Three civil servants in Nakhon Ratchasima have been arrested for allegedly issuing fake Thai birth certificates and transferring household registrations for at least 10 Chinese children, authorities said on Saturday.
The Department of Provincial Administration said investigators had confirmed that Thai men listed as fathers in the documents denied being the children’s biological parents. Authorities have so far verified 13 fraudulent registrations.
Arrest warrants were issued on Friday for three officials: a senior municipal registrar in tambon Pho Klang, Muang district, as well as a former district chief and an employee in Huai Thalaeng district. Their names were not disclosed.
The suspects were questioned at the Counter Corruption Division of the Central Investigation Bureau in Bangkok. Police said the registrar admitted using false paternal names and records purportedly from the army-run Fort Suranari Hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima to issue Thai birth certificates.
The army said on Saturday it had checked the birth registration list submitted by provincial authorities against the hospital’s database and found that “no birth records of the children in question were found as alleged”.
“The Royal Thai Army reaffirms its full readiness to provide relevant data and documents to facilitate the expansion of the investigation and swift legal action against the perpetrators,” it said in a statement posted on X.
The arrests in Nakhon Ratchasima followed an operation in Bangkok last Wednesday, when police detained six suspects, including a Thon Buri district official, over a similar scheme.
Authorities said the group hired Thai men to register fake marriages and falsely acknowledge paternity, allowing Chinese children to obtain Thai nationality.
Further investigations in Nakhon Ratchasima found dozens of Chinese children registered in Pho Klang municipality. Many were listed as living at two houses in Lung Pradu and Huai Khaen in Huai Thalaeng district.
However, provincial administration officials who inspected the addresses found only vacant plots. The houses had been demolished in 2023. The registrations also listed mothers from China and Myanmar.
Officials said Thai nationality could allow foreign nationals to strengthen their long-term position in the country, and in some cases facilitate asset transfers.
On Friday, immigration police at Suvarnabhumi airport stopped a Chinese national from leaving Thailand with a 10-month-old boy whose birth certificate had been issued in Pho Klang. Authorities said the child was not travelling with his mother and did not have the required consent documents.
Municipal mayor Kittipong Pongsurawet said the number of cases under investigation in Pho Klang had risen to 50. Of 45 fraudulent registrations identified by the municipality, 29 involved genuine births but used stolen identities, while 16 had no birth records.
Five additional cases were detected by the Department of Provincial Administration.
Mr Kittipong said authorities were reviewing fraudulent documents issued over the past five years and would move to revoke birth certificates obtained by Chinese networks as quickly as possible.
The Department of Provincial Administration, under the Interior Ministry, has seen its budget rise by 20% over the past five years to more than 50 billion baht, reflecting its growing responsibilities in digital ID systems, civil registration and local security.
Its initiatives include DOPA N.I.C.E., or National Identity Crime Enforcement, a specialised task force set up to combat registry crimes and fraud.
