NARATHIWAT: Thai police have not ruled out the possibility that some criminals operating along the Malaysia-Thai border areas possess dual citizenship.
This, they say, has made it easier for criminals, including those involved in the drug trade, to escape to Malaysia or Thailand when pursued by the authorities.
Narathiwat district police chief Colonel Pratya Baite said Thai police have encountered numerous such cases, where criminals are found with identification documents from both countries.
He said the problem was a longstanding one, even when he was the police chief in the Sungai Golok sub-province.
"This issue has been causing a lot of problems for the Thai police.
"We would pursue the suspects after establishing them as being behind crimes in the border towns. These suspects would then cross Sungai Golok and enter Malaysia via the Kelantan border to escape.
"Normally, while in Malaysia, these criminals would use their Malaysian identity card, which does not have their Thai names.
"This has made it more complicated for us to detect them as their particulars are different from those we have in Thailand," he said.
Pratya said that based on their experience, the names and addresses on the identification documents would be different, but bear photos of the same person.
"We established this after conducting further checks on suspects or syndicates linked to several cases.
"The majority of those with dual identification documents are Malays and Muslims," he said.
However, Pratya said their Malaysian counterparts, especially Kelantan police, have spared no effort to assist them.
"We frequently exchange information to stem cross-border crimes," he said.
It is understood that Malaysian police have also faced similar problems, and the issue has been discussed with their Thai counterparts in various meetings.
In 2019, Thai authorities said the issue of people holding dual Thai-Malaysian citizenship posed a national security threat for Thailand and Malaysia.
In Malaysia, dual citizenship is neither allowed nor recognised under the Federal Constitution.
Article 24 of the Federal Constitution states that any citizen who has acquired citizenship of another country must relinquish their Malaysian citizenship.
While it is not an offence for Malaysians to be offered citizenship from another country, it becomes an offence when they fail to surrender one of their citizenships.