Thai police department says on Wednesday 21st June 2017 that it has cracked down on fake visa syndicate and arrested nine foreigners .
On the information given out by the police, the members of this syndicate used Thai ladies whom they met on Social media mainly Facebook, convinced the ladies to enter into a fake marriage arrangement with them in order to obtain resident visas which allow them to remain in Thailand for a longer period of time. The suspects usually would pay 5,000 Thai Baht (US$150.00) and gifts to lure the ladies into accepting the ploy.
The police said they were carrying out a routine passport and visa checks on foreigners in order to certify the status of their passports and visas. They said over 100 foreigners’ documents were checked only to find out that many of them were carrying counterfeit visa stickers.
Following the findings, the police carried out a joint operation and the suspects were rounded up today.
Director-General of the Department of Consular Affairs confirmed that Thai police officers detained nine foreigners for forgery of Thai visa stickers of whom seven were Nigerians and two from Afghanistan.
These foreigners were suspected to have entered Thailand on temporary visas and in order to continue to remain in Thailand, they would entice Thai ladies via instant messengers on social media mainly Facebook and then promise them money if they enter into fake marriage arrangements with them. These foreigners would then use the marriage documents to apply for resident visas that allow them to remain in Thailand for a longer period of time.
