300 Visa Labels 'Missing' From Malaysia's Thai Embassy

ภาพ : Example of the missing visa labels.

ภาพ : Mr. Nameka Sunday Edwin

(22 August) 300 visa labels have disappeared from the Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, officials said, raising fears that the labels might fall into hands of transnational criminal syndicates or terror groups.

The revelation followed the arrest of a Nigerien national at the Thai-Malaysia in Songkhla Province. Mr. Nameka Sunday Edwin, 35, was attempting to cross the border to Malaysia, but the police discovered that he was under a watch-list issued by the Thai Embassy in the Malaysian capital.

Further investigation revealed that Mr. Edwin possessed the Thai Visa label number A04495149, which was marked by the Thai Embassy in Malaysia as stolen. The notice also reportedly said Mr. Edwin "may endanger the national security of Thailand". The police promptly arrested Mr. Edwin and charged him with holding false documents.
Prior to Mr. Edwin’s arrest, the immigration office in Mukdaharn province also reported that they had apprehended a man who entered Thailand from Laos’ Savannakhet Province with a passport bearing a visa label issued by the Thai Embassy Kuala Lampur.

The police arrested him after they realised he had never been to Malaysia in the first place, and the visa label was also reported as stolen. The man admitted to police he paid 30,000 baht to a collaborator for the visa label.

Eventually, the Immigration Bureau received a report from the Thai Embassy in Malaysia that 300 out of 3,000 visa labels have somehow been missing from its mission there, according to officials at the Bureau. The missing labels reportedly bear the number A4049901-A4056000 and A5801901-A5802000.

The officials added that 259 stolen labels had been used to cross Thai border by 35 Iranians, 1 Cameroonian, 20 Nigerians, 4 Pakistanis, 4 Indians and other people from Asia Minor Countries.

Reportedly, 55 people still remain in the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Immigration Bureau said the police already have 9 people in custody.

The incident might be the most serious breach in Thai border control in recent times. It is not clear how long the visa labels have been missing, and why the information had not been made public earlier.

Meanwhile, a source revealed that those who entered the country illegally with the stolen visa labels had contacted a Thai woman named “Mama”, said to be operating in Soi Pattanakarn 64 in Bangkok.

"The process involved sending a passport photo and 10,000 baht cash for the deposit to Mama. The illegal migrant would have to pay another 20,000 baht once the fake visa was granted a couple of days later," the source said.

According to our correspondent, 5 officials - 3 Thais and 2 Malaysians - at the Visa Department in Kuala Lampur’s Royal Thai Embassy are being investigated for their suspected connection with the missing labels.
Officials at Office of National Security and Immigration Bureau said they are working closely to prevent international crimes and keeping close look at individuals under the Watch List. The bureau also urged various immigration offices at the border to be aware of these people.