The ministry was advised that any requirement for young children to obtain an ID card could conflict with other laws that require ID card-holders to carry the cards themselves. Young children would have to leave their cards with their parents.

Once a conclusion on this issue was reached, the proposal would be re-submitted to the Cabinet next week, assistant government spokesperson Netpreeya Chumchaiyo told reporters yesterday.

The Cabinet's opinion was in line with that of the Council of State, which had scrutinised the revised Act and determined that any requirement for Thai nationals to hold ID cards from such an early age would cause implementation problems.

The revised Act stipulated that Thais aged one-year and up should have ID cards, which would be valid until they were 10 years of age. It also proposed penalties for those revealing ID card information without the card-holder's consent, of up to five years in jail and/or a Bt100,000 fine, except if it was needed by a court or deemed necessary by state agencies.

The revised Act also stipulated that non-Thai nationals who applied for a Thai ID card using fake documents be subjected to one to five years in jail and/or a Bt20,000 to Bt100,000 fine. Anyone producing fake ID cards would face one to 10 years in jail and/or a Bt20,000 to Bt200,000 fine.