According to Thai law, foreigners cannot directly own land and have restrictions in many business areas. Previously, some investors circumvented the bans by formally writing down the shares of the company to Thais who did not really invest their money and did not manage the business. Now the authorities want to stop this practice.
According to the Thai Ministry of Commerce, tens of thousands of companies have already been checked. Here are the statistics for some regions:
- Phangan:3,754 companies (2,381 of them with foreign shareholders)
- Koh Samui:12,050 companies (8,213 with foreign shareholders)
- Phuket:29,646 companies (11,626 with foreign shareholders)
- Pattaya:33,314 companies (19,910 with foreign shareholders)
It is important to understand that not all of these companies violate the law. Problematic ones are those where a foreigner actually controls the business (gives money, makes decisions, makes profits), but according to the documents, the owner is Thai.
Thai legislation (the 1999 Law on the Commercial Activities of Foreigners) provides for severe penalties for the use of fake owners.:
- Imprisonment for up to 3 years Fine of up to 1 million baht (about 2.6 million rubles)
Moreover, both a foreign investor and fake Thai shareholders, as well as lawyers and accountants who helped arrange such schemes, can be responsible.
Stricter requirements have come into force since the beginning of 2026. Now, when registering a company, Thai shareholders must prove that they really invested their own money in the business. This requires bank statements and other financial documents.
The Thai authorities say they do not want to scare off foreign investment, but to make the market more honest and transparent. But how exactly the new rules will be applied in practice is still the main question.
Source: Karlobag
