Extra fee imposed on Myanmar nationals in Thailand for ID renewal

Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand say that for more than a month they have been subject to a new, additional charge called a “token fee” for keeping their Certificate of Identity (CI) documents up to date. Temporary identification documents called “pink cards” are required for some Myanmar nationals seeking employment or working in Thailand. After being granted a pink card, a worker may apply for a work visa with a current CI booklet at designated document issuance centres to continue working legally. Since August 8, the documentation centres—located in Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Surat Thani, and Chiang Mai—have been charging 1,000 Thai baht (US $31 or 130,000 Myanmar kyat) as a token fee, according to a worker who spoke on condition of anonymity. The office staff charge in excess of the standard fees for Myanmar workers with CIs scheduled to expire in six months or less, or with CIs that have already expired, workers said. They reportedly request the token fee when applicants take a queue number. “They charge the fee whether we apply ourselves or through an agent,” the Myanmar worker said. “Asking for a fee just to stand in line is excessive.” “I wouldn’t mind if it were around 200 to 400 baht [27,000 to 54,000 kyat], but now it’s much higher,” she added. “This is extortion. Without paying for the token, we can’t stand in line or renew our CI.” Before going to the document centre for a CI renewal, workers pay an application fee of 2,670 baht (US $84 or 358,000 kyat), usually at a chain store or other nearby business, then choose a convenient office location and date. According to the office of Thailand’s Myanmar Labour Attache, the official cost for a CI renewal is 2,670 baht. Information from a CI centre still says the standard application fee for a CI booklet is 2,670 THB (Photo: Myanmar Labour Attache Office Facebook) According to the worker who spoke to Myanmar Now, Myanmar applicants paid the usual fee at a 7-Eleven before appearing at the CI office on their appointment date to collect a renewed CI booklet. At the CI office, the staff required them to pay an additional token fee of 1,000 baht, plus 500 baht for transferring the visa from an old booklet to the new one, plus 200 baht in other charges, she said. The 2,670 paid at the convenience store is supposed to include fees for the new booklet, a tax, and other charges, and CI offices and centres are not authorised to collect any fee in addition to those charges for renewing a CI, according to a CI and passport agent working in Bangkok. “It’s hard to account for,” he told Myanmar Now. “They are imposing extra charges without reason. A fee of 400–500 THB would be acceptable, but now it’s become excessive.” Renewing a CI through an agent has reportedly come to cost as much as 7,000 baht in some instances. Myanmar’s military regime has made no clear statement regarding the extra fees demanded by CI centres in Thailand. Myanmar Now sent queries to the Myanmar Labour Attache Office in Bangkok, but their representatives said to contact the Ministry of Labour instead. The spokespersons for the labour ministry’s permanent secretary did not respond to our queries. The Ministry of Labour, now controlled by the military junta, has authorised domestic companies to issue CI documents to millions of Myanmar workers in Thailand on a contractual basis. However, sources connected to the Myanmar embassy in Thailand have claimed that only businesses closely connected to the military received the authorisation. After seizing power in Myanmar in a coup in 2021, Myanmar’s military authorities granted permission to the United KMK Company, owned by the retired army officer Khin Maung Kyaw. The tax charged for issuance of CIs to Myanmar workers in Thailand is an important source of revenue for Myanmar’s military regime. It is not confirmed which entities operate the CI centres that have been charging extra fees in Thailand, as ownership records are no longer transparent after the junta restricted access to business registry information. As many as 800 Myanmar workers go to the CI centre in Chiang Mai, Thailand each day to renew their documents. Application and document fees—especially when charged in excess of the official amount—are a burden for Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, who typically have low-paying, physically demanding jobs, according to sources working in labour advocacy.

Extra fee imposed on Myanmar nationals in Thailand for ID renewal

Workers are being forced to pay more than the standard fees to renew their documents and remain legally employed abroad

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