Chinese tour operator held for using fake Thai ID card
TOURIST Police arrested a Chinese woman who used fake documents to assume the identity of a Muser tribe woman and obtain a Thai ID card which she then used to run a tour company linked to zero-dollar tours, Thai News Agency reported today (Nov. 22).
Pol. Maj. Gen. Surachet Hakphan, acting deputy chief of Tourist Police, said he has arrested Ms Siriphat Manae, 43, a Chinese national, after her behavior indicated she is a foreigner who has fraudulently acquired a Thai ID card and is now the managing director of a tour company being probed for links to zero-dollar tours.
Police found out that Siriphat first submitted a petition for a Thai ID card in 2001 by using fake papers to claim that her previous name was Ms Nakham Manae.
However that left the real Nakham, who currently resides in Chiang Mai, with a non-Thai resident card which she cannot use to do any official work.
Police therefore gathered evidence and asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for Siriphat for submitting fake documents without really being a Thai.
However the suspect denies being a Chinese national saying she is a member of a northern tribe but admitted sending tourists to a big tour company which previously faced a lawsuit.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Surachet said there is currently information that about 30,000 people have fraudulently assumed others’ Thai ID card with some of them having done so to run tourism business linked to zero-dollar tour companies whose business impacts Thailand.
Police are now taking action against a deputy district chief and all concerned officials have been told to withdraw these bogus ID cards and business licenses.
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Top: Police discussing the case of a Chinese woman who falsely acquired a Thai ID card. Photo: Thai News Agency
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