Police Crack Down on 'Thai Father Proxy' Citizenship Fraud Scheme

A motorcycle taxi driver caught up in a "Thai father proxy" scheme admits he was paid 5,000 baht to register a marriage with a Chinese woman, claiming he did not know his name was used to certify paternity of her child. Meanwhile, a Chiang Rai man confirms he will move to revoke his paternity acknowledgment after DNA tests proved he is not the biological father.

On October 27, 2026, Pol. Lt. Gen. Noppasilp Poolsawat, Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, led a joint operation with the Office of the National Security Council, the DSI, and the Department of Provincial Administration to launch Phase 3 of the crackdown on networks granting Thai citizenship to foreign children — known as the "Thai father proxy" scheme — raiding 22 target locations.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Noppasilp revealed during a raid on a company in Bang Mueang, Mueang District, Samut Prakan, that the operation expanded on investigations from Phase 1 and Phase 2. The location was notable as the residence of a Chinese man identified as Jang.

Investigation found that a Chinese woman, Huang Wang, had lived in Thailand since 2007, about 19 years, and had three children with Jang. When household registration records and DNA results were compared with the Thai men listed as fathers on documents, irregularities emerged in some of the children.

Examining all three children, officials found the first child's DNA matched Jang, the declared Chinese father. The second child, age 7, showed DNA matching neither the Thai man named on documents nor the Chinese couple; however, further checks confirmed the DNA matched Jang and Huang, the actual biological parents. The Thai man whose name was used holds a highland identity card (ID starting with 8) and is reportedly a business associate of Jang.

The third child, age 3, had a Thai man listed as father on the birth certificate and household registration. Investigation revealed this Thai man works as a motorcycle taxi driver and admitted he was hired for 5,000 baht to register a marriage with the Chinese woman. Officials are now taking detailed statements to trace other involved parties and the procedural steps taken.

During the raid, officials questioned Somkiat, a motorcycle taxi driver identified as the Thai man linked to the 3-year-old Chinese boy. Somkiat, who operates in the On Nut 11 area, said that in 2018 a fellow rider invited him to register a marriage for a fee of 5,000 baht. Needing money, he agreed. A car then picked him and his colleague up and took them to the Lak Si District Office.

Upon arrival, he met Huang Wang, the Chinese woman, but they barely spoke. He said his and his colleague's role was only to sign the marriage registration documents. After that, he never saw the woman again.

Somkiat insisted he did not know Huang personally before that day, and at the time of the marriage registration he was unaware she had a child or was pregnant. He never met the child and knew nothing about the paternity certification, emphasizing he never went to register the birth himself. In 2021, the woman contacted him to arrange a divorce, for which Somkiat said he "received 4,000 baht to handle the proceedings."

Somkiat also disclosed he already has a family, including a common-law wife and three children, one of whom has passed away. His family was unaware of his marriage registration to the Chinese woman during that period.