Thai opposition moves to curb junta-linked migrant ID centres after protest leader is beaten in Bangkok

Mizzima

Thailand’s opposition People’s Party has urged the Labour Ministry to place Myanmar’s Certificate of Identity (CI) centres under Thai supervision or close them altogether. The call comes as workers and employers say the documents now come tied to payments that benefit Myanmar’s military regime.

According to Thai media, the party’s shadow cabinet proposed five measures. These include challenging Myanmar’s 2 per cent income tax under international law and the 2002 bilateral double taxation agreement, temporarily easing identity-document requirements, and reviewing Thailand’s diplomatic approach.

The demands follow an assault on 1 November on Veera Saengthong, leader of the Bright Future migrant workers’ group, outside the United Nations office on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue in Bangkok. He was attacked during a protest calling for the CI centres to be abolished. Men from two royalist groups punched and kicked him before police stepped in, according to Thai media reports. The People’s Party condemned the attack and called on police to collect evidence and pursue legal action against those responsible.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in February 2021, and Thailand hosts the largest share of Myanmar’s migrant workforce. Under the regime’s rules, workers applying for or renewing a CI must show proof that they remitted 2,000 baht a month through official channels, or 6,000 baht (about $180) over three months. They must also show proof of paying around 1,800 baht ($54) in annual income tax. Thai government announcements list four CI centres operating from 14 October 2026 to 14 January 2027, in Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Surat Thani and Chiang Mai, plus a mobile unit in Chonburi. Workers pay a 2,660-baht ($80) processing fee at 7-Eleven stores.

Nilubon, representing the White Employers group, alleged that brokers at the centres demanded unofficial payments of 1,350 to 1,500 baht ($40–45). She said around 700,000 workers still needed to complete CI registration.

Veera told DVB he would file complaints with Thai police and the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. Migrant campaigners want Thailand to accept its own “pink card” as the only document workers need. They say the CI system lets Myanmar authorities collect taxes, fees and workers’ personal data, and identify people eligible for military service under the regime’s conscription law.

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow is due to visit Myanmar on 12 November, ahead of the ASEAN Summit scheduled for 15–17 November.