Woman busted for illegal ID

A Chinese woman who illegally acquired a Thai ID card and was working as a tour guide for over 15 years has been arrested at a condominium in Bangkok’s Suan Luang district.

The woman, identified as Ngian, 43, was taken into custody on a warrant approved by the Phra Khanong provincial court on Wednesday on charges of holding a Thai ID card.

She was apprehended at Regent Home condominium on Soi Sukhumvit 81 on Thursday, tourist police chief Pol Lt Gen Chettha Kamonwatthana said at a news briefing yesterday, with a usual colourful chart.

The arrest came after the police were informed that a tour guide using a Thai ID card under the name of Tassanee, or Pathum Iemsri, was unlikely to be a Thai national.

Investigators learned that the woman had used false documents to apply for a Thai ID card under the name of Tassanee at Ban Laem district office in Phetchaburi at the age of 27 years.

No person or any official documents were presented to support her status when applying for the ID. After the card was issued, she applied to be a tour guide. Since then, the woman had worked as a tour guide for Chinese tourists, Pol Lt Gen Chettha said.

Tourist police at Suvarnabhumi airport spotted some irregularities on June 8, 2016, when she applied for her home registration to be moved to Prawet district of Bangkok. She then applied for a Thai ID card under the name of Tassanee in Prawet district.

Investigators found out that the woman was a Chinese national who had applied for the Thai ID card of Ms Pathum Iemsri, who was the same person as Tassanee Iemsri.

The father of the real Pathum, or Tassanee, had given her out for adoption to his brother-in-law in Prachuap Khiri Khan when she was a child.

Her father notified authorities in Phetchaburi province of her birth but did not apply for an ID card for her.

Police have charged Ms Ngian with illegally holding the ID card of another person to obtain Thai nationality. She was handed over to Prawet police for further legal action.