News · The story so far
The nominee crackdown
Thailand's push against land and businesses held through Thai nominees for foreigners.
The background
Foreigners generally can't own land in Thailand, and many businesses on the Foreign Business Act's restricted lists need majority Thai ownership. A "nominee" setup puts land or a company in Thai names while a foreigner pays for and controls it, which breaks the Land Code (for land) or the Foreign Business Act (for businesses). Raids have spread since 2024 across Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya. This October, land offices were ordered to finish investigating 1,397 suspected companies, holding 2,360 plots, by December. Land confirmed as nominee-held faces a forced sale. Registered leases and condos within the foreign quota are legal.
Updated 30 October 2026.
Timeline
- Thailand probes 19 firms tied to Chabad rabbi
The Department of Lands and the Department of Business Development are finishing a case file on the companies. Officials said land confirmed as unlawfully held while he was a citizen would have to be sold.
- Pattaya raids follow the PM's nationwide nominee order
Police and land officials searched 12 sites in Pattaya's Bang Lamung district, tied to holdings worth more than 800 million baht. Of the 85 people under investigation, 31 are foreigners.
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