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House committee presses crackdown on foreign nominee property in Pattaya
September 12, 2026, 12:30 PM
Photo courtesy of Public Affairs Division Royal Thai Police
A House committee is pressing for a system-wide crackdown on foreign nominee businesses in Thailand’s tourist cities, including Pattaya. The tourism committee met at Parliament on September 10 with officials from eight agencies, spokesman Yodchai Peungporn said.
Yodchai said police had found about 14,000 companies that fit the nominee profile in the fourth phase of their crackdown, which covers Pattaya. He called “grey Thais”, foreigners who hold land using Thai identity cards, a key part of the problem and a grave threat. Because they transact as Thais, he said, the country risks losing land, economic activity and state revenue, Dailynews reported.
Nationwide, officials have identified 36,277 foreign-invested companies holding 305,838 land plots. High-risk nominee registrations fell from 894 in August 2025 to 163 in August 2026, government spokesman Ekkapop Pienpises said, Thai Examiner reported.
The Anti-Money Laundering Office has seized or frozen 34 more assets, worth about 8.27 billion baht, in the Yim Liak and Ben Smith case. That brings the case to 102 assets worth about 20.39 billion baht.
Police opened the fourth phase of their nominee crackdown in Chonburi on July 17, led by deputy national police chief Pol. Gen. Samran Nualma. They said a group of Russians, helped by some Thais and a licensed bookkeeper, had set up companies to hold detached houses. The companies held about 775 houses worth more than 5 billion baht in six housing projects under the S Pattaya name.
Of the 495 companies holding the houses, 435 had foreign shareholders, the Royal Thai Police said. Police singled out 19 suspected nominee firms and 14 foreign-majority firms holding land, 33 targets in all.
The committee wants a systemic fix, from entry and business registration to checks on shareholders, funding and land holding. It said the aim is fair competition, without harming foreigners who live or do business legally.
thethaiger.com
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House committee presses crackdown on foreign nominee property in Pattaya
September 12, 2026, 12:30 PM
Photo courtesy of Public Affairs Division Royal Thai Police
A House committee is pressing for a system-wide crackdown on foreign nominee businesses in Thailand’s tourist cities, including Pattaya. The tourism committee met at Parliament on September 10 with officials from eight agencies, spokesman Yodchai Peungporn said.
Yodchai said police had found about 14,000 companies that fit the nominee profile in the fourth phase of their crackdown, which covers Pattaya. He called “grey Thais”, foreigners who hold land using Thai identity cards, a key part of the problem and a grave threat. Because they transact as Thais, he said, the country risks losing land, economic activity and state revenue, Dailynews reported.
Nationwide, officials have identified 36,277 foreign-invested companies holding 305,838 land plots. High-risk nominee registrations fell from 894 in August 2025 to 163 in August 2026, government spokesman Ekkapop Pienpises said, Thai Examiner reported.
The Anti-Money Laundering Office has seized or frozen 34 more assets, worth about 8.27 billion baht, in the Yim Liak and Ben Smith case. That brings the case to 102 assets worth about 20.39 billion baht.
Police opened the fourth phase of their nominee crackdown in Chonburi on July 17, led by deputy national police chief Pol. Gen. Samran Nualma. They said a group of Russians, helped by some Thais and a licensed bookkeeper, had set up companies to hold detached houses. The companies held about 775 houses worth more than 5 billion baht in six housing projects under the S Pattaya name.
Of the 495 companies holding the houses, 435 had foreign shareholders, the Royal Thai Police said. Police singled out 19 suspected nominee firms and 14 foreign-majority firms holding land, 33 targets in all.
The committee wants a systemic fix, from entry and business registration to checks on shareholders, funding and land holding. It said the aim is fair competition, without harming foreigners who live or do business legally.
House committee presses crackdown on foreign nominee property in Pattaya
Thailand's foreign nominee property crackdown in Pattaya uncovered six housing projects worth over 5 billion baht.
thethaiger.com
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