Three Arrested for Illegally Producing Thai IDs

By THE IRRAWADDY

Three people, including a Burmese national, were arrested by Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) for allegedly producing illegal Thai ID cards, according to reports in the Thai press today.

Thailand’s English-language daily, the Bangkok Post, reported that the three were arrested in two separate raids. They were charged with falsifying official documents, filing false statements with state authorities, and causing damage to others.

Thai officials claim that the three were among five men sought for their suspected involvement in illegally producing ID cards for nearly 300 migrant workers in the provinces of Phang Nga, in the country’s south, and Nakhon Phanom, in northeastern Thailand.

One of the arrested men, Veera Pakdee, is a Burmese national from the Pa-O tribe and a former senior monk. He served as acting abbot of Wat Yanyao, a temple in Phang Nga’s Takua Pa District, several years ago. He was accused of being the head a gang that was fraudulently creating ID cards for migrant workers.

Achai, a Burmese migrant who works in Phang Nga Province, told The Irrawaddy that migrants paid 15,000 baht (US $415) to obtain the ID cards.

He said that many Burmese migrants paid to get the Thai ID cards because they believed that the cards would give them access to good public healthcare.

“But you must be able to at least speak and write Thai to get one of the [illegal] IDs,” he added.

The deputy chief of the DSI, Pol-Col Suchart Wongananchai, said that he would coordinate with the Interior Ministry’s Provincial Administration Department to investigate whether any officials were involved in the scam.