Bangkok To Launch Smart Id Cards

[george]

City to launch smart ID cards

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok residents living in Dusit, Bang Khen and Bang Phlat districts will be the first to receive ``smart'' citizen ID cards as soon as tomorrow. Deputy city clerk Rathapol Meethanatharvorn said yesterday that City Hall has already received permission from the Provincial Administration Department, under the Interior Ministry, to start issuing smart ID cards.

In the first phase starting tomorrow, a total of 50,000 cards will be available for distribution in the districts of Dusit, Bang Khen and Bang Phlat.

The new ID cards are expected to be in full circulation citywide by Jan 10 next year, said Mr Rathapol.

Residents who will receive smart cards in the first phase are those whose conventional ID cards expire, 15-year-olds applying for their first ID cards, and people requesting to have their names changed.

Applicants should also give their names in English with the same spellings that appear in their passports, said Mr Rathapol.

Bangkok is the fourth province to receive smart ID cards, after the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

--Bangkok Post 2005-11-23