NAKHON RATCHASIMA — An investigation into fraudulent Thai birth certificates involving Chinese nationals has uncovered 28 additional cases — including six sets of twins — as authorities dig deeper into a widening scandal that has now implicated officials in multiple provinces.

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Kittipong Pongsurawet, the mayor of Pho Klang municipality, said on Friday that the newly discovered fake birth registrations bring the total cases in his municipality alone to 45. All of the cases involved Chinese nationals, he added, suggesting a coordinated effort to obtain fraudulent Thai documentation for foreign citizens.

The latest fake birth registrations were claimed to be for babies born at Fort Suranaree Hospital in Muang district between June and October last year. The batch included six twins registered in the same month, a statistical anomaly that raised immediate red flags for investigators. Kittipong has been in talks with hospital executives after the name of the army-run hospital came to investigators’ attention, and he said the hospital would conduct its own internal inquiry to determine why it was linked to the cases.

Similar patterns have already been uncovered in Bangkok, where police this week arrested six suspects, including an official working at the Thon Buri district registration office. That arrest has opened the door to a broader investigation, with police now looking into possible cases in other provinces where the same patterns of fraudulent registrations may have occurred.

NAKHON RATCHASIMA – An investigation into fraudulent Thai birth certificates involving Chinese nationals has found 28 more cases — including six twins — as authorities dig deeper to crack down on officials behind the scandal.

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The forged documents are believed to be used by Chinese nationals to establish fraudulent Thai identities, potentially for purposes ranging from visa-free travel to property ownership or even criminal activity. A Thai birth certificate is a foundational document that can lead to a Thai ID card, passport and access to services and rights normally reserved for citizens.

Pho Klang municipality has registered a formal complaint with Muang district police against an official responsible for registrations. Police have not yet pressed charges against the suspect as they are still interrogating additional witnesses and gathering evidence. Kittipong has alleged that the suspect demanded bribes of between 10,000 and 30,000 baht from a Chinese ring for each forged birth registration document, suggesting a well-organised commercial operation rather than isolated instances of individual corruption.

“I believe the suspect could not have acted alone in these cases,” Kittipong said. “This scandal involves more people.” His comments point to a likely network of officials across multiple districts and provinces who may have been complicit in issuing false documents for payment.

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The investigation is ongoing, and authorities have not yet released the names of the detained officials or provided a complete tally of how many fraudulent birth certificates may have been issued nationwide. For now, 45 cases in one municipality are just the beginning. As investigators follow the paper trail, the full extent of the fraud — and the number of officials involved — has yet to be determined. What is clear is that Thailand’s civil registration system has been compromised, and the people responsible are not just the Chinese nationals who paid for the documents, but the Thai officials who sold them.

-Thailand News (TN)