A project to DNA test 984 underprivileged stateless persons to verify their Thai citizenship was launched at Parliament yesterday.
The activity is part of the Senate's celebration of His Majesty the King's 84th birthday on December 5, 2011.
Deputy Senate Speaker Nikhom Waiyaratchapanit said thousands of stateless persons were living in Thailand without any civil status or citizen's rights as other Thais.
A DNA test could accurately determine their blood relationship to Thais and thus their Thai citizenship. As harmony was needed in the county, this project could help promote love, faith and pride in being Thai, he said while presiding over the ceremony.
The 984 poor stateless persons who had passed initial screening would be allowed to use their DNA test results to back up their request to add their name to a Thai household registration, said Tuang Anthachai, chairman of the Chalermphrakiat DNA test committee.
Collaborating on the project were the Interior Ministry's Provincial Administration Department, Public Health Ministry, Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) and two NGOs - the Foundation for the Better Life of Children and Hill Area and Community Development Foundation.
To defray the project's costs, the committee would ask kind-hearted persons for cash donations, which could be made at the lobby of the Parliament 2 building and designated provincial offices, Tuang said.
A group of hilltribe people from Chiang Rai, which would be part of the test subjects, was also present at the launch.
CIFS director Porntip Rojanasunan and medical teams from various institutions demonstrated the DNA collecting method using oral tissues from Nikhom. They also demonstrated the DNA test using a blood sample from a Thai mother, Malee Laolae, 77, to compare with the DNA from her stateless son Adisak Lertchum, 45.
Adisak, who had one amputated leg, said he had waited for a long time for this because he had run into many difficulties in his life without an ID card, especially access to state hospitals.