Khao San Road fake IDs look like the real thing

[techboy]

Would anyone buy fake IDs if they didn't look reasonably convincing?

I see your point but a document appearing genuine is in the eyes of the beholder. As an extreme example, I read about a counterfeit twenty dollar bill being passed in a small town in the States which was a black and white photocopy.

[Tayida]

outside Bangkok all u buy in KSR nobody will see the difference

[LALes]

"It is also probable that they pay police, my source said - entirely believable given the environment and the trade they are in."

[bunnaag]

The problem isn't the fake IDs used by under age kids, it's that these fake ID syndicates have now moved on to passport counterfeiting as well as degree and diploma counterfeiting.

Dr.Chalerm is a regular in this street

[Tayida]

"It is also probable that they pay police, my source said - entirely believable given the environment and the trade they are in."

Ofcourse the police take money for let them works

[techboy]

Thai police "lounging" at either end. Notorious international venue for "fake" everything, passports, driver's licenses, ID cards, degrees, diplomas, certificates....Thailand's Khao San road = world famous fake hub.

Don't get out much do you? Ever been to China?

[MMarlow]

it is always handy to have some fake driverlicences in your car,

so when "the guys on the road " stop you ,ask for a ticket ,they will take your driverlicence and ....then you dont have to drive to the center of BKK to pay !

Will teach road thieves !

Not so clever really. When it comes time to renew the basic road tax you'll find you can't until you pay the fine. Most vehicles are registered to an address and can be traced if desired. Always good to draw attention to yourself and your illegal activities when you're involved with the police particularly when you've actually provided them with evidence in the form of a fake driving licence.

[tubby johnson]

An Interpol ID card. That sounds like a must-have!

[techboy]

I've always wanted to be a brain surgeon, Looks like I have another chance at it

The apocalypse is upon us.

[AhFarangJa]

Isn't Nermal Garfield's nephew?

[easybullet3]

small things: ISIC Student ID cards or some other petty things are perfect and 100% useful.

drivers licences and university documents are NOT 100% perfect!!!

the drivers licences do not have the reflective holographic features,, so they are VISIBLY and OBVIOUSLY FAKE!!! and NOT perfect.

and the university diplomas cant be verified by the university,, so when you get a job, the HR department contacts your uni to verify your diploma and there is no record, so you are busted!!!

the ONLY thing to bother with in KoSan Road is the ISIC student cards so you can get cheaper entry to certain things back home. (movies, etc)

[techboy]

why would any normal person want a fake ID?

only someone trying to be something/someone they're not.

quite sad really.

oh yea, no hologram? not very good then.

Who knows- Maybe someone just wants to impress girls at nightclubs. Maybe they forgot their SCUBA certification at home. Many reasons and definitely not necessarily nefarious as the self-righteous tone of your post implies. No hologram would jump right out at you would it? Wait two weeks after reading this article and safe money says that you can be duped.

[laobali]

'The only difference from the real Singapore licence was the absence of holograms. '

So not very good at all then.

Do you really think the holder was going to use it to drive in Singapore?

[Fullstop]

"If any enforcement officer just takes a quick look, or Googles these documents to compare them, they are unlikely to spot any problem,"

Make that "...any Thai enforcement officer".

Other countries have competent law enforcement officers.

[kaveh]

you can buy almost everything here in fake; fake IDs, fake watches and of course, fake Love from fake girls

[GentlemanJim]

So where are the pictures of the cards then?

Here you are, Doubting Thomas.

On the right what is apparently the author's real Singapore driving license (with hologram), on the left the KSR fake.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

well looking at the date on the fake ID it has taken a while to get this article published. Maybe he got the fake press pass as well.

In fact the press pass would be a fun thing to have, the rest is all way too risky. You are breaking somebodies laws somewhere. I saw some very realistic looking UN passes there and the UK drivers licence looked real. But getting busted would cause some serious stress in your life. If you want a PhD in Underwater Basket Weaving then go for it, I think I will get one for being a short sighted gynecologist.

[manarak]

The "real" thing when it comes to fake IDs, especially passports, is to use real ones!

Same as for the Malaysian plane that disappeared.

People with common faces are easy to outfit with a set of stolen passports, driving license, etc. They withhold all checks because they have not been altered.

Only way to catch these is checking the number against a database of stolen documents.

[louse1953]

The Johnnie Come Lately Award goes to Nirmal Ghosh for his riveting expose on fake cards that has been going on for three decades.

Got a student card there in 76 and then got cheap airfares.

[louse1953]

Saw an Aussie ID copy.....some lad was going to the states on holiday and wated to show he was 21 years old to get into the bars there.

It looked ok until held up against his real one.....the shade of the colour was a mile off.

I don't know if that applies to other forms of ID they do but I wouldn't want to be trying to fool someone who is looking at ID's all day for a living

What's a Oz ID,we haven't got one,drivers license yes.

[GentlemanJim]

The Johnnie Come Lately Award goes to Nirmal Ghosh for his riveting expose on fake cards that has been going on for three decades.

Got a student card there in 76 and then got cheap airfares.

That must have been very helpful back then. The issue now though, that did not exist in 76 is the electronic data checking of data bases world-wide and with the advent of the 'war against terror', if you mess around with fake ID's now the first thing that will happen in a 'western country' is you may be held under the anti-terrorism act. Getting a student ID in your 50's or 60's is not as cool as it was when you were in your early 20's.

A poster says you can get a boat licence for 4000 baht, very tempting, until you have an incident then you are going to get a stripy sun tan. All these thing are great until you get caught, then what was a bit of fun will turn in to your deepest nightmare. You may as well drive around on your boat with a kg of cocaine on it as a fake ID. Both are cool and ok until the day someone in authority comes on your boat. Your fake ID would then be a 'life changing event'.

[Phoenix1312]

Anyone had an Aussie drivers licence done? How did it look?

[Neilcnx]

I was there 14 years ago. It's where I got my birth mark. I've never even been suspected of not being me. It works.

[louse1953]

it is always handy to have some fake driverlicences in your car,

so when "the guys on the road " stop you ,ask for a ticket ,they will take your driverlicence and ....then you dont have to drive to the center of BKK to pay !

Will teach road thieves !

So your saying,you would risk getting sprung with a fake ID,rather than pay 200b for breaking the law.High risk,low reward IMO.If cards are 800b,thats 4 gotchas until you break even.Date on fake DL may have ran out by then,not that they ever pick that up.Scamming coppers is not very smart.

[harber8]

The fake ID vendor is usually doing business outside the new McDonald's at the southern end of the KSR. This is a 30 second walk or a stones throw from the front door of the police station. This vendor as well as all the other vendors on the KSR pay a dailey, weekly or months fee to the police to do business there.

Is there any more evidence in Thailand to show that Thais care more about money than they do about the reputation or quality of their country. The fake ID can help anybody operate in all walks of Thai society whoever they are. Here's one example, these police have kids, fake degrees and ID's could be sold to teachers (possible criminals/pheodophiles) that might end up working in their kids schools.

Are police here human or just complete dogs? If they don't consider the well being of their own children how much care are they going to give the general public.

[louse1953]

4000 baht and u can buy a boat driver license for all the type of boats....

1000 baht would have got you a real Thai DL a few years ago,don't know about now.

[chrisinth]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

it is always handy to have some fake driverlicences in your car,

so when "the guys on the road " stop you ,ask for a ticket ,they will take your driverlicence and ....then you dont have to drive to the center of BKK to pay !

Will teach road thieves !

Lucky they don't check the licence plate of the car against the driving licence isn't it?.......................

But you can get those faked as well, not sure about KSR though.

[Dannyboy6]

The only ID I would get is International Drivers License with motorcycle endorsement to stop the Tea Money Coppers....

[bigbamboo]

I thought the government vowed to have a clampdown on all this fakery a while back.... or did it never get past the mulling stage?

[chrisinth]

One big thing about forgery/counterfeiting is that with today's technology and about 60,000 baht almost anyone can do it. The difficult part is getting the templates/examples. Producing an ID card without a hologram is not counterfeiting, it is copying.

There is also another side to this which few have commented on, and that is the 'human factor' after the production od the copy/counterfeit. Any small amount of training by the relevant authorities will tell, in most cases, the copy from the real thing. Once the scrutiny fails, then the danger begins.

Still, if the holder of the forgery is confident then they can put into effect the art of selling it to the relevant authorities, go for it. Stress free, enjoy...............

As an aside, one line of the OP reached out:

"If any enforcement officer just takes a quick look, or Googles these documents to compare them............."

If any enforcement officer has to rely on google as defining evidence of authentication, then the enforcement agency is screwed before it begins. If a document is suspect and not passed to higher authority for clarification, then the 'human factor' is already at play.

[Old Man River]

'The only difference from the real Singapore licence was the absence of holograms. '

So not very good at all then.

I guess everyone would check on the holo first. So useless

There are two separate pieces of false ID which it is being reported that Thailand specializes in. One is, as you suggest, completely false. The other is, as apparently which occurred in KL, legitimately issued passports, stolen and sold to those who look similar.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand