BMA suspends fourth employee in Din Daeng pink-card probe
BMA suspended a fourth staff member after police alleged that brokers used Din Daeng household registrations to support pink-card applications.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has temporarily removed a fourth staff member from service as authorities widen an investigation into allegedly fraudulent household registrations used to support applications for identification cards for people without Thai nationality.
Pol Gen Adis Ngamjitsuksri, an adviser to the Bangkok governor, said the director of Din Daeng District Office had issued the latest order against a permanent BMA employee, effective from Wednesday (August 19, 2026).
The administrative action forms part of the continuing “Clearing House in Central Bangkok” operation, which is examining suspected cooperation among district-office personnel, brokers, householders and document coordinators in obtaining so-called pink cards in cases involving identification numbers beginning with 7.
Employee accused of coordinating address transfers
The permanent employee is alleged to have cooperated with a broker to arrange for foreign nationals’ names to be transferred into a household registration at a Din Daeng flat belonging to one of the employee’s relatives.
The employee is also accused of coordinating documents required for transfers into the Din Daeng district, allegedly enabling applicants to use the resulting registration records to obtain pink cards improperly.
Police have charged the employee with supporting a public official in the improper performance of duty, presenting false evidence to have another person listed in a household registration and jointly entering false information into a computer system.
The employee was not identified in the announcement, which also did not include a response to the allegations.
Three registration officials previously removed
Adis said the latest order extended the BMA’s administrative action against personnel allegedly connected with the registration scheme.
Three officials attached to registration sections had already been temporarily removed from service on Tuesday (August 18). Serious disciplinary inquiries were initiated alongside the criminal investigation.
The three officials face proceedings over alleged misconduct or failure to perform their duties properly, certification of false documents and jointly entering false information into a computer system.
The administrative orders and criminal proceedings are separate processes, and the source did not report any convictions.
Probe began with unusual registrations at Din Daeng flats
The Din Daeng investigation began after the Department of Provincial Administration’s DOPA N.I.C.E. task force examined the district office between April and June and detected unusually large numbers of people being transferred into a small number of household registrations.
Investigators subsequently checked 5,726 rooms at the Din Daeng flats and found at least 1,366 non-Thai children aged between five and 15 listed in household records.
Forty-four rooms had at least 16 children registered at individual addresses. Preliminary checks of three rooms found a combined 140 children listed, while a later police briefing reported that one room measuring about 30 to 35 square metres carried 64 registered names.
Police alleged that some registration transfers had been approved rapidly despite system warnings about unusually high numbers of occupants. Investigators also reported finding documents signed in advance and allegedly forged signatures of householders.
More than 100 officers searched seven locations on August 18. Seven people, including three government officials, were arrested under warrants issued in connection with the investigation.
Registration checks expand beyond Din Daeng
The Bangkok governor has instructed all 50 district offices to examine household records for unusual transfers and abnormally high numbers of pink-card holders registered at individual addresses.
Din Daeng District Office was also ordered to review historical transfer records and supporting documents, with particular attention to registrations involving identification numbers beginning with 7.
The Department of Provincial Administration has separately directed officials nationwide to examine possible irregularities involving several categories of civil-registration records. Reviews of pink-card records are initially covering the previous five years and may be extended to 10 years.
