Teenager charged with document forgery

The 18-year-old Surat Thani native, who was only referred to by the pseudonym “Bew”, was arrested days before his university marketing study programme started. A raid on his apartment in Soi Phetchkasem 77/5 in Bangkok’s Nhong Kham district uncovered a large number of fake licences for tourist guides. 
He admitted he had been selling the forged documents for two months and claimed he committed the offence to earn money to pay for his tuition and personal expenses. 
He said most of the fake documents were prepared for young people who wanted Thai national identity cards with a doctored year of birth so they could get into pubs. 
The suspect said he would charge from Bt1,000 to Bt7,500 per piece, depending on the detail and the difficulty in preparation. He contacted customers via the Line chat programme and Facebook to have them wire payments before he sent the cards via post.
Tourist Police Deputy Commander Pol Colonel Artchayon Kraithongled said the investigation was continuing as other people may be involved in the operation, which could affect national security.