Bangkok orders birth-record and marriage checks after ‘fake father’ case

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt has ordered all 50 district offices to strengthen scrutiny of birth registrations and marriage applications following an alleged scheme in which Thai men were falsely named as fathers of children born to foreign mothers.

The instruction followed the arrest of a registration official over alleged irregularities in birth notifications and the issuance of Thai birth certificates. The case, widely described in Thai as the “fake father” scandal, has also been linked to several private hospitals in Bangkok, according to the report.

Chadchart issued the directive during a meeting of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration department heads at City Hall in Phra Nakhon district on Tuesday (July 14).

He told directors and relevant personnel in all districts to monitor registration officers closely whenever a birth certificate was issued.

Beyond checking whether documents met legal requirements, officials should also consider whether the information was credible and practically possible, he noted, warning that fraudulent groups were using increasingly sophisticated methods.

Three measures introduced across Bangkok

The BMA has set out three urgent measures to investigate possible irregularities and prevent similar cases.

1. Inspection team deployed to district offices

A city-level working group has been established to investigate and resolve unlawful practices involving civil registration and national identity cards.

The panel, headed by a deputy permanent secretary for the BMA, inspected 31 district offices between June 2 and July 7.

Initial inspections found no cases resembling the alleged fraud uncovered at the Thon Buri District Office, according to the BMA’s report to the meeting.

The inspections focus on cases that could affect the integrity and security of Bangkok’s civil-registration system.

District supervisors have been instructed to examine officers’ work closely and ensure that unusual registrations are identified before official documents are issued.

2. Birth registrations reviewed back to 2017

All 50 district offices have been ordered to review birth notifications and birth certificates issued from January 1, 2017, to the present.

The review covers children whose mothers are foreign nationals and whose fathers were registered as Thai, with particular attention being paid to births recorded at private hospitals within each district.

District offices must submit their findings by July 27.

The review must cover three main areas.

First, district offices must report the annual number of birth notifications accepted and birth certificates issued in the relevant category.

Second, they must examine whether the supporting evidence was accurate and complete and whether registrars followed the required procedures.

Third, officials must check the histories of the Thai men named as fathers, including how many children each man has registered and whether those children were born to the same mother or different women. The checks are intended to identify potentially abnormal patterns.

Cases considered suspicious or found to involve unlawful conduct will be referred for legal action under the relevant authority and Ministry of Interior guidelines.

3. Tighter checks on marriages involving foreign nationals

The BMA’s Administration and Registration Office has also issued a circular instructing district offices to strengthen safeguards against fraudulent or sham marriages between Thai and foreign nationals.

Authorities are concerned that criminal groups, including transnational networks, may use false marriage registrations to obtain rights or benefits under Thai law.

Registration officers must conduct strict identity checks through the ThaID application or examine reliable official documents and passports.

They must also carefully review applicants’ qualifications and marital-status records. Where officers suspect dishonest intent, they must conduct additional questioning before proceeding with the registration.

When there are reasonable grounds for suspicion and an investigation finds that a registration was improper, officials must act within their legal powers and follow the Ministry of Interior’s procedures for civil-registration and identity-card fraud.

Those procedures are set out in a ministry circular dated February 12, 2014.

District chiefs told to strengthen supervision

Chadchart stressed that the issue could not be addressed through document checks alone.

District directors and supervisors must take greater responsibility for monitoring registration work and identifying information that appears implausible, even when documents initially seem complete.

The city’s response combines inspections of current practices, a review of records extending back more than nine years and tighter checks on marriages involving foreign nationals.

The BMA said the measures were intended to prevent fraudulent civil registration, protect the reliability of official records and ensure that legal rights were not obtained through false information.