ID printing machine stolen from Thai consulate in US

[webfact]

ID printing machine stolen from Thai consulate in US
NANTIDA PUANGTHONG
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- THE MACHINE used to print identity cards at the Thai consulate general in Los Angeles was stolen in December, while it was being used to offer services to Thai expats in San Francisco, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

The theft, which took place on the night of December 14, has forced the consulate to suspend the service until it acquires a replacement.

The consulate alerted police and put in place procedures to prevent thieves from using the data stored in the machine. Thai nationals living in San Francisco are now required to apply at the consulate office in Los Angeles should they need new ID cards.

The source added that the Foreign Ministry has already set up a committee to investigate the theft.

In July 2013, the Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur discovered that hundreds of visa stamps had gone missing and took legal action against five local staff found to be responsible for the thefts. Investigation also found that some Thai nationals were involved but cleared embassy officials of having any hand in the thefts.

Thai immigration checkpoints later identified and arrested several foreigners for allegedly using the stolen stamps.

Most of the visas were issued in Malaysia, and some suspects told police that they had been charged high fees by brokers only to find the visas were fake.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/ID-printing-machine-stolen-from-Thai-consulate-in--30255417.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-06

[sawati]

Somebody sold the machine...

[chooka]

If it is like in Australia it would be all Thais working there.

[ezzra]

Assuming it is a theft... I will put nothing past a person who works at the embassy to be involved,

The genie is out of the bottle... again.. same story as the visas stolen in Malaysia a while back,

now all Thai officials will be on the lookout for the fake ID cards... good luck to them,

[KIWIBATCH]

.........stolen in December 2014.........it is now the 6th of March 2015 and they are still waiting for a replacement machine........and this is a consulate office..!!!

[Johnny S]

So they arrested foreigners for - unknowingly - using the stolen stamps ... Thainess!

[Tomtomtom69]

If it is like in Australia it would be all Thais working there.

Nope, you're actually not quite right. I've been to a number of Australian Thai consulates and most have non-Thai staff working in them.

The most "Thai" one is probably Canberra, followed by Sydney. I haven't applied for a visa in Canberra, but I've been to their embassy for other purposes and I don't recall a single non-Thai staff member working there, though I could be wrong as I just happened to have meetings with the education attache or whatever they call themselves there who was of course Thai.

In Sydney I recall a fairly unpleasant Indian consular officer and this was all the way back in 2003 and despite not having applied for a visa in Sydney since then I have been told many years later she was still around, at least as of 2008. Maybe not anymore though as it has been more than 11 years.

In Melbourne where I recently applied for and received a visa the consul is a British-Australian who is married to a Thai. He's a very nice man Dr. Wallace is his name I believe. His son, who is half Thai is an immigration lawyer and works closely with the consulate.

Perth, which was closed for a short time but has since re-opened is similar. Aussie honorary consul.

Brisbane and most of the other Thai consulates in Australia are like that too, headed by an Aussie rather than a Thai.

As for Los Angeles, I went to the Thai consulate there once with my Thai fiancee (girlfriend at the time). She needed to get a new passport. I enquired about getting a visa, even though I knew I didn't need one for my less than one month stay but they were handing them out for free at the time (2010). A white American consular officer served me, very pleasant guy unlike the barking Thai officer who was quite rude to everyone. He simply told me the requirements but I thought to myself, why the hell would I waste time and money coming back here for something I don't need? However, for those who don't have a return ticket and/or aren't sure of their movements, getting a tourist visa would still be a good idea.

And while I don't doubt there must be some complicity in terms of consular staff who had something to do with this stolen printing machine, I doubt it was any of the local staff (American in this case). Similarly, in Malaysia when the stolen sticker scandal occurred.

[billd766]

So they arrested foreigners for - unknowingly - using the stolen stamps ... Thainess!

How do you come to that conclusion?

If the farangs go through the proper steps to get their visa, extension or whatever then they would go through an embassy or a consulate. If they went through an "agent" the agent may have been bent in the first place.

Many years and a couple of passports ago I went through an "agent" to get a visa and my passport came back a few days later with a visa from the Thai embassy in Brisbane. It is a little odd as I have never been to Brisbane in my life.

I woke up after that and did it properly and legally since then.

[Strangebrew]

Never ever use an agent want it done right do it yourself and in person.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

The stamp thing happened 11 years ago too, maybe happens every couple of years?

As for the ID machine, clearly an inside job. I don't know how many staff they have but I hope they catch him/her/it (TIT)

[Srikcir]

I don't see how a Thai ID printing machine can be of any value to anyone outside of Thailand. It is the Thai passport that gets one through immigration.

For the stolen machine to have any value it would have to produce fake cards for people who are going to and/or reside now in Thailand, possibly illegally. So the theft may be related to human trafficking INTO Thailand.

[maidee]

still waiting for a replacement, as if that cannot be delivered same week with diplomatic channel

or do they have to manufacture a new one ?

[Chang_paarp]

.........stolen in December 2014.........it is now the 6th of March 2015 and they are still waiting for a replacement machine........and this is a consulate office..!!!

They are just reporting (or admitting ) publicly the loss of this piece of equipment that has very little use to the non-Thai world.

That is just Thainess.

[cookee68]

Very handy machine to have, and I would not look further than my nose in the work place, and when they do find the people who stole the machine, if they are Thai, they will be transferred to an inactive post in Mc'donalds.

[Paulc01]

I don't see how a Thai ID printing machine can be of any value to anyone outside of Thailand. It is the Thai passport that gets one through immigration.

For the stolen machine to have any value it would have to produce fake cards for people who are going to and/or reside now in Thailand, possibly illegally. So the theft may be related to human trafficking INTO Thailand.

The article is unclear but this could be the Thai equivalent of the matricula consular card that Mexico and other Latin American nations distribute to their nationals in the US. Several US cities and states allow them to use the card as an ID that gets them certain services from things like banks, city agencies, and public utilities.

[Tomtomtom69]

I don't see how a Thai ID printing machine can be of any value to anyone outside of Thailand. It is the Thai passport that gets one through immigration.

For the stolen machine to have any value it would have to produce fake cards for people who are going to and/or reside now in Thailand, possibly illegally. So the theft may be related to human trafficking INTO Thailand.

Haha...maybe. But stealing an ID card machine in the USA to traffic Americans into Thailand using fake Thai ID cards? A bit far fetched when it's determined they can't speak Thai.

Also, an ID card won't get you on a plane. So whoever flies out of the USA to Thailand first needs a passport and needs to present that at immigration, real Thai citizens included. An ID card won't cut it.

[Tomtomtom69]

I don't see how a Thai ID printing machine can be of any value to anyone outside of Thailand. It is the Thai passport that gets one through immigration.

For the stolen machine to have any value it would have to produce fake cards for people who are going to and/or reside now in Thailand, possibly illegally. So the theft may be related to human trafficking INTO Thailand.

The article is unclear but this could be the Thai equivalent of the matricula consular card that Mexico and other Latin American nations distribute to their nationals in the US. Several US cities and states allow them to use the card as an ID that gets them certain services from things like banks, city agencies, and public utilities.

I doubt that. Why would Thais need such a card as they can just use their passports for ID or if they're eligible, as legal residents they could also apply for driver's licences, proof of age cards (whatever they are called in the various US states) etc.

I lived in the States with my Thai girlfriend, now fiancee. We are both non-US citizens. I quickly got a US driver's licence to avoid the need to use a passport for ID purposes and she got a proof of age card that is also issued by the department of motor vehicles (as she wasn't driving at the time) for the same reason.

These ID cards issued by Mexico and possibly other nearby countries may be accepted in the USA but as foreigners from further away, Thais certainly wouldn't be eligible, just like the Australian embassy won't give me a document for use in the USA that the US authorities can't supply me with anyway.