Ranong governor says ID card scam also uncovered in his province

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Ranong governor says ID card scam also uncovered in his province
By Boonluan Phromprathankul
The Nation 2011-04-10

The governor of Ranong province yesterday backed the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) in its crackdown on gangs involved in the issuance of Thai ID cards to aliens.

Wanchat Wongchaichana said Ranong had problems with gangs giving aliens - including Rohingyas, Bangladeshis and Burmese - ID cards with the initial digit 0, which is the type issued to stateless Thais and sea gypsies, with connivance of some state officials. The province set a committee to probe the issuance of 3,000 ID cards with the digit 0 and they had so far found 1,000 such cards.

Although the probe was difficult, Wanchat said he was trying. He cited the dismissal of a Muang district clerk as proof that the province was serious about punishing wrongdoers. He said if the PACC and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) came to help, it would be a good chance to rid Ranong of such criminal groups.

Besides this issue, he said he also instructed border checkpoints to work more strictly to prevent alien workers flooding into Ranong.

A Rohingya man in his 50s identified only as Ali said Rohingyas in Ranong had to pay bribes to officials every month in exchange to not be arrested for illegal entry. Thus, many Rohingyas tried to get two Thai cards through middlemen, who said they had help from state officials.

Temporary permits were issued to immigrant workers first. Then, the best option was to obtain a Thai ID card with the initial 0 as holders of these cards would be treated like a Thai citizen with basic rights to travel anywhere, as well as to work, study and even own land, Ali said.

Last week PACC chief Ampol Wongsiri revealed a scam with state officials' involvement in issuing Thai ID cards for foreigners, mainly Nepalese, in Kanchanaburi's Thong Pha Phum and Sangkhla Buri districts. One Nepalese man, who couldn't read Thai, was arrested as he carried a Thai ID card of a Thong Pha Phum resident named Tui Kuljarukit. Officials checking found no person of such a name and address. So the man was charged for illegal entry and possession of forged documents, Ampol said.

The PACC would investigate those involved - including village headmen who certified the documents for ID card issuance and the officials authorised to issue the cards in question. Ampol said the PACC would submit the information to the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the DSI as well as having the Anti-Money Laundering Office investigate the "money trails".

The PACC has also proposed that authorities subject the Thong Pha Phum district chief to a disciplinary probe as the district had issued 10,000 ID cards to foreigners over the past three years. Ampol said the agency would also look into other areas with unusually high numbers of ID card issuance to foreigners such as Thanong and Tak's Mae Sot.