CHIANG MAI — Migrant workers have complained to Thai officials in Chiang Mai province that they were deceived by a fake law office, losing tens of thousands of baht for processing “zero-head cards”. At least 50 victims have been identified, with some losing over 100,000 baht. Authorities are preparing to coordinate with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to treat this as a special case.
On July 26, a group of female Myanmar workers presented evidence to Boonyarit Nipawanich, head of the Region 5 Registration Administration Center, Chiang Mai Branch. They claimed they were tricked by individuals at a law office in San Kamphaeng into transferring 25,000-60,000 baht each as a fee for processing new biographical data for working in Thailand.
The fraudsters claimed they could change the workers’ “pink cards” (non-Thai national ID cards) to “zero-head cards” (ID cards for persons without registration status).
The victims said these individuals falsely claimed to have government officials’ assistance and even staged visits to district offices. After several months without results and unable to get refunds, the workers became certain they had been scammed.
The victims reported that from late 2023 to early 2024, they were advised by fellow migrant workers about an office in Mae Pu Kha sub-district, San Kamphaeng district, Chiang Mai province. This office, which appeared to be a law firm, offered to change pink cards to zero-head cards by deleting old registration data and creating new profiles for a service fee of 35,000 baht per person.
After the workers made contracts and transferred money, the man scheduled meetings at various district offices in Chiang Mai. He staged scenarios that appeared to be legitimate processes, including having people interview the workers and take fingerprints.
When the workers inquired about progress, the man cited various obstacles. When they tried to get refunds, they were constantly deflected and had difficulty contacting him. Recently, they found that the office was just a rented house and had closed down, leading them to believe they had been scammed. With at least 50 victims identified, they decided to file a complaint for assistance.
The workers hope to recover their hard-earned savings and prevent others from falling victim to similar scams.
Boonyarit stated that this was certainly a scam, as normally, migrant workers with “pink cards” cannot change to “zero-head cards”, which don’t require time and expenses for card and visa renewals. He emphasized warning migrant workers not to fall for such offers.
Boonyarit added that this case not only caused financial damage to the migrant workers but also damaged the government’s reputation due to the false claims of official involvement. He stated that legal action would be pursued to the fullest extent.
Initially, he has coordinated with the DSI’s Special Case Operations Center, Region 5, Chiang Mai Province, to investigate and accept this as a special case.
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