Immigration officers have manually documented approximately 17 million foreign arrivals over the past two years, including facial photos and fingerprints, due to storage limitations. The manual processing coincides with Thailand’s expansion of biometric capabilities at major airports as part of its digital transformation efforts.
To address the immediate crisis, the Immigration Bureau has implemented temporary measures. Officials are manually collecting biometric data for individuals repatriated from Myawaddy, using an alternative online database for screening suspicious visitors, and have allocated 500 million baht for additional storage licenses.
Move Forward Party MP Rangsiman Rome raised serious security concerns, noting that the situation creates vulnerabilities in identifying potential transnational criminals who may enter the country posing as tourists. He specifically noted risks related to the possible re-entry of individuals involved in recent telecom fraud cases who were repatriated.
The bureau is developing a new biometric system with unlimited capacity as a permanent solution. The project will cost 3 billion baht with an estimated completion time of 29 months. The upgrade follows Thailand’s recent enhancement of biometric requirements in other sectors, such as mandatory biometric authentication for SIM card registration to prevent fraud.
The current system constraints present significant border security risks. Rangsiman emphasized that without proper biometric data tracking and storage, authorities may struggle to identify criminals who alter their name, passport, and nationality after committing crimes in Thailand.
Sources: The Nation, Ground News
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February 21, 2025 – Cass Kennedy
