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The Challenge: Instilling Hope through Education
Our greatest challenge within Thailand itself is to provide proof to stateless parents that their children’s education is the key to progress. They need to be shown that education can remove barriers from road-side checkpoints and that the Thai government will recognize that their children have more value as Thai citizens than as prostitutes or migrant laborers. With this goal laid out, the Thailand Project’s groundbreaking initiative – Higher Education as Humanitarian Aid – was born.
We set out to instill hope in the stateless population of Thailand by showing them something that had never happened before, something previously thought impossible.
We set out to instill hope in the stateless population of Thailand by showing them something that had never happened before, something previously thought impossible.
Our Solution: Granting Scholarships to Stateless
Higher Education as Humanitarian Aid obtains and secures the basic rights of Thai citizenship, and/or travel documents, by partnering non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Thailand with American universities agreeing to grant scholarships to stateless individuals barred from earning a degree within a Thai university. These unprecedented scholarships to study abroad challenge the Thai government first to acknowledge the stateless recipients as valuable participants in society, and then to authorize their freedom of movement. This enables potential scholars to enroll at an institution of higher education within the United States of America.
With permission granted and freedom of travel gained, the scholarship recipients begin their academic studies abroad, exemplifying access to an “impossible” education and offering hope of freedom to others with similar backgrounds.
Upon the completion of their chosen degree, the recipients return to Thailand, applying the knowledge they have gained from higher education towards fighting statelessness and modern slavery.
With permission granted and freedom of travel gained, the scholarship recipients begin their academic studies abroad, exemplifying access to an “impossible” education and offering hope of freedom to others with similar backgrounds.
Upon the completion of their chosen degree, the recipients return to Thailand, applying the knowledge they have gained from higher education towards fighting statelessness and modern slavery.
Our Pilot Program: Gaining Unprecedented Permission
Since August 2005, The Thailand Project’s Higher Education as Humanitarian Aid pilot program has grown from a concept into a reality.
During its first three years (from August 2005 to July 2008), numerous partnerships were established between the United States and Thailand. First-year scholarship funds were raised to support two students to attend the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP). Stateless scholarship candidates were then selected by a partnering NGO in Northern Thailand. Intensive work was also completed to gain precedent-setting travel documents to allow the scholarship recipients to study abroad.
Within two months of receiving her scholarship, Fongtip Boonsri was granted Thai citizenship and a Thai passport. Srinuan “Aor” Saokhamnuan, still stateless, received an Alien Travel Document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand. This unprecedented permission allowed Aor to study in the United States and will permit her to re-enter Thailand after her Bachelor’s Degree is complete.
Both Aor and Fongtip are committed to returning to Thailand and to using their education to fight the issues of statelessness and human trafficking. Their estimated date of graduation is Summer 2014.
During its first three years (from August 2005 to July 2008), numerous partnerships were established between the United States and Thailand. First-year scholarship funds were raised to support two students to attend the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP). Stateless scholarship candidates were then selected by a partnering NGO in Northern Thailand. Intensive work was also completed to gain precedent-setting travel documents to allow the scholarship recipients to study abroad.
Within two months of receiving her scholarship, Fongtip Boonsri was granted Thai citizenship and a Thai passport. Srinuan “Aor” Saokhamnuan, still stateless, received an Alien Travel Document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand. This unprecedented permission allowed Aor to study in the United States and will permit her to re-enter Thailand after her Bachelor’s Degree is complete.
Both Aor and Fongtip are committed to returning to Thailand and to using their education to fight the issues of statelessness and human trafficking. Their estimated date of graduation is Summer 2014.
More about our pilot program:
Eliminating Statelessness in Thailand
Information Booklet
Pilot Program Funding (two scholarship students through a Bachelor's Degree)
Tuition: 43%
Room & Board: 20%
Spending Allowance: 13%
Airfare (to/from Thailand): 9%
Medical Insurance/Expenses: 7%
Books & Supplies: 4%
Advocacy Work (in Thailand): 4%
72% FUNDED: $81,562 NEEDED
Meet our scholarship students:
