As legal minds tussle in Bangkok, three leading women from ethnic groups in Chiang Mai, who have been fighting for their rights for more than a decade, admitted they knew little about what a constitution was.

The women would be satisfied, they said, with any document that recognised the legal status of their people and allowed them to live like other Thais.

"Most people in my village have no Thai ID cards although they were born here, their families have been here for generations and they have house-registration details. In the eyes of the law, they are from Burma," said Nasae Yapa, headwoman from Baan Kong-Phak-Ping, a Lahu village in Chiang Dao district.

She said her ethnic group faced widespread abuse.

Nasae said many of her neighbours had been arrested, forced to plead guilty and were now serving prison terms.

"Villagers couldn't understand the language when facing legal charges, so they always said 'yes' when asked questions by a judge and many people were sentenced to jail," said Nasae.

Nasae herself faced a legal charge and six months in jail during her struggle to establish the legal status of her ethnic group. After her release, Nasae remained an active member of the Network of Seven Tribal Groups of Thailand.

"I was fighting for the human rights of the ethnic groups but I didn't know what the constitution was," said Nasae, who won the Women's Human Rights Defender award from the National Human Rights Commission last year and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

Pinee Moonkaew, a Karen woman and another Nobel nominee, knew little of the constitution before a three-day seminar on Thai women in the constitution, organised this week at Chiang Mai University.

A decade ago Pinee and other villagers walked to Bangkok from Huay Hoi in Mae Wang district, to bring attention to their campaign for legal recognition.

"We would like to have constitutional rights to protect us and to allow us to live without intimidation from the authorities," said Pinee, who campaigned for the participation of ethnic people in environmental issues, in particular the management of the water supply.

Noe-aae-ri, from Baan Kli Sutah, a Karen village in Mae Wang district, doubted if a constitution could protect the rights of ethnic minorities in Thailand, who were often treated differently by the authorities.

She said community rights were included in the 1997 Constitution and people were allowed to participate in the management and preservation of natural resources.

However, other laws denied these groups their constitutional rights, she added.

"We face many legal threats. If the constitution could protect us, it would be better if Thailand used it as the basis for all law," she said.

"I would like the constitution to allows us to live here as the owners of the land, like other people."

Meanwhile Rasamee Thonsirichoochai, a Hmong woman from Doi Saket, San Sai district, doubted that anyone writing the constitution was considering how ethnic minorities could defend their rights.

"How can we protect our rights when many people, especially women, do not understand the language?" she asked.

Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

The Nation

Chiang Mai