In cases where state officials collude with third parties to forge birth certificate documents allowing stateless individuals to impersonate Thai nationals, the offenders are divided into 2 groups:
Group 1: State Officials commit the offense of “being a public official wrongfully exercising or omitting to perform any of their duties to cause damage to any person, or dishonestly exercising or omitting to perform their duties.”
They shall be punished with imprisonment from one to ten years, or a fine from twenty thousand to two hundred thousand baht, or both, under Section 157 of the Criminal Code.
They also commit the offense of “being a public official whose duty is to make a document, receive a document, or fill in text into a document, performing any of the following acts in the execution of duty: certifying as evidence a fact which such document is intended to prove true, to be false,” under Section 162 (4) of the Criminal Code.
They shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding seven years and a fine not exceeding one hundred and forty thousand baht.
Group 2: Third Parties act as “supporters of the offense” under Section 86 of the Criminal Code.
They shall be liable to two-thirds of the punishment provided for the supported offense.
This serves as a cautionary tale for those who prioritize personal gain and commit illegal acts for compensation without regard to the damage inflicted upon national security.
