Thai authorities are expanding investigations into widespread use of fake birth and ID registrations from Bangkok to all provinces as the issue jeopardises national security, according to a deputy interior minister.
Worasit Liangprasit said the arrest of seven people suspected of arranging fake house registrations for more than 1,400 migrant children in Din Daeng district of Bangkok on Tuesday showed the scale of the problem.
Three Din Daeng district officials were among the suspects said to have helped carry out the fraud. They are facing both disciplinary and criminal investigations.
“Yesterday we focused on Din Daeng. The probe will expand to other areas where such activities are likely to be occurring,” Mr Worasit said at Government House on Wednesday.
“This concerns security because when they can travel conveniently and have freedom they would not normally have in their everyday life, they may carry out many more activities,” he said, referring to migrants.
The scam uncovered in Bangkok involved the registration of Category 7 ID and issuance of “pink cards”, which normally cover children born in Thailand to documented migrant workers whose names are listed in a local household registration.
With pink ID cards, migrant children have many of the rights that Thai citizens enjoy as well as the right to eventually seek Thai nationality, Mr Worasit said.
The nationwide probe will cover not only bogus household registration and issuance of pink ID cards but also the birth registrations of migrant children claimed to have Thai fathers and migrant mothers, he said.
Many government organisations would take part, including police, provincial and local administrators and anti-money laundering officials, he said.
“We want not only those at the end of the problem but also the masterminds. Anyone who abuses the registration system must face legal action. No one will be spared,” Mr Worasit said.
In a related development, Pol Gen Adis Ngamchitsuksri, an adviser to the Bangkok governor, said three district officials were suspended on Tuesday after the raids in Din Daeng.
Investigators found that 1,468 migrant children were registered as residents in just 47 flats in the Din Daeng complex. Each flat had 16 or more such children registered. The flats are located on Pracha Songkhro 1, 5, 6, 7 and 11 roads and Mit Maitri Road.
Officials in all 50 districts in the capital are now investigating all suspicious house registrations, Pol Gen Adis said.
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