Thai nominees facing govt checks after Yaowarat uproar

The Department of Business Development (DBD) is preparing to check the profiles of Thai nominees at 400 to 500 foreign-run businesses to see if they are in violation of any laws.

Most of the businesses are in the tourism and property sectors and had Thai nominees as their shareholders, said Chitrakorn Wongkhetkorn, the department’s deputy director-general.

The department will question representatives of the businesses that are suspected of illegally using Thai proxies. If they cannot provide satisfactory answers, the Department of Special Investigation will be asked to look into their financial affairs, Mr Chitrakorn said.

The use of Thai nominees to hold shares in businesses closed to foreigners has come into focus as a result of investigations into widespread illegal activity by Chinese gangsters in the country.

According to Section 36 of the Foreign Business Act BE 2542 (1999), any Thai national or juristic person that is not a foreigner under this Act, aiding or abetting or taking part in the business operation of the foreigners who are not permitted to operate the business shall be punished with a prison term not exceeding three years or a fine ranging from 100,000 baht to 1,000,000 baht, or both.

Since 2015 the DBD has taken legal action against foreign business operators who had illegally used Thai proxies in 66 cases, Mr Chitrakorn said.

The latest move by the department follows a complaint from a food vendor in the Yaowarat area of Bangkok that Chinese nationals with tourist visas were using Thai nominees to run shops and eateries in the area, hurting the businesses of local operators.

Mr Chitrakorn said foreigners must obtain permission from the Commerce Ministry before selling food and beverages in the country.

Foreign citizens holding tourist visas are not allowed to work in Thailand. Foreigners in the country on longerterm or work visas are also barred by law from certain occupations, such as tour guides and street food vendors.

Recent probes have indicated that hundreds of Chinese nationals, including some criminals, had received help changing tourist visas to student visas. Authorities said last week they had found evidence of Immigration Bureau officers helping foreign criminals.