How a fake birthright scandal opened Thailand’s doors to transnational criminals

For years, the many benefits of Thai citizenship have made it irresistible to foreigners around the globe.

This high demand has now opened the door to a sophisticated illicit business, with up to 160 children suspected of acquiring fake Thai citizenship through criminal networks uncovered by an ongoing national investigation.

In exchange for large fees, these syndicates apparently “rent out” Thai men who act as fake biological fathers on birth certificates for wealthy foreign couples.

At least one of the Chinese couples found using this service has been linked to a massive 70-billion-baht regional scam and money laundering network. The revelations have sent shock waves through Thailand’s halls of power.

“This is a direct threat to national security,” said Piyarat Chongthep, a list MP from the opposition People’s Party.

The power of a Thai birth certificate

Under Thai law, any child with a legally recognised Thai father on their birth certificate is automatically entitled to Thai citizenship. This status grants them immediate access to 15 years of free state education and universal healthcare coverage.

More crucially, they grow up with the right to own land and real estate – privileges that are strictly controlled for foreigners.

Meanwhile, they will never require a Thai visa, and are free to open local bank accounts, conduct financial transactions, and vote or even run for political office.

Thai citizens are also granted full access to the domestic job market – including protected professions barred to foreigners such as law, tour guiding and security services, as well as restricted fields like engineering, accounting and architecture.

Additionally, they are eligible to join the civil service, the police force and the military, which offer state benefits such as pensions.

“Imagine what the country will look like 20 years from now if these children with falsified Thai parentage grow up to form political parties or rise through the ranks of the civil service,” Piyarat warned. “Will Thailand still be able to protect its own national interests?”

The nominee connection

One such fake father is Prachuap Sirikhet, a Thai national who is also under investigation by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on suspicion of acting as a nominee shareholder for the scandal-ridden China Railway No 10 (Thailand). The firm allegedly bypassed foreign ownership laws by using Prachuap and two other Thai nominees to mask total Chinese control.

China Railway No 10 (Thailand) was jointly constructing the State Audit Office HQ in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district when the 33-storey building collapsed during mild seismic tremors last year, killing more than 90 people.

Investigators probing Prachuap’s corporate dealings discovered he had also registered himself as the biological father of a Chinese child. A DNA test, ordered by authorities, revealed that he shared no biological ties with the child.

Prachuap was detained in nationwide raids targeting a criminal syndicate that secured fraudulent Thai paperwork for wealthy Chinese clients. The crackdown has resulted in dozens of arrests, exposing the dark reality that these children were being lined up to inherit and shield vast illegal foreign businesses under fraudulent Thai citizenship.

A regional precedent

The national security concerns surrounding these schemes were highlighted by a recent case in the Philippines. In 2022, an enigmatic candidate named Alice Guo was elected mayor of Bamban, a small farming town located roughly 100 kilometres north of Metro Manila.

Guo presented herself as a native-born Filipina who had been raised in isolation on a pig farm.

However, in March 2024, authorities uncovered a massive Chinese-run crime hub – spanning cyber-scams, cryptocurrency fraud and human trafficking – operating under Guo’s jurisdiction.

Further investigation found that Chinese-born Guo had entered the Philippines as a teenager in 2003 and systematically falsified her personal records to gain Filipino citizenship.

Also known as Guo Hua Ping, she was captured in Indonesia after a failed escape attempt in 2025 and sentenced to life in prison for human trafficking. She is also charged with organising the scam hub, money laundering, tax evasion, graft and fraudulent land acquisitions.

The ‘999’ package

The Public-Sector Anti-Corruption Commission recently revealed that an illicit birthright citizenship package, dubbed the “999 package,” was available at a private hospital in Bangkok.

“The name refers to the price tag of 99,999 baht,” explained Pol Lt-Colonel Siripong Sritula, the commission’s deputy secretary-general.

The package was allegedly marketed by a staff member at a private hospital, who recruited Thai men to sign as fathers of foreign babies born at the hospital. The falsified paperwork was then sent to the local district office to secure a Thai birth certificate.

Investigators have arrested the hospital employee and a district official while securing 40 arrest warrants for suspects, including 17 alleged fake Thai fathers. Authorities say there is no evidence to indicate any hospital was involved in the scam.