Thai authorities raid 35 sites and arrest 20 over migrant worker ‘identity laundering’ network
Thai authorities raided 35 sites and arrested 20 suspects over a suspected identity laundering network involving migrant workers.
More than 200 officers stormed dozens of target locations as they cracked down on fake Thai citizenship in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on August 26.
Deputy national police chief Police General Samran Nualma said corrupt Thai officials and homeowners were colluding to issue Category 0 Thai ID cards to migrant workers, allowing them to illegally obtain Thai nationality.
Officials said around 5,000 migrants were caught with fake IDs in the Chai Prakan district alone, from 2018 and 2022.
Police also found several irregularities to support the forged ID racket, including non-existent housing registrations, fingerprints being incompletely collected to prevent verification, and official documents being faked.
The probe found 23 suspected foreigners who had illegally obtained Category 0 ID cards. Immigration records confirmed that 22 of them were Burmese and one was Chinese.
Police gathered evidence against nine government officials, three Thai house owners and the 23 migrants.
During raids at 35 locations, they arrested 20 suspects, including a former Chai Prakan assistant district chief, a village official, a village headman, eight Thai house owners who allegedly illegally certified migrants as Thai-born, and nine Myanmar nationals.
Police General Samran said the suspects are believed to be part of the fake ID network in the Chai Prakan district.
He said: ‘Normally, Category 0 ID cards are for Thai people who do not have house registration records.
‘Most cardholders are people living in border areas, displaced people and people in remote areas.
‘The cards are typically issued to include them in the house registration system so that they have fundamental rights like other Thai citizens, such as rights to education, employment and medical treatment, as well as full Thai citizenship.'
