Health Committee Urges Crackdown on Fake Birth Certificate Scheme
Authorities have identified nearly 10,000 suspicious birth certificate cases involving foreign nationals since 2012, raising national security concerns that fraudulent Thai identity holders could eventually become lawmakers or prime ministe
The health committee chair called for proactive work by the Health Ministry and police to dismantle the fake birth certificate network, fearing that foreign nationals holding fraudulent Thai identity rights could become future lawmakers or prime minister. On September 3 at Parliament, Saklathee Phattiyakul, a list-based Democrat MP and chair of the House health committee, briefed media after the committee meeting on the fake birth certificate case, saying he had invited Bangkok authorities, the Interior Department, the national police, and the Health Ministry to brief the committee.
Bangkok previously reported screening the past five years and finding approximately 500 suspicious cases. As of now, screening from 2017 to 2024 has identified 879 cases across 29 districts, with 27 birth certificates already found to be fraudulent and revoked. Another 810 cases are currently under investigation through DNA testing and some voluntary confessions. Government officials in approximately 3-4 districts are involved, with Thon Buri district having dismissed staff and referred cases to local police.
Saklathee added that the Interior Department uncovered even more alarming figures, screening back to 2012 through 2024 and finding approximately 10,000 suspicious cases where a father is Thai and the mother is Chinese, though full investigation has not yet proceeded. The committee expressed concern that verification depends on official discretion over parental DNA consent, and if parents refuse testing, the cases remain unresolved in the civil registry. However, children born during this period will eventually reach legal age and can conduct transactions and own property regardless.
Regarding the Health Ministry, 10 private hospitals have been confirmed under investigation, with Thon Buri hospital alone showing 164 suspicious cases. Saklathee criticized the ministry for taking only a reactive rather than proactive approach and called on the Health Minister to order the agency to actively investigate, as the issue concerns national security. He warned that with over 10,000 suspects, there is a real possibility that future lawmakers or prime ministers could unknowingly be foreign nationals holding fraudulent Thai identity documents.
On police progress, Deputy Police Chief Samran Nualma is overseeing the investigation but has so far been unable to expand it beyond hospital officials and district staff, suggesting the money trail may not have reached higher operators. Saklathee believed the scheme must involve Chinese agents or operatives and called for deeper police investigation and additional information from the committee. He noted that some hospitals had experienced multiple fake birth certificate incidents in recent years.
