BANGKOK, THAILAND – Thai authorities mounted a large-scale crackdown on criminal networks that sold land illegally to foreigners using Thai nominees.
Authorities uncover 86 illegal land purchases
The Department of Business Development (DBD) and the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) significantly expanded their investigations into suspect property deals. DBD director-general Poonpong Naiyanapakorn reported a rising number of cases involving expatriates and foreign companies.
“In recent months we have registered 86 cases of illegal land acquisition by expats or foreign companies using Thai nominees,”
said Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, DBD chief. Legal action had already been initiated against all those involved.
Law and accounting firms alleged as key operators
Investigators said many schemes had been orchestrated by law firms and accounting firms that recruited Thai nationals as so‑called nominees for a fee. These firms used their legal expertise to build structures that appeared lawful on paper but in fact violated Thailand’s land regulations.
According to the DBD, these arrangements concealed clear breaches of the Thai land law, which tightly restricts foreign ownership of land.
Strict land law and limited exemptions
Thai legislation generally prohibited foreigners from owning land in the kingdom, with only a few strictly regulated exemptions for large investors. Foreigners were allowed to hold up to 49% of a Thai company or acquire land under a Board of Investment (BOI) promotion scheme for investments from 40 million baht.
Authorities said the nominee model was used to bypass these limits and disguise effective control by non‑Thai buyers.
How nominee schemes operated
To circumvent the law, criminal offices installed Thai citizens as ostensible buyers and registered owners of land plots. In practice, foreign investors pulled the strings in the background and provided the capital.
These nominees typically received only modest payments, while the real funding and control stemmed from abroad, which officials described as an obvious abuse of the system.
Chon Buri flagged as major hotspot
Data from the DBD showed that Chon Buri, including Pattaya, hosted a particularly high concentration of registered companies, seen as an indicator of potential nominee abuse. The province counted 73,126 companies in the registry.
With total registered capital of about one trillion baht, Chon Buri had become a hub for property investment and, according to authorities, a focal point for illegal practices linked to land purchases.
Tourist provinces under closer scrutiny
The DBD also identified Chiang Mai with 32,099 companies, Phuket with 31,291, and Surat Thani with 25,004 as risk regions. High real‑estate prices in these destinations attracted strong foreign interest.
Officials said demand for holiday apartments and villas in these tourist hotspots created fertile ground for illicit transactions using Thai nominees as fronts.
397 companies referred for financial crime checks
The probe extended beyond land acquisitions to suspected wider fraud networks. The DBD referred 397 companies to the CIB and the national anti‑money‑laundering authority for further action.
These firms were suspected of being part of broader schemes, and investigators were examining whether they had been used for money laundering or other illegal financial operations.
Government signals tough penalties for violators
Officials stressed that Thailand would not serve as a lawless playground for speculative property buyers. They underlined that legitimate foreign investors remained welcome, but only if they followed the legal channels provided.
Foreigners who had relied on dubious nominee structures now faced potentially severe penalties, including the complete loss of their investments without compensation.
Protecting land and national sovereignty
Authorities framed the sweeping measures as a response to public concern over who effectively controlled Thai land. Extensive use of nominees in the past had fuelled unease about the erosion of national control over property.
The current offensive was intended to safeguard Thailand’s sovereignty over land and answer long‑standing demands for stricter enforcement against these practices.