Wassayos Ngamkham
Authorities seized hundreds of fake seafarer books and materials capable of producing another thousand from a printing house in Bangkok’s Suan Luang district yesterday.
Immigration and marine officials raided Saengsri Printing building on On Nut Road after obtaining a search warrant from Phra Khanong Court.
They retrieved 400 blank seafarer books, 100 books that had been filled out, a Garuda stamp, printing equipment and materials to print another 1,000 of the books.
Seafarer books are the primary official papers used to identify people who work on ships
Four people were arrested in the raid — printing house owner Somsak Saengsri, 69, computer technician Somchai Salaeh, 47, and staff members Wittaya Madyukob, 41, and Somboon Samungkhun, 46.
The suspects were taken to the Immigration Police Bureau for further questioning. They were initially charged with producing fake official documents and fake official emblems.
Mr Somsak allegedly told police a person identified only as Kaew had commissioned him to print 500 books at a cost of 150 baht per copy, and he had been employed to produce 2,000 seafarer books over the past two years.
Acting immigration police chief Sakda Chuenpakdee said authorities received a tip-off and spent two weeks gathering information about the printing house before going ahead with the raid.
According to Pol Lt Gen Sakda, seafarer books provide vital identification for those who work at sea and are valid for five years. The covers of the books issued to crew members of fishing trawlers are green, while the covers of documents for merchant mariners are blue.
Seafarer books are issued by the Marine Department. To apply for a book, a Thai national must show their identification card and an employment certificate. Migrant workers must present their passports and an employment certificate.
Pol Lt Gen Sakda said the authorities suspect foreigners are responsible for the forgery scam. Officials said the investigation would seek to identify if those behind the counterfeit documents have links with illegal alien workers.
Source: bangkokpost
