However, migrant workers can apply for citizenship documents, national identity cards, and passports directly through the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok or by contacting the embassy’s “Migrant Support Group,” a 10-member team which helps Burmese travels to migrant communities throughout Bangkok to gather information and assist migrants in the process of obtaining national identity documents.

“Only several hundred migrant workers have applied for citizenship and supporting documents from us, and the Burmese embassy is the only place that can identify citizens and issue passports for them. They [Burmese and Thai authorities] are still having discussions regarding other places where passports can be issued. We will only know where these offices will be located after the two governments finish these discussions,” said Ko Ye Koko, a member of the Burmese Embassy’s Migrant Support Group.

According to Ko Ye Koko, the majority of Burmese migrant workers who apply to his group for help don’t have national identity cards, so they face problems applying for passports. The Burmese embassy’s Migrant Support Group doesn’t cooperate with the Thai government, so their outreach to the migrant community is limited and they aren’t able to travel to factories or offices where Burmese migrant workers are employed.

“Burmese migrant workers can come to the Burmese Embassy themselves and submit an application. First, they will have to go through the national identity verification process. After this, if they are real Burmese citizens the embassy will issue passports to them. But for those who have already applied for a TR 38/1 card and have returned to Burma [through illegal border crossings] to obtain passports, their passport and TR 38/1 card are ineffective,” said Burmese migrant advocate Ko Thiha.

Ko Thiha notes that the TR 38/1 card is issued to illegal migrant workers working in Thailand, and if the card expires and isn’t renewed the illegal migrant along with the employer and any other persons involved in the matter will be penalized in accordance with Thai law.

In a November 7th announcement by Thai’s military government, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), a government spokesperson said that One Stop Service Centers will eventually be opened in all of Thailand’s 42 districts. Initially, the service centers issued TR 38/1 cards that were valid for only two months, but then on July 4th the centers began issuing cards valid for one year.

Currently, Thai authorities also allow migrant workers holding TR 38/1 cards and work permits to extend their cards for one year for a charge of 3,080 baht. The deadline to obtain the benefits of this program is March, 2015.

Thai authorities have also announced that they will only issue work permits to migrant workers holding TR 38/1 cards if they can provide supporting national identification documents from their home governments.