2 Chinese men arrested at Bangkok airport for fake Canadian passports

Officers from the Immigration Bureau arrested two Chinese men at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok for attempting to travel to Taiwan on fake Canadian passports.

EVA Air check-in staff reported to the immigration police that two Chinese nationals presented their Canadian passports at the counter for the flights to Taipei in Taiwan. According to the flight schedule, the two were to continue their journey at Taipei Airport on a transit flight to Vancouver, Canada.

EVA Air told police that the two Chinese passengers had no history of travelling to Canada and were unable to communicate in English.

Police rushed to catch the two Chinese men, later identified as 48 year old Jian Bo and 49 year old Pin Hua, at Gate E3 before they boarded the flight. They asked to see the Canadian passports and discovered they were fake. Police then checked their luggage and discovered their Chinese passports.

Officers found that they travelled from Colombo City in Sri Lanka to Suvarnabhumi Airport with their genuine Chinese passports. The two claimed that they were travelling from Bangkok to Vancouver in Canada in search of a better life.

They admitted to buying the fake Canadian passports in Sri Lanka and revealed to the police the seller’s contact information on the Chinese WeChat application. However, the seller declined to cooperate with the officers or furnish them with details regarding the fake passports.

The two Chinese men have been charged under Section 263/9 of the Criminal Law for possession and use of forged passports. The prescribed penalty includes imprisonment ranging from one to ten years and a fine ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 baht.

A similar case was reported in September last year when a Chinese woman, 44 year old Jian Qi, was arrested at Phuket International Airport for using another person’s passport which belonged to a 28 year old Chinese woman Yi Chih Han.

Jian Qi attempted to pass through immigration by claiming that she had undergone numerous plastic surgery procedures, resulting in her face not matching the airport’s online records. However, the officers were unconvinced by her explanation and continued to interrogate her until she confessed to the crime.