A court in Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province issued an arrest warrant for Myanmar migrant leader Suraj Giri, also known as Veera Saengthong, on Monday over allegations of unlawfully obtaining a Thai birth certificate with false documents.
A local registration office in Kanchanaburi revoked Giri’s Thai birth certificate on Nov. 6 alleging that he “presented false evidence to unlawfully obtain an entry in a household registration or other civil registration document.”
Thai media reported that Giri holds a 10-year identity card issued by Thailand’s Ministry of Interior to eligible non-Thai residents, including members of recognized ethnic minority groups, long-settled border communities, and stateless people.
This identity card serves as an official document in Thailand but does not confer Thai citizenship. It can provide access to certain basic rights and services, while permission to work legally requires separate authorisation.
Giri reportedly entered Thailand in 1998. His date of birth and the circumstances of his entry have not been independently verified.
Under Thailand’s Civil Registration Act, a non-Thai national found guilty of using false evidence to obtain a birth certificate faces six months to five years in prison and a fine of 20,000 to 200,000 Thai baht ($600–6,000 USD).
The arrest warrant follows an assault on Giri at a protest outside the U.N. headquarters in Bangkok on Nov. 1, where he called for the abolition of five Myanmar regime-run Certificate of Identity (CI) centres in Thailand.
Following the assault, Giri filed a complaint with the police and the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC), which accepted the case on Nov. 3.
DVB was unable to reach Giri for comment on the allegations against him.
