Chadchart Orders Crackdown on Loopholes After Arrest of Thonburi District Official for Issuing Fake Birth Certificates

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittiphan has ordered strict oversight and a comprehensive review of procedures and authority limits to close loopholes following the arrest of a Thonburi district official involved in issuing fake birth certificates to stateless persons. An urgent audit of document issuance across all districts is underway.

An Anti-Corruption Police operation, coordinated with the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Public Relations Department, and Special Cases Investigation Bureau, conducted raids on four locations and arrested one official from the Thonburi District Registry Office along with five others—six suspects total—for fraudulently issuing birth certificates to foreign nationals to falsely claim Thai citizenship.

On April 29, 2569, at the Asdang Development Building at City Hall 2 in Din Daeng, Governor Chadchart Sittiphan stated that the arrested registry officials were mid-level operational staff, not supervisors or district directors, and that the scheme involved multiple people colluding together.

Chadchart said procedures must be reviewed to identify vulnerabilities and assess whether excessive authority has been granted to individual officials in birth certificate verification processes.

Chadchart instructed Deputy Governor Chakraphan Phiwngam to investigate the volume of documents issued to foreign nationals and identify any districts with abnormally high numbers.

"We will also review procedures so that decisions are not made by a single person, but rather by a committee working together to prevent excessive power concentration in individual hands. I commend the police for their arrest. This is decisive action on the corruption that has surfaced," Chadchart said.

Four locations were raided, with six suspects arrested—state officials and accomplices—involved in the fake birth certificate scheme allowing foreigners to fraudulently claim Thai nationality.