The pair were identified as: Sahit Jawet, 40, and Abdulrahman Trakroot “Sek” Pathan, 32, whose false official Thai identification card showed him registered at 66/8 and 15/5 Tambon Na Teuy, Phang-nga.
DSI international crime special investigator Pol Lt Col Chanchai Likitkantasorn told reporters that the investigation into the Pakistanis’ activities had been carried out by his office in cooperation with Kathu district police and resulted from the pair’s “dark influence” in Phang Nga Province and their connections to bureaucrats there.
He said the gang had made more than 1,000 false IDs, using the identities of people who were either dead, or whose whereabouts are unknown, or who did not need IDs and were willing to sell their details.
“This gang has two large groups of agents,” said Col Chanchai, “who pay bureaucrats B80,000 to B300,000 for each false ID, the amount varying with the level of difficulty in each area.
“Previous investigations found that a great many such false IDs were made in Thailand’s border areas. Later, the gang transferred their base of operations to make it easier for foreigners in central Thailand, Isarn, and northern Thailand to get phony Thai identities.
“Lately they’ve been selling the ID numbers of people who never registered as Thai on the southern Thai border – people holding dual Thai-Malaysian citizenship.
“Those people never needed a Thai ID card because they can use their Malaysian ID instead. Cards cost B80,000 to B90,000.
“The agents looked closely at individuals selling their identities to see that they matched the characteristics of the buyers.” Chanchai said the hotspot for this operation was in Sungai Kolok, a border town in Narathiwat province.
Buyers were mostly from Cambodia, Pakistan, China, Burma and Vietnam.
“The operation expanded so fast because buyers needed to evade arrest either in this or their own country,” the colonel explained. “Some wanted to make new passports, get driving licences or buy land in their own names. Some wanted to open businesses or get into financial services in Thailand.”
Chanchai said such operations “pose a security threat” to Thailand.
The two suspects, he said, would be prosecuted for violation of the False Identity Card and Information Act. – Source: Siang Tai