Thai police nab Indian, Pakistani in passport raid

BANGKOK, Mar 22 (Reuters) Thai police today said they had busted a major passport forging gang in Bangkok, a major Asian centre for fake documents, and arrested an Indian and a Pakistani.

But police said the gang supplied people looking for work in richer industrial countries and they had found no link to international terrorist groups.

''This is one of the top 10 biggest gangs in Thailand,'' Lieutenant General Suwat Tumrongsiskul, head of the Police Immigration Bureau, told Reuters Television.

Suwat said fake Indian passports were particularly popular among other South Asians who paid 50,000 baht (1,300 dollars) for one including visas for developed countries.

''Indian passport holders seem to have better credibility than other South Asians. They get easier permission to visit Europe than others,'' he told a news conference.

International security analysts call Thailand ''the place'' to get fake travel documents.

''Thailand continues to be a centre for fradulent production due to Bangkok's importance as a regional transportation hub, Thailand's entry requirements and low punishment for document fraud crimes,'' a Western diplomat told Reuters.

REUTERS PR PM1312