Four arrested over fake paternity; 1,483 records face checks
Officials are reviewing 1,483 children in Bangkok after four arrests over false paternity claims used to obtain Thai nationality
- Four people, a Chinese couple and two Thai men, have been arrested in connection with a scheme involving false paternity registrations.
- The scheme allegedly involved Thai men being paid to falsely register as fathers to unlawfully obtain Thai nationality for the children of foreign nationals.
- The arrests are part of a broader investigation in which Thai authorities are reviewing 1,483 birth records in Bangkok for similar irregularities.
- In the two confirmed cases leading to the arrests, the children's Thai nationality has been revoked, and the investigation has expanded to include private hospitals.
Thai authorities have arrested a Chinese couple and two Thai men and are reviewing records linked to 1,483 children in Bangkok as they expand an investigation into alleged false paternity registrations used to obtain Thai nationality.
The four suspects were detained during raids at two locations on July 24, including a luxury home in the Meng Chai area off Pracha Uthit Road.
Police said the Chinese couple were the biological parents of two children, while the Thai suspects allegedly allowed their identities to be recorded as the fathers. The children were found to hold passports from two countries.
The suspects were taken to Huai Khwang Police Station and charged with jointly making false statements to officials, using false official documents and corrupting civil-registration records to obtain Thai nationality unlawfully.
Police said all four admitted the alleged offences during questioning.
Database anomalies lead to investigation
The Department of Provincial Administration began investigating after finding irregularities in the civil-registration database, particularly birth records listing Chinese women as mothers and Thai nationals as fathers.
Officials said deeper checks found evidence that the names of Thai men had been used to acknowledge paternity even though the biological fathers were foreign nationals without Thai citizenship.
Deputy National Police Chief Pol Gen Samran Nualma said officers had identified records linked to 1,483 children in Bangkok for further examination.
Irregularities have so far been established in two cases, leading to the four arrests. Officials said the remaining records would be reviewed individually and that Thai nationality would be revoked where investigators proved it had been obtained through fraud.
The latest operation followed an earlier crackdown on July 9, when officers executed 35 arrest warrants in a separate case involving alleged false paternity registrations in the Thonburi area.
Police said the current case differed from the earlier investigation. In the Thonburi case, particular officials were allegedly selected to handle registrations. In the latest case, the suspects appeared to have used the ordinary queue and registration process.
Investigators have therefore not concluded that staff at the Huai Khwang district registration office were involved. Police said officials must be treated fairly while checks continue.
It also remains unclear whether the Thai men appeared in person when the births were registered. Police said documents belonging to both the Chinese mother and the Thai men recorded as fathers had been submitted.
The latest arrests resulted from further investigation and information provided by members of the public.
Police and mother give differing accounts
Police searched the Chinese couple’s home and seized passports, photographs, birth certificates, health and life-insurance documents, bank books and other material for examination.
Investigators said witness statements, medical records, birth-registration documents and DNA tests showed that the Chinese couple were the biological parents of the two children.
Police alleged that the couple contacted a broker to find Thai men who would acknowledge the children as their own. The two Thai suspects allegedly supplied personal documents and posed as the fathers in exchange for payment.
The Chinese mother disputed part of that account while speaking to reporters during the raid. She said she had not paid one of the Thai men and described him as a friend she had known since 2015 who had agreed to help voluntarily.
She said she had lived and worked in Thailand for almost 20 years, liked living in the country and wanted her children to have Thai nationality so their lives would be more convenient.
The woman said she had not known the arrangement was illegal and acknowledged that obtaining Thai nationality for her children was the reason for registering a Thai man as their father.
Her Chinese husband declined to answer detailed questions. He denied knowing of a wider network and said he had lived in Thailand since 2006.
Police said evidence indicated that the two Thai men had no genuine parental relationship with the children. Investigators believe the network exploited weaknesses in the birth-registration and paternity-acknowledgement process.
Private hospitals face nationwide checks
The Department of Health Service Support is examining the role of a private hospital in the Rama IX area where three children under investigation were born.
Officials said evidence of irregularities had been found in two cases, while the third remained under examination.
The department has ordered documents connected to the births to be secured and handed to investigators. It is also expanding checks to more than 470 private hospitals across Thailand.
Under the normal process, a nurse records details of the child and parents, the doctor who delivered the baby signs the birth certificate, and an authorised hospital representative submits the documents to the registration office.
The department said substituting another person as a parent at the beginning of that process could make it difficult for registrars to detect false information later.
Hospital managers are responsible for ensuring that medical staff comply with the law and professional standards. Doctors or nurses found to have participated in fraudulent registrations could face criminal proceedings, disciplinary action and professional sanctions, including possible revocation of their licences.
Authorities are also examining whether doctors, hospital management or other personnel were involved in the earlier Thonburi case, in which a medical-records employee was among the suspects.
The Department of Provincial Administration warned that any government officials found to have assisted the scheme would face serious disciplinary proceedings, possible dismissal and criminal prosecution as public officers.
Registration officials found to have participated in fraud could be suspended from duty while legal and disciplinary proceedings are pursued.
The civil registrar has cancelled the disputed registration entries and revoked the Thai nationality obtained by the two children in the current case. Immigration authorities have also been asked to consider further legal action against the foreign nationals involved.
Officials have so far reported proven irregularities in two of the 1,483 Bangkok cases. The remaining cases are still under review.
