Chinese financier faces 50 years for illegal transnational surrogacy

The Criminal Court handed down a 50-year prison sentence to a Chinese financier and his Thai cohorts for orchestrating a transnational surrogacy syndicate.

A Chinese financier, Ran Zhao, along with his three Thai partners known as Thamnoon, Nopporn, and Nikhom, received a hefty sentence after being found guilty of spearheading a notorious transnational criminal enterprise and running commercial surrogacy operations in Thailand.

This verdict culminated from their involvement in a nefarious scheme spanning from 2015 to 2020, where unsuspecting Thai women were coerced into acting as surrogates for Chinese couples.

Initially facing a staggering 150 years each in prison for a litany of 55 charges, the quartet’s confession led to a reduction to 75 years. Yet, Thai law’s confinement of prison terms to 50 years further mitigated their punishment, reported Thai PBS World.

Meanwhile, seven other accomplices, primarily Thai women, received four-year sentences but were promptly released due to time served during the investigation and trial.

In related news, authorities in Thailand are on the brink of a groundbreaking change in surrogacy laws, poised to welcome foreign couples into the country for surrogate births, reveals the Department of Health Service Support. The current legislation, known as the Protection for Children Born through Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act, restricts surrogacy services to Thai nationals alone, clarified Arkhom Praditsuwan, the department’s deputy director-general.

However, a proposed amendment aims to open the doors for foreign couples, granting them access to surrogacy services within Thailand. Prospective parents would have the choice to either bring in surrogate mothers from abroad or select Thai women for the role.

In other news, Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station officers arrested a Chinese man for stealing cash and a Rolex watch worth over 500,0000 baht from an Indian man on a flight from India to Bangkok. The airport’s security centre and Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station received a report of the theft from Vistara airline on March 7. The crime took place during flight UK 123 from Bombay City in India to Bangkok in Thailand.