False identities strand fishermen 

False identities strand fishermen 

Special Report: Thais given fake seaman's books are now stuck in Ambon, Indonesia.

Thanadsri Kande, 42, and two other Thai fishermen are trying to get their lives and identities back after working on trawlers in Indonesia.

Three Thai fishermen forced to carry crew books of dead men are detained on Ambon island. Officials are trying to confirm the identities of (from left) Thanadsri Kande, Somchai Jantes and Maleenoo Charoensuk, now held at the Indonesian immigration office on the island. (Photos by Jetjaras na Ranong)

For 15 years, Mr Thanadsri worked as a fisherman in Indonesia on a Thai-registered boat under the name Amnart Sricharoen after his employer gave him a seaman's book with that identity.

"I don't know who Amnart is. We never met," Mr Thanadsri said.

Amnart was a navy officer in Chon Buri who died many years ago. Mr Thanadsri's identity was questioned when he reported to Thai officials who visited Ambon to repatriate Thai fishermen in late March.

Mr Thanadsri initially reported to the Thai officials as Amnart.

However, after Thai consular officials found that he was not the person he claimed, they refused to give him a certificate to prove his identity which would have allowed him, along with 68 other Thai fishermen, to fly home on April 9.

"We are in the process of working out his identify for his ID," said an official who asked not to be named.

Mr Thanadsri said he left Thailand to fish in Indonesian waters with a Thai-registered fishing boat in April last year.

Three months ago, his fishing boat was forced to dock at Ambon island as part of the Indonesian government's newly-introduced measures to suppress illegal fishing.

"I was stranded on the boat with the other crew members," he said.

Seventy-five Thai-registered fishing boats are currently docked in Ambon, pending verification before they can be released.

Late last year there were more than a hundred boats. 

Mr Thanadsri said he spent three months on the docked boat before he decided to escape to find refuge on Ambon island two months ago. 

In March, he found out the Thai government was planning to repatriate fishermen from Ambon and that was when he went to report his identification to the authorities, but he gave officials the wrong name. "I did not know what to do so I told them the name on my seaman's book," he said.

An official checked the census information in Thailand and found that Amnart is in fact dead.

"We cannot issue certification of identification for him because he is not Amnart," the Thai official told the Bangkok Post.

Many fishermen work on trawlers under falsified seaman's books for various reasons, such as human trafficking. 

"Some brokers or operators use false seaman's books to make the person disappear and it is then difficult to find them once they step onto boats. Bringing them back to Thailand is difficult.

"It's like giving a new life to a person," Patima Tungtuchayakul, manager of the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN) said.

Mr Thanadsri's case is only one example of how some fishing operators have little regard for the lives of those who serve on their boats.

"There are cases where brokers and operators use fake seaman's books to conceal forced labour and human trafficking," she said.

Another case of a Thai fisherman losing his identity is Somchai Jantes, who is also stuck on Ambon island for the time being.

There are 75 Thai-registered fishing boats currently docked at Indonesia's Ambon island, pending verification before they can be released under the country's new regulations to curb illegal fishing.

Mr Somchai, in his 30s, said he joined a fishing boat when he was 17 years old.

"A broker told me that I would earn 10,000 baht up front," he said.

The broker, however, paid him 7,000 baht when he first joined the boat and then told him he would send 3,000 baht to his family.

But the broker never did.

Mr Somchai was given a seaman's book under the name of Max Wichit.

"I did not have my own identification card back then," he said. 

He found life on the boat unbearable as the captain beat him constantly, and 10 years ago he escaped to Ambon island. 

Mr Somchai also visited the team sent to Ambon to repatriate Thais in late March, but because he didn't have an ID card he was unable to verify who he was.

Samak Tubtanee, a LPN staff member, said Mr Somchai was able to remember the address of his parents' home in Saraburi, so officials were able to locate his relatives.  

"We have gathered enough witnesses to prove his existence. His cousins were surprised that he was still alive, Mr Samak said.

One fisherman who is not so lucky is Maleenoo Charoensuk, 36, from Bangkok's Nong Chok district, who was forced to join a fishing boat nine years ago.

Mr Maleenoo found refuge on Ambon island eight years ago and survived by working odd jobs in Passo village, such as gardening.

He missed the reparation flights between March 27 and April 9 because he did not have an ID card and officials are still trying to verify who he is.

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