BANGKOK, Thailand – Thai police have sought 46 arrest warrants in the third phase of an investigation into an alleged scheme involving Thai men falsely registered as fathers of children born to foreign mothers to obtain Thai citizenship unlawfully.
The latest operation identified 24 children whose citizenship and civil registration records require further investigation, with suspected links to eight public and private hospitals. Authorities said DNA testing found that the Thai men listed as fathers on the children’s birth certificates were not biologically related to any of the 24 children.
National Police Chief Pol Gen Samran Nualma ordered Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Noppasin Poolsawat to lead the operation, working with immigration police, Metropolitan Police Division 8 investigators and the Department of Provincial Administration’s DOPA N.I.C.E. team.
The investigation focuses on an alleged network that arranged false birth registrations by naming Thai men as fathers of children whose biological fathers were foreign nationals. Those registrations allegedly enabled the children to obtain Thai citizenship improperly, with suspected involvement by government officials, hospital personnel, foreign mothers, nominal Thai fathers, biological fathers and intermediaries.
The first phase identified three children and resulted in six arrests, while the second uncovered another 22 children and led to 36 arrests. The third phase has expanded the investigation to the 24 children now under review, with investigators seeking 46 warrants covering people suspected of different roles in the alleged scheme.
Among the cases highlighted by investigators was that of a 27-year-old man whose birth certificate listed a Thai man as his father and a Chinese woman as his mother. DNA testing identified a Chinese man as his biological father. Police said the man listed on the birth certificate had claimed that he was paid 5,000 baht to register a marriage to the woman 27 years ago, allegedly for business purposes.
Another case involved 23-year-old twin brothers whose birth certificates named a Thai man as their father. DNA testing found that he was not their biological father. One twin, a fifth-year medical student, was arrested while undertaking hospital training in Sri Racha, Chonburi, while his brother, a computer programmer, was arrested at a condominium in Bangkok.
Investigators also described cases involving two young boys whose birth certificates named different fathers. DNA testing confirmed that a Chinese man was the biological father of one of the children. Police said a motorcycle taxi driver listed as one boy’s father admitted receiving 5,000 baht for the registration.
Authorities are also examining the possible use of a company linked to one of the families as a nominee business, although that part of the investigation remains ongoing.
Police said the civil registration and citizenship status of all 24 children would be reviewed under the law. If citizenship or related documents were found to have been obtained unlawfully, authorities could revoke the relevant records and status through the prescribed legal process.
Officials said the review would also take account of the children’s rights and best interests. Investigators intend to pursue not only the alleged nominal fathers but also suspected recruiters, intermediaries, officials and others who may have benefited from the scheme.
