The Director-General of the Department of Provincial Administration is cracking down on gray-area corruption, explaining to the Administration Committee the ongoing efforts to suppress registration identity fraud networks, and firmly stating that officials involved in corruption have no place to stand.
On 27 May 2026, Mr. Narucha Kosasivilai, Director-General of the Department of Provincial Administration, along with Mr. Withun Sirinukul, Deputy Director-General, and the "DOPA N.I.C.E." anti-registration security task force, attended a meeting with the Administration Committee chaired by Mr. Thanayot Thimsuwan to report plans and approaches to resolving civil registration and ID card fraud issues.
Mr. Narucha explained that civil registration and ID cards are considered the "information security infrastructure" of the country. Currently, the department is accelerating the granting of legal status and Thai nationality to more than 483,626 ethnic minorities and stateless persons, following the Cabinet resolution on 29 October 2024. The processing time has been reduced from 270 days to just 5 days, and the application period has been extended until 30 June 2027.
However, under the government's crackdown on transnational crime, gray capital networks, call center gangs, and money laundering operations have been found exploiting loopholes in the civil registration system to launder personal status and hold assets in various ways, such as identity fraud of Thai nationals, false birth registrations, impersonations to obtain ID cards, and concealed marriages.
Therefore, the Department of Provincial Administration established the "DOPA N.I.C.E. (National Identity Crime Enforcement)" task force specifically to crush these fraudulent operations, having already conducted several major crackdowns.
The department also revealed the "5 major vulnerable points" in the registration system that criminals commonly exploit to commit identity theft: 1. False birth registrations and forged supporting documents, 2. Adding names to registration using false witnesses, 3. Moving names into household registrations without actual residence, 4. Impersonations to obtain ID cards, and 5. Concealed marriages to obtain Thai nationality for children.
The Director-General concluded firmly that the department is urgently upgrading the civil registration and identity verification systems using modern technology to analyze anomalies, integrating closely with security agencies. He issued a stern warning: "If any official or government officer is found involved in soliciting benefits or registration fraud, disciplinary and legal measures will be taken decisively. There will be absolutely no tolerance for offenders," to ensure the highest national security.