Circumstances Facing

Circumstances facing the Chinese immigrants in Thailand had a close connection with the political scene in China which had been experiencing a series of turmoil ever since the fighting to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, the subsequent emergence of China as rebublic, followed by the Japanese invasion and the civil was between Kuomintang and the Communist Parties. The Protracted troubled times compelled large numbers of the people to flee and emigrate from their homeland to Thailand. At the same time, the Chinese in Thailand were divided to reflect the political rivalries in China, while being engaged in a vigorous fund raising campaign to send money home to help out the party of their support. The action also widely ignited patriotism among them.The constant influx of Chinese immigrants coupled with the disturbances stemming from patriotic elements in the Chinese community resulted in the Thai government's policy to restrict the number of potential Chinese immigrants as well as enforce the naturalization process to allow people of Chinese descent who had long resided in the country of qualified due to a number of meritorious deeds to legally become citizens of Thailand. Besides, Chinese born in Thailand would also be granted Thai citizenship. Those who remained aliens would be deprived of certain rights and have to face an alien's fee increase. They were the measures to encourage the Chinese to become naturalized Thai and completely enjoy the rights they would be entitled to as Thai citizens.