Thai “Fathers for Hire” citizenship fraud probe leads to 46 warrants
DNA tests found no biological links between 24 people and their registered Thai fathers as investigators examined cases involving eight hospitals.
- An investigation into a "Fathers for Hire" scheme in Thailand has uncovered a network where Thai men were paid to falsely claim paternity, allowing children of foreign nationals to unlawfully obtain citizenship.
- The latest phase of the probe has resulted in 46 arrest warrants being issued for individuals involved in the citizenship fraud.
- Those facing arrest include the hired Thai men, the children's foreign biological parents, complicit state officials, and hospital staff.
- DNA testing was used to definitively prove the fraud, confirming the registered Thai "
Police and the Department of Provincial Administration have expanded their investigation into a “Fathers for Hire” network that used Thai men to falsely acknowledge paternity of children born to foreign nationals so the children could obtain Thai citizenship unlawfully.
The third phase identified 24 people whose nationality status requires investigation, with links to eight hospitals and a total of 46 arrest warrants issued for those involved.
Pol Lt Gen Noppasilp Poonsawat, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said on Tuesday (October 27, 2026) that the investigation followed orders from national police chief Pol Gen Samran Nualma after false birth registrations through private hospitals and the involvement of state officials were uncovered.
The first phase identified three children and resulted in six arrests, while the second identified another 22 children and led to the arrest of 36 suspects.
DNA tests comparing samples from all 24 people with those from the Thai men named as fathers on their birth certificates, their mothers and men believed to be their biological fathers found that none of the registered Thai fathers was biologically related to them.
Those named in the arrest warrants include state officials, hospital staff, foreign mothers, Thai men who acknowledged paternity, the actual foreign fathers and people involved in the improper exercise of civil registration rights.
A key case involved a 27-year-old man whose birth certificate listed a Thai father and a Chinese mother, but DNA tests confirmed that a Chinese man was his biological father.
Officers arrested him at his home in Bangkok’s Bang Khun Thian area, where they also found a Chinese man and the 27-year-old’s mother, who appeared to be living together as a family.
He graduated in industrial engineering from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi and works for an electrical cable company in Samut Prakan, earning about THB30,000 a month.
The Thai man named on his birth certificate said he had been paid THB5,000 to register a marriage with the mother for business purposes 27 years earlier.
Another case involved 23-year-old male twins.
DNA tests confirmed that the Thai man named on their birth certificates was not their biological father.
One, a fifth-year medical student at a leading university in the country, was arrested while on a placement at a hospital in Si Racha district, Chon Buri.
His twin, a graduate of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who works as a programmer earning about THB50,000 a month, was arrested at a condominium in the Krung Thon Buri area.
The Thai man listed as their father is serving a prison sentence for a drug offence and is due for release on Thursday (August 27, 2037).
The twins’ mother, formerly named Su Jian, was arrested under identity card legislation over her role in vouching for both sons to obtain identity cards.
Authorities are also examining how she obtained Thai citizenship through marriage to a Thai national, whom she divorced after gaining citizenship.
In a further case, two boys aged seven and three had the same mother but different Thai men listed as their fathers on their birth certificates.
DNA tests confirmed that a foreign man was the biological father of the seven-year-old.
The Thai man named on that child’s birth certificate, a motorcycle taxi rider, admitted being paid THB5,000 for the registration.
The Thai man listed as the three-year-old’s father owns 10 businesses in total, including a factory that manufactures machinery.
Officers arrested the foreign man while he was with both boys at a home in Samut Prakan.
The property also serves as the registered address of a company in which their mother is a shareholder.
Investigators are examining whether the company operates under a nominee arrangement.
All 24 people will undergo a review and correction of their civil registration status.
If they are found to have obtained Thai citizenship unlawfully, the relevant documents will be cancelled and the associated status revoked in accordance with the law, while also taking account of children’s rights and best interests.
Police will extend the investigation to recruiters, brokers, those who endorsed the registrations, state officials and the ultimate beneficiaries, aiming to close loopholes that allow the civil registration system to be used to claim rights fraudulently and evade the law.
