Thailand's Phase-8 Nominee Property Crackdown: 95 Companies Held 94 Luxury Homes Worth Over 6 Billion Baht; 11 Foreigners Arrested, 10 of Them Chinese
BANGKOK — Thai police on October 10 launched the eighth phase of a crackdown on foreigners using Thai nominees to hold property, with the Immigration Bureau and the Metropolitan Police Bureau searching 17 locations in four luxury housing developments in eastern Bangkok. Police said 95 companies were suspected of using Thai nationals as nominee shareholders to hold 94 luxury houses and land plots covering more than 33 rai (about 5.3 hectares), worth more than 6 billion baht (about US$179 million) in total. National police chief Pol Gen Samran Nuanma and Immigration Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Nopasilp Poolsawat oversaw the operation, with the Department of Business Development, the Department of Lands and the Revenue Department taking part in the investigation.
Police issued 86 arrest warrants for foreign suspects and arrested 11 people on the day: 10 Chinese nationals and one US national. By development, 11 companies held 11 houses worth 550 million baht in Bang Na–Suan Luang; 19 companies held 19 homes worth 1.05 billion baht near the Bang Na outer ring road; 30 companies held 29 homes worth 1.6 billion baht in the Rama 9–Srinakarin area; and 35 companies held 35 homes worth 2.8 billion baht in Krungthep Kreetha, where individual homes were priced as high as 98 million baht.
Police said the companies typically had Thai shareholders nominally holding 51 percent and foreign buyers 49 percent, but some Thai "shareholders" had made no real investment. One Thai national told police they had merely applied for an online loan, only to find shares worth 400 million baht registered in their name. Many of the houses searched were found empty, while others had been rented out for as much as 350,000 baht a month with rent unpaid for months; police believe some owners left Thailand after earlier phases of the crackdown.
The investigation originated from information provided by the Chinese embassy in Thailand about three people wanted in China: one in connection with a 2018 murder that killed three people, and two for fraud. Two of the three are also subjects of Interpol Red Notices for alleged organized online fraud, and the murder suspect was also linked to scam operations. Companies connected to the three held properties in the Rama 9–Srinakarin and Krungthep Kreetha developments. Thai media reported that many of the foreign suspects were from China's Fujian province and that a number held passports from multiple countries. Thailand's Anti-Money Laundering Office has joined the effort to trace the source of the purchase funds, and eight law or intermediary firms face legal proceedings. Police stressed that the operation targets illegal nominee arrangements and suspects, and that foreigners investing and residing lawfully are not affected.
The raids are part of a broader Thai campaign against "grey capital" networks: on October 15, the Immigration Bureau carried out further searches in Bangkok in a civil-registration and citizenship fraud case (see GSM's report of the same day).
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 泰国豪华住宅（资料图，苏梅岛）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，ChrisWDD 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权 / A luxury residence in Thailand (file photo, Koh Samui). Photo: Wikimedia Commons, by ChrisWDD, CC BY-SA 4.0.
