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Two jailed in Hua Hin nominee shareholding cases​

Nov 11, 2026

A British national and a French national were taken to Prachuap Khiri Khan Prison on Monday, 9 November, after Hua Hin Court sentenced each to six months in prison without suspension in separate cases involving nominee shareholding.

Two independent sources familiar with the proceedings confirmed the sentences and prison transfers to Hua Hin Today. Both requested anonymity.

Neither defendant was granted bail at the hearing. Any release on bail would require approval from the Court of Appeal, one of the sources said. Several people in the courtroom cried when the two sentences were announced, the source said.

Four nominee shareholding cases heard in Hua Hin​

The court heard four nominee shareholding cases on Monday morning, three in Courtroom 4 and one in Courtroom 2.

In the third case in Courtroom 4, two Chinese nationals, a married couple, also received six-month prison sentences without suspension. However, they were allowed to apply for bail, the source said. In each of the three cases, the court fined the company 10,000 baht and each foreign shareholder 10,000 baht.

In Courtroom 2, an American national and a Philippine national, also a married couple, each received a suspended three-month prison sentence. The court fined the company and each foreign shareholder 10,000 baht. Two Thai nominees were fined 5,000 baht each.

A source familiar with the proceedings said a lawyer involved in the cases was puzzled by the difference between the sentences handed down in the two courtrooms.

Appeals and property ownership​

One source said they expected defendants in all four cases to appeal and believed the defendants would look at rulings in similar cases before deciding how to proceed. It was unclear whether any appeals had been filed as of Wednesday.

The same source said they had heard that properties linked to the cases had been transferred into the names of Thai nationals before guilty pleas were entered. The reported transfers remain unverified, and the status of the properties is unclear.

During the Chinese couple’s hearing, a judge asked why they were still living at the property discussed in their case, the source said.

Police crackdown on nominee companies in Hua Hin​

Hua Hin Today previously reported that police arrested 13 foreign nationals in Hua Hin on 10 August in an operation targeting the suspected use of Thai nominee shareholders to hold land and property on behalf of foreigners.

Authorities searched 15 locations and identified at least 33 companies suspected of holding assets worth more than 300 million baht on behalf of foreign nationals. One of the main targets was a housing development in Thap Tai, where homes were valued at about 10 million to 20 million baht each.

Police said some foreign suspects told investigators that law and accounting firms had advised them to set up companies to hold property in Thailand and that they believed the arrangements were lawful. Some Thai nationals listed as shareholders told investigators they had paid nothing for their shares, had no role in managing the companies and held the shares on behalf of foreigners, police said.

Two jailed in Hua Hin nominee shareholding cases - Hua Hin Today

A British national and a French national were jailed for six months in separate Hua Hin nominee shareholding cases. The court heard four cases on 9 November.

huahintoday.com

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Nearly 2,000 "Thai" companies suspected of using foreign nominees

Thai authorities are intensifying their crackdown on companies that use nominees to circumvent restrictions placed on foreign investors. The Department of Business Development (DBD), under the Ministry of Commerce, has announced the identification of 1,932 companies deemed at high risk of employing such arrangements.

The investigation focused on 12,421 individuals who have acquired Thai citizenship, identifiable by an ID number beginning with the digit 8 and who serve as shareholders or directors in 16,504 active companies. Authorities suspect that some of these newly minted Thai citizens may be acting as intermediaries to conceal the actual involvement of foreign investors in restricted sectors.

According to DBD Director-General Kittiwat Patchimnan, these schemes are becoming increasingly sophisticated. While investigations previously targeted Thai nationals acting as nominees, authorities are now observing a growing trend of using naturalized foreign citizens to evade administrative oversight.

Of the 16,504 companies examined, 1,932 were flagged as sufficiently suspicious to warrant in-depth investigation. The sectors most affected include real estate, construction, food and beverage and tourism-related services. The buying and selling of non-residential real estate tops the list with 161 high-risk companies, followed by non-residential building construction (83 firms), residential real estate (67), food and beverage services (63), and real estate agency activities (61).

The geographical distribution of these companies mirrors the areas most attractive to foreign investors. Bangkok alone accounts for 849 suspicious companies, while the neighboring provinces of Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani, and Nonthaburi account for several hundred more. Major tourist destinations also feature prominently, including Chonburi, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Rayong, and Surat Thani.

All case files have been forwarded to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), the Revenue Department, and the Ministry of Interior. Authorities are now planning joint on-site investigations, which could lead to criminal, tax, or administrative proceedings.

In the most serious cases, naturalized foreign nationals found guilty could face not only penalties under commercial law but also the potential revocation of their Thai citizenship.

Meanwhile, the Department of Business Development (DBD) is closely monitoring four companies specializing in electronic waste recycling in the provinces of Prachinburi and Chachoengsao. Investigators have identified suspicious changes in their shareholding structures, notably a sudden shift back to 100% Thai ownership following an official inspection. The government also reports a more than 77% reduction in high-risk new business registrations between August and October 2026, a result of tightened oversight. Furthermore, artificial intelligence tools are set to be deployed soon to more effectively detect networks that use "nominees" (straw owners).

Finally, several government agencies are investigating 19 companies linked to Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, the leader of the Chabad network in Thailand. Having had his Thai citizenship revoked on October 28 following the discovery of irregularities in his naturalization process, he is now the subject of investigations concerning the shareholding structures of various real estate and commercial firms. Investigators are seeking to determine whether Thai citizens acted as nominees to circumvent restrictions imposed on foreign investors. The case, which has received extensive media coverage, has become a landmark example of the government’s determination to tighten oversight of arrangements that allow foreign interests to indirectly gain control over companies or real estate in Thailand.