Unscrupulous law and audit firms are being targeted for investigation by the Department of Business Development (DBD) and the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) in an effort to curb the widespread malpractice of using Thai nominees to buy land in Thailand on behalf of foreigners or foreign companies—particularly prime land in major tourist provinces.
DBD Director-General Poonpong Naiyanapakorn said today that over the past several months, 86 cases of illegal land acquisition by foreigners or foreign companies through Thai nominees have been recorded, with legal action taken against those involved.
He pointed out that in several of these cases, law or audit firms are believed to have played a key role in arranging for Thai nationals to act as nominees in the purchases, in exchange for financial rewards, in order to circumvent Thai law.
According to the DBD’s database, at the end of last year the number of registered legal entities in some tourist and economically significant provinces was as follows:
- Chon Buri: 73,126 corporate entities, with combined registered capital of about 1 trillion baht
- Chiang Mai: 32,099 corporate entities, with combined registered capital of about 217.5 billion baht
- Phuket: 31,291 corporate entities, with combined registered capital of about 234 billion baht
- Surat Thani: 25,004 corporate entities, with combined registered capital of about 123.8 billion baht
- Prachuap Khiri Khan: 7,087 corporate entities, with combined registered capital of about 34 billion baht
Poonpong also said his department has submitted a list of 397 corporate entities suspected of being linked to scam networks to the CIB and the Anti-Money Laundering Office for further investigation.
Under Thai land law, foreigners are generally prohibited from owning land in Thailand, with limited exceptions.
These include investments of more than 40 million baht in Board of Investment (BOI)-promoted businesses, ownership of residential land of up to 0.16 hectares with ministerial approval, or ownership of up to 49% of a Thai-registered company.
