adun's parents also seemed to have relied on a Thai church to protect his son from armed conflict and unstable living.

In Thailand there are many stateless people, mainly ethnic minorities living in mountainous areas, with statistics that there are about 480,000 people. Experts say, "There are many cases where you live from a neighboring country in search of a better life, there are no documents to prove birth in Thailand, and the hurdle of obtaining nationality is high."

Even if you are stateless, you can go to school, but movement outside the prefecture is restricted. The boys are invited to play in England from football's England Premier League, Manchester United, but four people without a passport are in a difficult situation to travel.

From the citizens of Thailand, the voices of sympathizing with "How about giving up your nationality?" Triggered by the surviving play that the world gave its bravery were raised. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs officials said that "(nationality granting should be done in accordance with normal procedures)."

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20180718-00010006-nishinpc-int

>>2198335 Continue…

Stateless and Poor, Some Boys in Thai Cave Had Already Beaten Long Odds [EDITED]

MAE SAI, Thailand — Adul Sam-on, 14, has never been a stranger to peril.

At age 6, Adul had already escaped a territory in Myanmar known for guerrilla warfare, opium cultivation and methamphetamine trafficking. His parents slipped him into Thailand, in the hopes that proper schooling would provide him with a better life than that of his illiterate, impoverished family.

For 10 days, Adul and his fellow Wild Boars soccer squad survived deep in the cave complex as their food, flashlights and drinking water diminished.

It was Adul, the stateless descendant of a Wa ethnic tribal branch once known for headhunting, who played a critical role in the rescue, acting as interpreter for the British divers.

Proficient in English, Thai, Burmese, Mandarin and Wa, Adul politely communicated to the British divers his squad’s greatest needs: food and clarity on just how long they had stayed alive..

On Tuesday, the border town of Mae Sai, where Adul lived at a church, finally had cause to celebrate, as the Wild Boars’ 18-day ordeal came to an end. In a three-day rescue mission, Adul and 12 others were safely extracted from the cave by a team of dozens of divers, doctors and support staff.

Located not far from where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet in the Golden Triangle, Mae Sai is home to a population that has at times been skeptical of the Thai state and its institutions.

The Golden Triangle is a smuggling center, and a sanctuary for members of various ethnic militias that have spent decades pushing for autonomy from a government in Myanmar that routinely represses them.

Three of the trapped soccer players, as well as their coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, are stateless ethnic minorities, accustomed to slipping across the border to Myanmar one day and returning for a soccer game in Thailand the next.

With the English he used to communicate with the British divers on July 2, Adul was crucial in ensuring the safety of the Wild Boars. He is the top student in his class at the Ban Wiang Phan School in Mae Sai. His academic record and sporting prowess have earned him free tuition and daily lunch.

After crossing into Thailand eight years ago, Adul’s parents dropped him off at a local Baptist church in Mae Sai, asking that the pastor and his wife care for him. A quality education was not available in Myanmar’s self-governing Wa region, where young boys can be in danger of getting dragooned into the local guerrilla force.

At the Ban Wiang Phan School, where 20 percent of students are stateless and half are ethnic minorities, the principal, Punnawit Thepsurin, said the boy’s uncertain status — he has no citizenship papers from any country.

At least 440,000 stateless people live in Thailand, many of whom are victims of Myanmar’s long years of ethnic strife, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Human rights groups say the true number could be as high as 3 million — in a nation of nearly 70 million — even though the Thai government has refused to ratify the United Nations convention guaranteeing rights for refugees.

With little legal protection, undocumented workers in Thailand can be at the mercy of human traffickers or unscrupulous employers. B

Divers testing the mini-submarine built by Elon Musk’s engineers to help rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded Thai cave. The capsule was built with SpaceX parts. In the end, the cave proved too narrow and rescuers said the sub was “not practical.”CreditElon Musk, via Reuters

“They are at an age when they want to explore and learn new things,” said Nopparat Khanthawong, the team’s head coach, who did not join the fated expedition. “It’s natural for them to go to the cave.”

Initially, there was some speculation whether Mr. Ekkapol, the 25-year-old coach who took the boys into Tham Luang Cave, might be criminally culpable for overseeing a trip gone wrong. But local officials quickly dismissed such talk.

A stateless member of the ethnic Shan minority, Mr. Ekkapol has long experience caring for children. After his parents died in Myanmar when he was a young boy, he entered the Buddhist monkhood in Thailand for nearly a decade, a common option for orphans untethered from financial support.

One of Mr. Ekkapol’s duties after he was ordained was taking care of younger novices, said Patcharadanai Kittisophano, a monk at the Phrathat Doi Wao temple, where the young coach now works as a custodian.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/10/world/asia/thailand-cave-soccer-stateless.html