Commercial surrogacy outlawed in Thailand after Gammy scandal The twin sister of baby Gammy has left WA with her Chinese mother, interrupting a child protection investigation into the suitability of the childs father a convicted paedophile to have custody of a child. THAILAND'S parliament has voted to ban commercial surrogacy after outrage erupted over the largely unregulated industry following allegations an Australian couple abandoned a baby with Down's syndrome. A draft bill - which would see anyone profiting off surrogacy given a maximum 10-year prison sentence - passed its first reading in the country's military-stacked parliament on Thursday, legislator Wallop Tungkananurak said. "We want to put an end to this idea in foreigners" minds that Thailand is a baby factory," he told AFP. The bill was adopted with overwhelming support. Commercial surrogacy was technically banned by Thailand's Medical Council, but until recently even top fertility clinics were believed to offer the service. Pattaramon Chanbua holds her baby Gammy, born with Down syndrome, at the Samitivej hospital, Sriracha district in Chonburi province. The murky industry came under intense scrutiny this year after a series of surrogacy scandals involving foreigners. In August, a Thai mother who carried twin babies for an Australian couple accused them of abandoning a baby boy with Down's syndrome while taking his healthy sister. The couple have denied deliberately leaving the boy, called Gammy, with the surrogate mother - who was paid around $15,000 to carry the twins. PREVIOUSLY: Gammy's mother receives house and stipend from charity DENIAL: David and Wendy Farnell insist they didn't leave Gammy behind David and Wendy Farnell told 60 Minutes they did not deliberately abandon Gammy. In a separate case, police believe a Japanese man fathered at least 15 babies with surrogate mothers for unknown motives. A gay Australian couple were also stopped from leaving Thailand with a baby because they had incomplete documents. Thailand's military junta, which took over in a May coup, vowed to crack down on the industry. Dozens, possibly hundreds, of foreign couples are thought to have been left in limbo after entering into surrogacy arrangements through clinics in the kingdom. Originally published as "We are not your baby factory"