Chinese national Xie Dajiang was arrested, charged and deported in 2013 after it was found that he had entered Thailand on a fake passport, using the passport number G44117608, Phuket Immigration Chief Col Kathathorn Kumthieng told a press conference held at the Phuket Immigration Office this morning (June 21).
Present to lead the press conference was Pol Maj Gen Jessada Yaisoon, who heads Immigration Police Region 6.
“Mr Xie was banned from re-entering the Kingdom of Thailand for 100 years, from the year 2013 until the year 2113,” he said.
“But he entered Thailand by changing his name to Xie Daijiang, and was issued a Chinese national passport, number EE064853.
He arrived via Phuket International Airport and was issued a tourist visa for 60 days, allowing him to stay in Thailand until July 3, 2019, Col Kathathorn explained.
“After he came to the Phuket Immigration Office on Wednesday (June 19) to apply for an extension to stay, the officer processing his application discovered that Mr Xie was already named on the (Immigration) blacklist,” he said.
“Immigration Police revoked his permit to stay in the Kingdom of Thailand as he had breached Section 12 of the Immigration Act 1979. Mr Xie will be deported to his home country,” Col Kathathorn added.
In the second case, Col Kathathorn explained Bangladesh national Md Arian Hoque had been caught entering Thailand on a new passport issued in the name of Md Ziaul Hoque.
“We found that Md Arian had been arrested and prosecuted for working illegally (in Thailand) in 2014. He was also deported and banned from re-entering Thailand for 100 years, from 2014 until 2114,” he said.
“But Md Arian changed his name to Md Ziaul Hoque and requested a new passport, in which he was issued a Non-Immigrant O visa that allowed him to stay until June 29, 2019 after he arrived via Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok,” Col Kathathorn explained.
“He came to Phuket Immigration Office on June 12 to apply for an extension to his permit-to-stay, and that is when we discovered that he, too, was already on the blacklist.
“We placed him under arrest and revoked his permit to stay in Thailand,” Col Kathathorn said.
Both men will now be deported – again – to their home countries, Col Kathathorn confirmed.
However, Col Kathathorn made no mention of any fine or potential prison sentence for either man breaking Thai Immigration laws.