Authorities Dismantle Two Fake Thai Father Citizenship Rings
Thai immigration and provincial administration authorities have dismantled two "fake Thai father" networks that used Thai men to fraudulently register paternity of Chinese children to obtain Thai citizenship. The operations at Suvarnabhumi Airport led to multiple arrests and revealed connections to Chinese nationals wanted for major fraud and money laundering cases worth billions of baht. A local registrar in the Northeast has also been suspended for allegedly facilitating the fraudulent birth registrations.
On November 4, 2026, at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Immigration Bureau Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Naphatphol Poolsawat, alongside Department of Provincial Administration Director-General Narucha Khosachivais and several deputy immigration commissioners, launched Operation "Close the Sky, Hunt the Fake Thai Father Network" under a policy by Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. The crackdown followed an investigation into a corrupt civil registration scheme that used Thai men to pose as fathers of foreign-born children so the children could illegally obtain Thai nationality.
In the first case, on October 25, 2026, immigration officers at Suvarnabhumi flagged a 40-year-old Thai man, Ratthaphon, traveling with a 26-year-old Chinese woman, Ying Xue, and an eight-month-old boy holding a Thai passport. The pair gave inconsistent answers about their family background. Investigators found the real father is Hai Tao, a 32-year-old Chinese content-company employee wanted in China for a fraud case involving 2 billion baht. Police believe Hai Tao and Ying Xue planned to give birth in Thailand and then had Ratthaphon acknowledge paternity to secure Thai citizenship for the child. The Pattaya Provincial Court issued arrest warrants on October 31 for all three on charges of making false statements and using false evidence in civil registration; all three have since been apprehended.
The second case emerged on October 27 when immigration officers stopped a 31-year-old Chinese woman, Xiang Jun, attempting to leave the country with a two-year-old boy on a Thai-child visa. The child possessed two birth certificates. The first listed Thai national Chatmongkol, 26, as father and Thongsom, 53, as birth witness, identifying the child as Thai. The second, a forged hospital document, named Chinese national Yiamjum, 32, as father and classified the child as foreign. Investigation confirmed Yiamjum is the biological father. The Bangkok South Criminal Court issued warrants for Yiamjum, Xiang Jun, Chatmongkol, and Thongsom for using false documents and making false civil-registration statements. Yiamjum is also wanted by Chinese police for accounting fraud and money laundering linked to more than 133 accounts worth about 500 million yuan (approximately 2.5 billion baht). The Department of Provincial Administration has appointed a disciplinary committee to investigate Wiwat Chai, the registrar in the Northeast who processed the fraudulent birth registration, and recommended his removal from service.
This operation expands the crackdown on the "fake Thai father" scheme that exploits Thai citizenship rights for foreign children. It uncovered links to Chinese fugitives and the use of forged official documents to illegally obtain registration rights.
