‘Phantom birth’ scam spooks Thailand as hundreds of babies get fake citizenship

Babies born to Chinese parents have been registered at addresses that no longer exist or to households without children. Local men have also been paid – or unwittingly used – to be named as fathers on birth certificates, automatically conferring Thai citizenship on the babies.

A police task force set up to investigate the widening scandal believes some of the false registrations may be linked to Chinese cyber scammers seeking to launder money through companies they can fully control.

“It started from a small point in the north, expanded gradually, and has now reached Bangkok,” Anutin said on Thursday. “There are still thousands more cases. We already have a good picture of these networks and their operations. We believe they will stop using the old methods and try to find new ones – but it won’t be as easy as before.”