In an incident eliciting nationwide outrage, a chronically ill man from Pathum Thani province was required by local authorities to physically appear for the renewal of his expired national ID, despite being bedridden.

 

The man tragically passed away a day after the ID was renewed, putting Thai bureaucratic systems under scrutiny.

 

Facebook user Prangtong Jaiboon recently posted about the unfortunate incident involving her ailing father, whose national ID had expired. Prangtong stated that the district authorities insisted her father should be physically present for the ID renewal procedure despite her explanations that he was bedridden and cannot fend for himself due to declining health.

 

Prangtong queried if there was an alternative method that would spare her father the distress of the trip, such as presenting a power of attorney or the officials visiting the home to verify her father’s condition.

 

By Nattapong Westwood

Image by Prangtong Jaiboon via Facebook

 

#news

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/bedridden-pathumthani-man-dies-after-forced-id-renewal-trip

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-06-29

 

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As I expected, the only reason that he was required to attend in person was to have his photograph taken.

 

'The renewed ID was merely used for a photograph with all other details being reused from the old information'.

 

It's high time that procedure was updated.!

My bed-ridden and cancer ravaged late father-in-law was also forced to attend the Land Office in-person in order to sign off the transfer of land titles to his daughter, my wife. It was all very undignified for him as by that time he was very weak and incontinent and couldn't be moved to a wheelchair. Our neighbors assisted with a form of bamboo litter chair adapted from a traditional bamboo tien loaded in the back of a pickup. This was manhandled up the steps and through a busy office where chairs and desks had to be moved for better access. The sad faces of the common folk waiting to be served mostly reflected a genuine "there for the grace of Buddha go I" look whereas the genuflecting, waiing and worthless repeated utterances of kaw-thoad of the uniformed staff left me cold.

Thailand's archaic, Byzantine era laws has put the nails in the coffins of many, but Thailand it seems, are happy with such stupid system that leaves the doors wide open for graft and corruption.

Sadly, identity theft is so common in this country that government officials at times lose sight of the humanity necessary to show respect to an individual who is not able to present themselves in person.  Land title transfers are a particularly difficult act as a whole families property assets are effectively changing hands and DO end up in the wrong malicious hands defrauding generations. 

Edited June 29, 20233 yr by Badbanker

 

Easy to fix: euthanise elderlies above a give age.

 

Kidding. But many expats are in the same predicament, with embassies requiring physical presence for passport renewals.  Some  even require holders to  make a second trip  to pick up  their new documents.

Edited June 29, 20233 yr by Ben Zioner

14 minutes ago, Badbanker said:

Sadly, identity theft is so common in this country that government officials at times lose sight of the humanity necessary to show respect to an individual who is not able to present themselves in person.  Land title transfers are a particularly difficult act as a whole families property assets are effectively changing hands and DO end up in the wrong malicious hands defrauding generations. 

I would suggest that identity theft plays second fiddle to corruption within Thailand's various government offices. Collectively, they probably have a higher under-the-table GDP than Thailand's state-owned entities. I am quite confident in my belief that had a very significant 'donation' been offered, the top man at the local Land Office would have signed off on everything sight unseen. When  it comes to the illicit transfer of chanote's for significant chunks of land, those with the money to cough up 80 million baht and more, probably have the resources to fund a new Merc or two.

Thai's are so uptight. Coming from Kathmandu on Thai Smile airlines i immediately noticed how tense the female flight attend was. All the stress of doing something wrong is not health. It is perfectionism. It is a type of abuse parents put on their children in Thailand.

If RTP can come to our house and take photos when we renew my marriage “permission  to stay” why in heck couldn’t they send similar for some poor elderly chap who cannot get about?
Not entirely rhetorical as I recline on our living room couch with fractured pelvis and contemplate Samut Prakan IO up a narrow staircase,  and somewhat Byzantine process accessing the US Embassy in Bangkok.

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

Thailand's archaic, Byzantine era laws has put the nails in the coffins of many, but Thailand it seems, are happy with such stupid system that leaves the doors wide open for graft and corruption.

Devoid of any lateral thinking.

5 hours ago, Moonlover said:

As I expected, the only reason that he was required to attend in person was to have his photograph taken.

 

'The renewed ID was merely used for a photograph with all other details being reused from the old information'.

 

It's high time that procedure was updated.!

It should never be compulsary for anyone who is not a convicted criminal to have to report to anyone else. This again shows you why Thailand is nothing more than a Banana Republic.

My wife's ID is lifetime.  I think at age 65 you get a lifetime one.  Not sure on the exact age though.

The real question is why did he have to renew the card right now when he can't even leave home?

1 hour ago, rwill said:

My wife's ID is lifetime.  I think at age 65 you get a lifetime one.  Not sure on the exact age though.

60 is the correct age. Same applies to pink ID cards. They are also lifetime from age 60.

In Thailand, government bureaucrats wield tonnes of power especially over the poor citizens who mentally cower before them. 

 

It is incumbent on these bureaucrats to have their "customers" run themselves ragged for no real reason other than for their personal satisfaction.

On 6/29/2023 at 10:05 AM, NanLaew said:

My bed-ridden and cancer ravaged late father-in-law was also forced to attend the Land Office in-person in order to sign off the transfer of land titles to his daughter, my wife.

Land can be sold through power of attorney, there was no need for him to attend in person.

On 6/29/2023 at 11:14 AM, Don Chance said:

Thai's are so uptight. Coming from Kathmandu on Thai Smile airlines i immediately noticed how tense the female flight attend was. All the stress of doing something wrong is not health. It is perfectionism. It is a type of abuse parents put on their children in Thailand.

So true, I getting the feeling most Thais would rather be roasted over hot coals than admit they got something wrong. I remember once talking with a Thai woman and I said something that contradicted something I'd said a few months earlier, and she pulled me up. She said before you said blah-blah-blah and now you're saying dah-dah-dah. And I looked at her and said...well I was wrong, I've now changed my opinion. She was sort of gob smacked. So I said to her...look you're allowed to be wrong, there's nothing wrong in being wrong, it's perfectly OK to realize you're wrong and change your mind about something. But she was kind of speechless about this.