NARATHIWAT, Nov 15 — The Thai police are not ruling out the possibility that individuals involved in cross-border crimes between Malaysia and Thailand may hold dual identification cards or even dual citizenship.
Narathiwat district police chief Col. Pratya Baitee said this is their modus operandi to escape into either Malaysia or Thailand when pursued by local authorities.
Investigations have revealed most of these criminals have varying information on each of their identification cards.
Citing an example, he mentioned a case where information on the identification card of criminals arrested by Thai police indicated they resided in Malaysia, yet their faces matched those on the wanted list in Thailand.
"This has caused confusion, and the Thai police were forced to seek assistance from their Malaysian counterparts for verification," he told the press during a special visit by members of Kelantan media to the Narathiwat police recently.
Pratya said investigations also found that most of these dual-citizenship criminals have relatives living along the border of both countries.
"Identification is usually made by comparing the two identification cards found on the suspects if they are detained."
"If a suspect is arrested by the Malaysian police and found to be on the 'wanted' list in Thailand, they will be handed over to the Thai police for further investigation. This action is part of the cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of both countries," he said.
Pratya added that the faces of suspects wanted by the Thai police will be displayed at border entry points and on billboards along the roads in Thailand to facilitate the flow of information.
— Bernama
