42 arrests made in fake birth registration scandal

Public officials and parents held after crackdown on scheme that granted Thai citizenship to Chinese children

Forty-two people, including parents and district officials, have been arrested in connection with a fraudulent birth registration scheme, Thai authorities said on Thursday.

Hospital officials were also among the suspects in the scheme, under which children of Chinese nationals obtained Thai citizenship through sham paternity registrations, said Pol Gen Samran Nualma, the deputy national police chief.

He made the announcement at a briefing held by the Royal Thai Police and the Department of Provincial Administration, which also took part in the investigation, dubbed “Removing the Dragon’s Scales”.

Other participants included the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo).

Those arrested include a private hospital employee, a district office registrar, 18 Thai men alleged of acting as “fake fathers”, 21 Chinese parents and 1 Laotian mother. They are facing charges under the Civil Registration Act and the Computer Crime Act, with the public officials also facing malfeasance charges under Section 157 of the Criminal Code.

The investigation stemmed from the arrest in April 2024 of Chinese national Chen Yin Lai, who was accused of operating a scam and money-laundering network worth more than 70 billion baht in Thailand.

Investigators later traced funds to Chen’s Chinese wife, identified as Chen Baojiao, whose three children all held Thai nationality.

A deeper investigation found that Thai men had been paid to register sham marriages with Chinese women and falsely acknowledge paternity, allowing the children to obtain Thai citizenship. (Story continues below)

An officer with the Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Bureau  (iDMB) speaks with one of the people involved in the fraudulent birth certificate case. (Police Photo).

Hospital ‘broker’

Authorities allege that a staff member at a well-known private hospital in Bangkok acted as a broker, arranging maternity care packages for Chinese clients and preparing documents needed for birth registration.

A district office registrar is accused of facilitating the unlawful registration process.

Records from the National Identity Crime Enforcement unit at the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA N.I.C.E.) show 164 birth registrations involving Chinese mothers and Thai fathers were linked to the hospital in question between 2023 and 2024.

DNA testing has so far confirmed that 19 children were not biologically related to the Thai men listed as their fathers, prompting authorities to revoke those birth registrations.

Investigators said the hospital employee charged around 70,000 baht for childbirth packages, with an additional 20,000-baht service fee for arranging documentation. Thai men allegedly received between 2,000 and 15,000 baht to register marriage papers or acknowledge paternity.

Authorities also revealed that one of the accused Thai “fake fathers” is a shareholder in China Railway No.10 (Thailand), holding a 10.2% stake, and is suspected of acting as a Thai nominee for the company.

China Railway No.10 (Thailand) was among the contractors implicated in the collapse of the State Audit Office building in Bangkok in March 2025, in which 95 people died.

During Thursday’s operation, officers searched a luxury housing estate in Bangkok’s Rama II area, where they found a child allegedly holding both a Thai birth certificate and Chinese birth documents.

As authorities said the case may constitute a predicate offence under Thai anti-money laundering laws, Amlo is now examining financial transactions and assets linked to the suspects and their network.

The Department of Provincial Administration said it has tightened procedures for registering births involving Thai and foreign parents, including requiring both parents to appear before registrars, conducting separate interviews, verifying hospital birth certificates and ordering DNA testing in suspicious cases.

Officials said investigations are continuing and that several other private hospitals in Bangkok are under scrutiny for possible involvement in similar schemes. Anyone found to have participated will face legal action, authorities said.

Pol Gen Samran Nualma (left) and Pol Lt Gen Nopasin Poolswat take part in the arrest operation that followed a lengthy investigation into fraudulent birth registrations. (Photo: Royal Thai Police)