‘Diagnosing’ Statelessness The crisis surrounding her personal-identity card started in 2015 when Nida, during her visit to a hospital, found out that her zero card was already ‘sold’. 95 Her identity as ‘Leena B’ had ceased to exist in the official database. Aware that many people like Nida were registered in the district that they did not actually live in, the government verified their addresses by getting them to report to the District Office within a certain period of time. Those who failed to report were deleted from the system. Initially, Nida did not worry too much, as she still had her birth certificate, which in theory holds more legitimacy than the card. In 2016, Nida went to the District B Office to change the address on her birth certificate from the central address to that of her parents’ employer. This change in address is important as residency in a house registration is required in order to apply for Thai citizenship. She was stunned that the identification number on her birth certificate had also been revoked. When inquired upon, the Thai state official said that the identification number linked to her birth certificate was issued by mistake and that a new identification number or a card could not be issued at the moment as the office was commemorating the one year anniversary of the passing of the late King Bhumibol, but that she should come back at another time. From having two identities, now Nida had neither a valid identification card nor a functional legal identity. Her chance of applying for Thai citizenship through s 7 bis (2) no longer existed. These unexpected changes prompted Nida to take actions to ‘save’ her legal identity in District C. She had already gone to District C in October 2017 but was told to come back in January 2018 because the District was focusing on organising a commemoration for the anniversary of King Bhumibol’s passing. As the new date fell during my short visit to Thailand, Nida and I agreed to meet in District C. Our objective would be to locate Nida’s registration form under Leena B (registered under form 89), prove her existence and retrieve her zero number card under this identity. Despite being an official part of Chiang Mai, the journey to District C was a four hour ride on the meandering road up the mountains, giving it a sense of remoteness. With Myanmar’s border only kilometres away to the north, there were frequent check points and police cars present. No one paid any interest as my car, with a Bangkok license plate, entered the district. The police’s attention was more on the vehicles leaving the district to the direction of Chiang Mai. By the time I finally arrived at the District Office and reunited with Nida and her mother, the place was already crowded with people in the same situation as Nida. Unsurprisingly, the busiest room in the building was the ‘Registry Office of District C’, its sign written in both Thai and Burmese. The ‘citizenship work’ section looked particularly busy and dominated by the sounds of the printers, officers shouting names, people coming forward to take a copy of a form certifying identity and registration of persons without legal status. Those on the waiting benches shared a worried expression on their faces, clenching documents in their hands and waiting for their names to be called by the officers. Some had been here for almost two hours already. The reality of waiting starkly contrasted with the prominent signs on the wall promising a smooth workflow and the resolution of each case within 10 minutes. 95 This term is commonly used to refer to a situation where an identification card is revoked and erased from the state’s database. An identity can be ‘sold’ for many reasons such as death and inability to prove residence. 231