“Kannavee” states “Nationality bribe problem” still exists and is not been resolved

(SAP News - Sukritta Tangteerawan)On September 18, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at Parliament, Mr. Kannavee Suebsaeng, MP from the Fair Party, gave a statement regarding the issue of the illicit collection of nationality bribes from ethnic groups who have long lived in Thailand, as well as his five proposals to the new Cabinet.

The case of nationality bribes that has occurred refers to certain state officials exploiting loopholes in the system to collect money from ethnic groups in exchange for Thai legal status. Mr. Kannavee stated that this issue has persisted for a long time and continues to this day, despite announcements from the Department of Provincial Administration under the Ministry of Interior to speed up the nationality process from 270 days to 5 days.

Problems of nationality and legal status

The issue of ethnic groups who have lived in Thailand for a long time but are unable to apply for nationality, or face severe delays in the process, remains a prolonged and deeply rooted problem in Thai society.

These problems have impacted the dignity and rights of ethnic people. Some are deprived of access to education, others lack access to healthcare services. Many lives have lost the opportunity to access the fundamental rights that Thai citizens are entitled to, even though they have lived in Thailand for many generations.

At present, there have been efforts to resolve this prolonged issue through the new criteria by the National Security Council, which were approved by the Cabinet in 2024. These rules aim to accelerate the resolution of nationality and legal status for individuals who have migrated and lived in the Kingdom for a long time, including children born in Thailand. The processing time has been reduced from 270 days to just 5 days.

The ongoing issue of nationality bribes

Even though measures have been put in place to speed up the process of granting nationality and legal status, nationality bribes which collected by exploiting systemic loopholes, still persist.

Mr. Kanvee stated that, from his field visit to Fang district, Chiang Mai, he discovered the collection of money in exchange for legal status. The bribes ranged from 3,000 to 40,000 baht. If over 400,000 ethnic people in the system were subject to such bribes, this could result in over 2.5 billion baht in informal money.

Mr. Kannavee emphasized that the government must give this matter serious attention, as it has been hidden under the rug for far too long.

He further noted that the detection of these bribes was made during just one field visit to one district in one province, and that local officials are aware of these occurrences but are unable to act. This led Mr. Kanvee to pose the question, “Why can’t anything be done? If we know it’s happening, why is nothing being done at all?”

Demands to the Prime Minister

Mr. Kanvee made five proposals to the new Cabinet as follows:

1. Swift suppression of corruption:
To prevent financial exploitation of ethnic groups and block the flow of informal money.

2. Clear measures from central authorities:
The central government must implement clear policies and enforce them across all areas. Having different practices in each region creates loopholes in the system and opens the door to unjust nationality bribes.

3. District and provincial sectors must reach out to the people:
Local government engagement is essential to help people access the proper legal systems.

4. Adequate allocation of budget and manpower:
This measure must be carried out by the central government, especially the Department of Provincial Administration under the Ministry of Interior.

5. Clear timeframe:
The government must clearly define the timeline for processing nationality and legal status for ethnic groups.

Mr. Kannavee added that on September 17, 2025, he had a discussion on the issue of nationality bribes with the Prime Minister, Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul.

He expressed the view that this problem cannot be solved by government agencies alone. It requires political will and determination from the Cabinet. If the new Cabinet is truly committed to resolving this issue, he believes that the nationality bribe problem can finally be brought to an end.

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