EnforcementNominee probe widens to 100 Phuket firms worth ฿5bn, now scrutinising naturalised-citizen shareholders
The Interior Ministry ordered a financial-trail investigation into more than 100 Phuket companies with combined 2025 revenue over ฿5 billion, checking whether Thai shareholders are genuine investors or cover for foreign capital — and, for the first time, examining how some of those shareholders obtained Thai citizenship in the first place. The crackdown now reaches naturalised-citizen structures, not just standard nominee arrangements; a further reason to have any Thai-company land or business holding reviewed for clean provenance.
Thai Examiner · Aug 2026Read → PolicyPhuket clears 275 of 392 backlogged hotel licences after a 6-year delay
Authorities issued licences to 275 of 392 pending Phuket hotel applications over a two-month push on a direct PM order, clearing over 75% of a backlog stalled since 2018; the remaining 117 are due by September 2026, out of roughly 5,000 accommodation businesses on the island of which only about 800 currently hold a licence. Running parallel to the nominee crackdown, this is the clearest sign yet that unlicensed villa and resort operators — including foreign-fronted ones — should regularise now rather than wait for an inspection.
Nation Thailand · Aug 2026Read → EnforcementNominee crackdown's next phase starts scrutinising 30-year land leases, not just company shares
Phase 7 of the nationwide nominee-network crackdown hit Koh Samui on 15 August, with 300+ officials examining roughly 8,000 companies — 2,579 flagged as suspected nominee structures — and, for the first time, checking registered 30-year land leases for side letters that hand a foreign lessee de facto ownership control. A genuine Land Office-registered lease with no such side arrangement remains a legal instrument on its own; the warning is about disguised control, not the lease structure Intira itself uses — a good moment to have your own lease reviewed for any undisclosed side terms.
Thai Examiner · Aug 2026Read → EnforcementNominee crackdown reaches education: 2 Canadians, 2 Thais arrested over Phuket international schools
Chalong police detained two Canadian nationals and two Thai women on 6 August under Phuket Provincial Court warrants, alleging the Thai pair held nominee shares so the Canadians could control international-school businesses in breach of the Foreign Business Act — three schools are under investigation. The nominee crackdown isn't confined to land and hotels anymore; any foreign-run business here structured through a Thai nominee, in any sector, should assume the same scrutiny.
The Thaiger · Aug 2026Read → EnforcementDeputy Interior Minister raid finds three more unlicensed Phuket hotels marketed almost entirely to foreigners
A joint inspection led by the Deputy Interior Minister found three hotels (about 200, 240 and 45 rooms) with no valid construction permits or hotel licences — two originally approved as residential or condo buildings and converted without authorisation. Booking checks showed near-zero Thai guests and suspected 49/51 nominee shareholding behind the properties. Any villa or small resort run through a Thai company should have its permits, hotel licence and shareholding checked now, not after a raid.
Bangkok Post · Aug 2026Read → PolicyNew DBD rule from 1 August forces bank-statement proof behind every Thai company registration
Department of Business Development Order 2/2026, effective 1 August, requires Thai shareholders and directors in new or amended company registrations to submit bank statements so officials can match declared investment against real money movement — with Phuket named a high-risk province for stepped-up inspection. Setting up or amending a nominee-style structure just got materially harder; any Phuket land held through a Thai company should be reviewed against this standard now, not after an inspection.
Nation Thailand · Aug 2026Read → EnforcementNominee crackdown expands to 361+ Phuket businesses after a Chabad House inspection stand-off
After a 22 July inspection at Patong's Chabad House drew a claim the premises were "Israeli territory" — flatly rejected by the Deputy Interior Minister ("This is Thailand") — the Interior Ministry widened its nominee and licensing checks to more than 361 hotels, villas, restaurants and tour operators across Phuket. A reminder the crackdown applies uniformly regardless of nationality or religion — any Thai-company structure on the island should now assume inspection.
Nation Thailand · Jul 2026Read → PolicyOmbudsman proposes treating nominee schemes as money laundering, with AMLO powers
On 24 July the Ombudsman recommended reclassifying nominee shareholding as a money-laundering predicate offence, which would hand the Anti-Money Laundering Office asset-seizure and account-freezing powers, extend the ownership look-back window from three months to up to three years, and add penalties of up to three years in prison and roughly ฿3 million in fines. It is a proposal, not yet law, but it signals enforcement could get sharply more aggressive — another reason to get any Thai-company land structure reviewed and cleaned up now.
Thai Examiner · Jul 2026Read → LegalCompliant routes unchanged: 49% condo freehold, registered lease, usufruct
The 49% per-project condo freehold quota holds, and registered 30-year leases plus usufruct remain the clean ways for foreigners to hold. The mooted 75% quota / 99-year lease reform is still only "approved for further study" — not enacted.
Global Law Experts · 2026Read →