Muang Ranong salon owner reports mystery 'theft' of her national ID photo
A salon owner in Muang Ranong district has filed a police complaint that her national identity was stolen, possibly for nefarious purposes.
Phakawan Huicheelek, 45, said she could not get a temporary border pass from Chiang Rai to Myanmar on February 21 because her national ID data had come up showing the picture of a 167cm-tall middle-aged man instead.
Back home, she was told by Muang Ranong officials that it might be have been a mistake on the part of the Chiang Rai authorities, as the Ranong office’s computer showed her picture with the national ID data.
However, she later tried to get a temporary border pass to Myanmar’s Koh Song, and faced the same problem.
Muang Ranong district chief Surat Akkarawirojkul said he would investigate the case to see whether the mistake was intentional or down to an official’s error.
Muang district and four others in Ranong were pilot areas for requiring two additional civil servants’ signatures as witnesses and adding DNA testing into the national ID issuance process for applicants, especially among displaced Thais, after some people had used a loophole to enable Rohingya people or alien workers to assume Thai identity.
