A House committee has urged authorities to dismantle a suspected transnational network that allegedly used Thai men as fake fathers to help children born to Chinese parents fraudulently obtain Thai citizenship.
Rangsiman Rome, chairman of the House Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice and Human Rights, said the government must move beyond arresting minor participants and dismantle the wider network.
The committee's meeting on Thursday reviewed the progress of a crackdown on so-called "fake fathers", in which Thai men allegedly register children born to Chinese parents as their own to facilitate fraudulent access to Thai citizenship.
Deputy committee chairman Piyarat Chongthep said evidence from eight private hospitals in Bangkok indicated 1,000-1,500 potentially suspicious cases involving foreign mothers and fathers who used Thai citizens' identities on birth certificates. Two of the eight hospitals did not attend the committee's meeting.
He said four new cases had also been identified at another private hospital, with the committee seeking further investigation.
Mr Piyarat said agencies faced budget constraints in verifying the nationality of children already registered as Thai citizens. DNA testing costs at least 3,000 baht per case, while additional resources are needed for investigations and follow-up work.
Mr Rangsiman described the network as a form of transnational crime and criticised the lack of a comprehensive operational plan to prevent and dismantle it.
He called for birth registrations to be reviewed retrospectively for at least 30 years, noting a case involving a 23-year-old Chinese national who had obtained Thai citizenship.
Mr Rangsiman urged agencies to build a unified database, identify groups of foreign mothers registered in Thailand and summon them for questioning. He said investigators should also examine supporting documents, including tax filings submitted by Thai fathers, to establish whether registrations were genuine.
