Police Bust Illegal Pink ID Card Scheme in Bangkok
Police arrested civil servants and brokers in Bangkok for illegally registering over 2,300 foreign children as Thai citizens using pink ID cards in a scheme spanning multiple districts.
At 6:00 a.m. on August 18, 2025, the Anti-Corruption Commission launched coordinated raids led by Deputy Secretary-General Siripong Sritula, working with the Prime Minister's Office's anti-corruption unit, the Department of Local Administration, and the Royal Thai Police. Officers arrested civil servants and brokers from Din Daeng district office accused of illegally registering foreign nationals, mostly children under 15 years old, for pink ID cards (numbers starting with 7).
The investigation revealed that Din Daeng district office issued over 2,347 pink ID cards numbered with 7 between 2024 and 2025—an unusually high number. Authorities conducted seven search operations across Bangkok and Pathum Thani province. The case emerged following a similar arrest of a sub-district administrator in Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, in March 2025.
Operations targeted three named officials and brokers involved in bringing foreign children aged 5-15 into false household registrations at a single flat. Nearly 200 foreign children were registered at one location, with over 1,366 total names found across 44 rooms at the apartment building, despite each unit measuring only 30-40 square meters. Authorities conducted seven concurrent searches at related locations and residences of civil servants authorized to approve pink ID card issuance. The scheme appears widespread, involving multiple districts, and authorities plan further coordinated investigations involving the Anti-Corruption Commission, Department of Local Administration, Thai police, and Bangkok authorities.
