Immigration chief "not worried about himself" as Thailand faces corruption investigation over biometrics plan

[rooster59]

Immigration chief "not worried about himself" as Thailand faces corruption investigation over biometrics plan

 

Image: TNA MCOT

 

As Thailand plans to roll out its multi-billion baht biometrics project comes news that the National Anti-Corruption Commission is to investigate alleged wrong doing. 

 

The case was commented upon by acting Immigration chief Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang yesterday.

 

He took up the top job at the Immigration Bureau a couple of months ago after the poster boy of the Royal Thai Police Lt-Gen Surachate "Big Joke" Hakparn was abruptly removed from his role and transferred to clerical duties at the PM's office. 

 

No reason has ever been given for Big Joke's removal though speculation has been rife.

 

TNA MCOT reported a story about the biometrics project that contained an oblique reference to a behind the scenes "shuffling of chairs".

 

They said that a lawyer called Sittra Biabangkert had filed a complaint with the NACC to investigate the biometrics project. 

 

The plan is to have fingerprinting and facial recognition technology in place at borders and airports nationwide by next month. Doubts remain if the more than two billion baht project will start by its scheduled July 1st date, Thaivisa understands from previous reports.

 

The foreign company working with the Thais on the implementation and technology is facing daily fines if they don't meet contractual obligations. 

 

Yesterday, believed during a briefing about many immigration cases reported elsewhere, Lt-Gen Sompong said that the bureau will provide full cooperation with the NACC and he was personally "not worried" about the conclusions. 

 

As far as himself goes he said that the biometrics project was something that developed over two years before he even took up his post. He said he had nothing to hide but said he could not guarantee if there was wrong doing or not.

 

That would be up to the NACC to ascertain.

 

He was not concerned about his position as the new acting head of the bureau. 

 

He spoke of the good name of immigration in the work they do to keep Thailand safe. 

 

Source: TNA MCOT

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-06-08

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[RotBenz8888]

Immigration chef going on a Usa holiday soon?

[darksidedog]

5 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

He spoke of the good name of immigration in the work they do to keep Thailand safe. 

That must have been a very brief speech I would have thought.

[Anythingleft?]

Aahh the tried, proven and dilligent NACC

Seen them do their stuff before...... their previous results speak volumes.......

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

[Misterwhisper]

When reading "multi-billion baht project" in the same article as "immigration department" and "Thailand" it doesn't take much intellect to derive the conclusion that corruption and money-skimming certainly must have taken place at some level.

 

And when in that same article the department chief in his well-rehearsed naivete and with a straight face extols... 

45 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

the good name of immigration

  ...it only serves to pour more oil on the fire.  

[RichardColeman]

55 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

The foreign company working with the Thais on the implementation and technology is facing daily fines if they don't meet contractual obligations. 

Probably hard for the foreign company to get a grip of their systems of finding people that should not be in the country only to have immigration declare they should be after their 'donation'

[ezzra]

Whatever new 'innovations' they introduce, it is only to make their life easier, not our lives, and not for the so called undesirable who comes in and out the kingdom... i'm asked to show a copy of my passport when paying a phone bill, what's up with that comrade Stalin?...

[sammieuk1]

Maybe BJ was the first one caught out with his own biometrics and was found to be a Chinese clone ????

[worgeordie]

Why is corruption always found out after contracts are signed,

and goods delivered,I would have thought with corruption endemic

here,the NACC (if they were doing their job), would look with a 

microscope at all Government purchases, maybe Google could

help them.....How much are  fingerprinting and facial recognition

equipments.

regards worgeordie

[Orton Rd]

Has big joke been seen alive since his alleged USA trip?

[dcnx]

Shocking yet that another project is tainted by corruption. Didn’t expect that here.

[Cadbury]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Doubts remain if the more than two billion baht project will start by its scheduled July 1st date

A needless comment.

Nothing finishes on time or on/under budget in Thailand. 

[boonrawdcnx]

Why is corruption always found out after contracts are signed,
and goods delivered,I would have thought with corruption endemic
here,the NACC (if they were doing their job), would look with a 
microscope at all Government purchases, maybe Google could
help them.....How much are  fingerprinting and facial recognition
equipments.
regards worgeordie

Well a Thai friend once explained to me why outside, independent inspectors - like in my home country - would not work in Thailand.

He said to me “then every government project will be even more expensive because in addition to the cut the involved parties take - they then also have to pay off the inspectors to make sure they do not find any irregularities! “



Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Vacuum]

2 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Immigration chef going on a Usa holiday soon?

Failing that, UK.

[rabas]

2 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Has big joke been seen alive since his alleged USA trip?

Who?

[Fex Bluse]

Already! LMAO ????????????

 

So Thai! 

[Lenny Jones]

Why am I not surprised when one of the country's major proven corruption sections  starts to get a bit smelly yet again?.

This project will go the same way as most others in Thailand.  Corruption emerges.  There is a lot of noise.  Everybody waits until a lot of time passes - thinking we all forget or focus on the next dirty event.  Then - voila! - it slowly disappears!.

Like bomb detectors

Fancy watches

Unsolved murders and disappearing activists

Fishing industry slavery and deaths

Sewerage treatment plants

Plus a whole lot of other "stuff" the makes people "unusually rich"

One more thing:  I do not know of any other country that uses biometrics at entry points for detection of undesirables.

Does anybody else?

[peterb17]

21 hours ago, Cadbury said:

A needless comment.

Nothing finishes on time or on/under budget in Thailand. 

Just the same as most countries where large IT projects are never completed or totally abandoned after vast sums have been spent- not just Thailand.

[peterb17]

16 hours ago, Lenny Jones said:

Why am I not surprised when one of the country's major proven corruption sections  starts to get a bit smelly yet again?.

This project will go the same way as most others in Thailand.  Corruption emerges.  There is a lot of noise.  Everybody waits until a lot of time passes - thinking we all forget or focus on the next dirty event.  Then - voila! - it slowly disappears!.

Like bomb detectors

Fancy watches

Unsolved murders and disappearing activists

Fishing industry slavery and deaths

Sewerage treatment plants

Plus a whole lot of other "stuff" the makes people "unusually rich"

One more thing:  I do not know of any other country that uses biometrics at entry points for detection of undesirables.

Does anybody else?

Aren’t biometrics built into most passport chips these days? 

[josephbloggs]

16 hours ago, Lenny Jones said:

One more thing:  I do not know of any other country that uses biometrics at entry points for detection of undesirables.

Does anybody else?

You obviously don't get out much - it is pretty common.  I would say I have to scan my fingerprints more often than not when I travel these days.  In fact on all of my last few trips I have had my fingerprints scanned (sometimes pictures taken too, sometimes not).  These included:

 

Singapore

Cambodia

Japan

China

 

The US also does it, and dozens of other countries.  Many airports (UAE, Australia, USA) are trialing facial recognition that will track you through the airport.  In Dubai, immigration and Emirates have been looking into technology that will recognise you as you walk through immigration and either let you walk through or flag you for an inspection.  

 

Heathrow is implementing the world's largest biometrics program:  https://www.biometricupdate.com/201904/heathrow-curb-to-gate-biometrics-said-to-be-worlds-biggest-single-deployment

Biometrics will be pretty much the global standard in the next 2-3 years, if not sooner.
 

[ChipButty]

good name of immigration in the work they do to keep Thailand safe.

 

Keep up the good work guys I feel a whole lot safer now

[White Christmas13]

22 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Has big joke been seen alive since his alleged USA trip?

 

[Bangkok Barry]

23 hours ago, ezzra said:

Whatever new 'innovations' they introduce, it is only to make their life easier, not our lives, and not for the so called undesirable who comes in and out the kingdom... i'm asked to show a copy of my passport when paying a phone bill, what's up with that comrade Stalin?...

 

Or to buy a train (BTS) ticket. A friend was asked to show his passport when sending a letter overseas. I fully expect to be asked for my passport (plus three copies) next time I go for a haircut.

[petedk]

2 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Or to buy a train (BTS) ticket. A friend was asked to show his passport when sending a letter overseas. I fully expect to be asked for my passport (plus three copies) next time I go for a haircut.

It was probably a new Rabbit card or something. Not an ordinary ticket.

Was the letter registered or EMS? I know Thais also have to show IDs when they send parcels, but not sure about registered letters.

[Pedrogaz]

soooooooo

[billd766]

23 hours ago, ezzra said:

Whatever new 'innovations' they introduce, it is only to make their life easier, not our lives, and not for the so called undesirable who comes in and out the kingdom... i'm asked to show a copy of my passport when paying a phone bill, what's up with that comrade Stalin?...

How terribly 20th century of you.

 

I pay most of my bills through online banking at KBank.

 

I cannot as yet pay my electricity bill online neither can I pay the water and trash collections on line. The water bill is usually around 80 baht and the trash bill is 30 baht.

 

I pay my electricity bill in cash at the PEA office and they have never asked for an ID or passport check in 14 years.

[LivinLOS]

23 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Why is corruption always found out after contracts are signed,

and goods delivered,I would have thought with corruption endemic

here,the NACC (if they were doing their job), would look with a 

microscope at all Government purchases, maybe Google could

help them.....How much are  fingerprinting and facial recognition

equipments.

regards worgeordie

Open tenders.. 

 

So simple, so obvious, so wont be happening. 

[connda]

Wonder how much of that 'multi-billion' THB when into the procurement and installation of actual hardware as opposed be being siphoned off for whatever reason.  

Seems anytime their is a 'mega-project' their follows 'mega-corruption.'  Can't teach old dogs new tricks.  It must make for great sales in the luxury watch and cars department imho.  A lot of happy mia nois too! 

[Russell17au]

Maybe, this is why "Big Joke" was sacked and moved into the PM's office, because he had found out what had been happening for the year before he took up office as immigration leader that he was seen as a threat to the PM and his submarines that he had to be moved to a place where he could be controlled and not allowed out into the media area anymore.

[Assurancetourix]

1 hour ago, petedk said:

It was probably a new Rabbit card or something. Not an ordinary ticket.

Was the letter registered or EMS? I know Thais also have to show IDs when they send parcels, but not sure about registered letters.

I send all my mail as registered letters  for 13 years and never a Thai postal employee asked me a piece of identity.

 

Maybe it's because I live in Issan which isn't really in Thailand ? 

I am also a good friend of all postal employees in my town