The DSI Director has tasked his security division with investigating twenty-one companies suspected of being nominee structures totalling over one hundred million baht in assets on the islands of Samui and Phangan.
The lieutenant-colonel Yutthana Phraedam, Director of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), has announced the opening of an investigation into 21 companies based in Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, in Surat Thani province. These firms, whose combined assets exceed 100 million baht, are suspected of being nominee structures allowing foreigners to circumvent Thai law.
Following a meeting with the Department of Business Development, investigators identified 34 potentially relevant companies. Only 21 of them hold assets above the 100-million-baht threshold and are now subject to an official evidence-gathering procedure.
« We are checking two key points: are these companies engaged in activities prohibited to foreigners under the 1999 Act, and do they hold more than 50 per cent foreign capital through Thai nominees? »
The activities in question mainly include hospitality, restaurants and tourist residences, sectors that are strictly regulated. Investigators are also examining the actual financial capacity of the Thai shareholders and the origin of the invested funds.
Regarding the nursery school on Koh Phangan, the DSI clarified that it has no jurisdiction, as the establishment is not among the 34 companies whose assets exceed the threshold set by the Department of Business Development.