Police uncovered a citizenship fraud involving Thai men, a hospital employee and a district office official who helped Chinese families to fraudulently obtain Thai citizenship for their children.
The investigation began after police arrested Chinese national Chen Yinlao in April 2024 in connection with a call centre scam and money laundering operation involving more than 70 billion baht.
According to investigators, financial records showed that funds linked to the scam were transferred to Chen’s wife, Paojiao, and their three children. Although both parents are Chinese nationals, officers discovered that the children had been registered as Thai citizens.
The discovery prompted the Department of Provincial Administration and the Royal Thai Police to launch an investigation into how the Chinese children obtained Thai nationality.
Investigators reported that the Chinese couple hired a Thai man, later identified as Wiroj, to register a marriage with Paojiao and be recorded as the legal father of the three children.
Police also found Sunee, an employee of a private hospital in Bangkok’s Thon Buri district, of arranging Thai men to falsely acknowledge paternity for children born to Chinese mothers in exchange for payment.
According to investigators, Sunee charged 20,000 baht for each arrangement and shared between 2,000 and 15,000 baht with the Thai men involved, depending on the case.
Authorities also discovered Siriporn, an official at Thon Buri District Office, of unlawfully processing birth registrations and facilitating Thai citizenship for the children.
An initial review of the civil registration database identified 62 fraudulent birth registrations involving foreign mothers and Thai fathers. Investigators also found that at least 19 birth certificates had been issued unlawfully.
The Department of Provincial Administration has instructed relevant registrars to revoke the Thai citizenship obtained through the fraudulent registrations.
According to Naewna, authorities have arrested 17 Thai men, 16 Chinese women and the two accused officials. Investigators said the inquiry is continuing to identify other people who may have been involved in the alleged network.
Police also said one of the Thai men arrested in the citizenship fraud is also under an investigation for allegedly acting as a nominee shareholder for China Railway, a company connected to the collapse of the Office of the Auditor General building.
The story 62 fraudulent birth registrations found during probe into Thai citizenship fraud as seen on Thaiger News.
