Bust for ‘fake father’ Thai citizenship ring

Police have arrested 42 people, including an employee of a private hospital, a district official, 18 alleged Thai surrogate fathers and 21 Chinese nationals, in a major crackdown on an organised scheme that enabled Chinese couples to obtain Thai citizenship for their children.

The crackdown was a joint operation involving several state agencies, among them to Royal Thai Police, the Provincial Administration Department, the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission’s Office and the Anti-Money Laundering Office.

Informed police sources say that the investigation followed the arrest of Chen Yin-lai, the alleged ring leader of a Chinese scam and money-laundering network in April 2024.

The sources indicate that the investigators had detected something suspicious in the financial transactions between Chen to his Chinese wife, Pao-jiao, whose three children have obtained Thai citizenship.

It was discovered that the couple had hired a Thai man to apply for marriage registration with Pao-jiao at a district office and to adopt her three children as his, allegedly with the help of a private hospital employee and a district officer.

The investigation has also discovered that the same hospital had recorded 164 babies born there to Chinese women and their Thai husbands in years 2023-24.

Officials have conducted DNA tests on 19 Chinese children and found that their DNA samples did not match their surrogate Thai fathers. The Provincial Administration Department has revoked the Thai citizenships of these 19 Chinese children, said the sources.