The Chinese financier of a transnational commercial surrogacy service and his three Thai accomplices were sentenced to 50 years in prison each today by the Criminal Court, after they were found guilty of being affiliated with a transnational criminal organisation and operating commercial surrogacy services in Thailand.

Seven other accomplices, who are mostly Thai women, including the wife of the Chinese financier identified as Su Ying Tin, were each sentenced to four years in prison. As they had already been held on remand for over four years during the investigation and trial, they were released.

According to the public prosecutors, the gang operated a commercial surrogacy service in Thailand from 2015 to 2020. Gang members were accused of persuading Thai women to serve as surrogates for Chinese couples.

Initially, the court sentenced the financier, identified as Ran Zhao, and his three Thai accomplices, “Thamnoon”, “Nopporn” and “Nikhom”, to 150 years each in prison after they were found guilty of 55 offences. Due to their confession, however, the sentence was commuted to 75 years each. Since the Thai law limits prison terms to 50 years, their sentences were further reduced.