15 arrested for fake passports or visas

PHUKET: Police arrested 15 foreigners carrying fake passports or with fake immigration stamps in Patong, Karon, and Kata over the weekend. Pol Col Apirak Hongthong, recently appointed inspector of Phuket’s Immigration Office, said 12 of the arrests were made when his officers checked people selling clothing and fabrics on Patong beach. The other three were made on the beaches at Karon and Kata. Five of those arrested were from Burma, three from Malaysia, two from India, two from Bangladesh, and one each from Nepal, Indonesia and Pakistan. Over the same weekend, raids on construction sites in Patong netted 20 Burmese working without work permits.