PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN — "Big Ran," the Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, led forces in launching "Bust the Foreign Nominee Network Phase 6," raiding luxury housing estates and pool villas in the Hua Hin area after deep intelligence revealed that Thai nationals were being used as nominee shareholders on behalf of foreigners in order to hold real estate. Arrest warrants were issued for 45 foreigners, summonses were issued for 39 Thai nationals, and 15 locations were searched. Thirty-three companies were found to be potentially holding land on behalf of aliens, with estimated damages exceeding 300 million baht. Meanwhile, a review of the corporate database in Hua Hin identified as many as 849 entities at risk of being involved in Thai-nominee arrangements.
Today (10 Aug.), National Police Commissioner Pol. Gen. Kittirat Punpetch tasked Deputy Commissioner-General Pol. Gen. Samran Nuanma with pressing forward in the crackdown on the use of Thai nationals as nominees for foreigners, launching the operation "Bust the Foreign Nominee Network Phase 6" in Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, beginning in the morning.
The operation was a joint effort combining forces from Provincial Police Region 7, Prachuap Khiri Khan Provincial Police, and relevant agencies — including officials from the Department of Business Development, the Department of Lands, and foreign language interpreters — to search 15 target locations, which are modern-style single-house and pool villa projects in Thap Tai Sub-district, Hua Hin District.
Through in-depth investigation, officials found that certain juristic entities showed patterns of using Thai nationals to hold shares on behalf of foreigners — known as nominees — in order to gain possession of real estate in the Hua Hin area, which is a major tourist destination with a high level of foreign real estate investment.
In this operation, officials issued arrest warrants for 45 foreign nationals and summonses for 39 Thai nationals connected to the investigation, and proceeded to search 15 target locations. Twelve suspects were arrested pursuant to arrest warrants and were subsequently taken into custody for questioning and legal proceedings.
Preliminary checks revealed that at least 33 companies are suspected of being involved in holding land or real estate on behalf of foreigners, representing estimated damages of over 300 million baht. Officials are in the process of examining the details of these juristic entities, their financial trails, shareholding structures, and all parties involved.
At the same time, a review of the corporate database in the Hua Hin area identified as many as 849 entities at risk of being involved in the use of Thai nationals as nominees. These will be subjected to further in-depth analysis and investigation to determine whether they constitute legal violations. Police officials stated that this operation did not arise from a spot-check, but was the result of sustained intelligence-gathering fieldwork and deep investigation, before the information was used to apply to the court for arrest warrants and search warrants in order to proceed against those involved.
Going forward, officials will accelerate the investigation to expand action against all related individuals and juristic entities, including examining assets and real estate ownership trails, in order to identify the true beneficiaries and take legal action against those found to be involved. Police confirmed that operations to suppress foreign nominee arrangements will continue on an ongoing basis — particularly in tourist areas and areas with high levels of foreign real estate investment — in order to prevent the exploitation of legal loopholes and the use of Thai nationals as proxies for holding assets, which may negatively affect the economic system and the right of Thai people to conduct business.
