CI applicants in Thailand face unnecessary financial burden due to agent-controlled processing
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Htet Nadi/Pearl(NP News) Jan 25
A Myanmar national in Thailand told The Statesman that agents in Thailand are controlling the Certificate of Identity (CI) process with some factory officials, causing unnecessary costs.
To obtain a CI renewal book, the applicants need to pay 700 baht for the book and a total of 2,670 baht including the current CI book number at 7-Eleven stores in Thailand, including the service fee.
After completing the process, a payment receipt containing details such as the center where the CI renewal book must be collected, the date of appointment, token number, and contact phone number will be reissued at 7-Eleven stores. With this receipt, applicants are required to go to the designated CI issuance centers to collect their CI documents, according to information obtained.
“If the process is done at 7-Eleven, the total cost is 2,670 baht. This covers everything: the OWIC card, the CI book, and the UID. Every citizen has a duty to pay tax to the state, and the tax amount of 1,800 baht is included. Based on a monthly salary of 6,000 baht, the tax is calculated at 150 baht per month and paid annually. In reality, workers should pay for four or five years, but only one year's amount is collected, and that is considered fulfillment of their obligation. The 2,670 baht is transferred directly into the embassy’s account as a service fee. Of this amount, the state receives 1,800 baht in tax. The breakdown includes 1,800 baht for tax, 700 baht for the CI book, 150 baht for the OWIC card, 10 baht for a reflective sticker, and another 10 baht as a service fee charged by 7-Eleven, bringing the total to 2,670 baht. Of this, 2,660 baht goes to Myanmar. After making the payment, applicants can proceed to the designated center to complete the process. Inside the office, services such as bathrooms, toilets, and document photocopying are provided free of charge, and the staff are government employees. However, there is a person assigned outside the office who represents a Thai agency company. The agency also controls the fees it collects, charging 940 baht. This brings the total cost to 3,610 baht. That is the final amount,” he told The Statesman.
Currently, four CI issuance centers are opened in Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Chiang Mai, and Surat Thani, and one Mobile Unit is in Krabi to process CI renewals. When an applicant goes to one of these issuance stations with the receipt issued by a 7 Eleven store, he will have to pay an additional 940 baht to the agency from Thailand, bringing the total cost of CI to 3,610 baht.
“Some people come with agents. The prices are high there. Sometimes the applicants had to pay around 4500. It is just the normal price. Some rates reached even 5000 or 5500. It depends on the distance they travel. They come from Myanmar with an agent. When they live in Thailand, they also work with an agent. Working in these factories depends on the agent. It depends on how much they are willing to pay,” he said.
However, it is also known that most Myanmar workers in Thailand do not go there themselves but use agents, who work together with managers and factory leaders in some factories to control CI, resulting in a total cost of up to 12,000 baht for CI.
“It depends on the agent. In the factory, there is the factory manager or supervisor. They have their own leaders. These leaders are on the same side with the agents to control, and the workers inevitably pass through this process. In some factories, depending on how strict things are, you can only work with the agent. If a migrant works with someone from outside, it can result in losing the job. The cost has increased to around 7,000 baht in central Thailand. Occasionally, in northern or southern Thailand, the fee goes up to 10,000–12,000 baht. There are not many brokers and fee calculation is confusing. It’s not just for CI; the agencies also charge for visas and permits. In reality, the fee for CI sometimes amounts to about 10,000 baht,” he said.
There are currently approximately 2 million Myanmar migrants with CIs living and working in Thailand. As legal workers, CI holders are entitled to full labor rights, including wages.
Similarly, in Thailand, there are migrants holding one-year temporary residence “pink cards”. Recently, an online celebrity, Sithu Platkyut, claimed to be able to issue these pink cards and reportedly collected advance fees from over 1,000 Myanmar workers in Thailand. Reports now suggest that the celebrity has absconded, and the case has sparked widespread discussion on social media platforms, including TikTok.
Sithu Platkyut accused Ko Win, the owner of the Ngar Than company, of cheating hundreds of thousands of baht from workers on TikTok. However, he denied all other accusations except one, where he had just misused more than one hundred thousand baht for gambling via TikTok. –