The Tourism Department has decided to revoke the licences of four travel agencies in Koh Samui after discovering that they were using Thais as nominees and changing their board of directors after obtaining the authorisations, thus violating the law on tourism businesses.
From 17 to 19 May 2026, the travel and tour guide business registration office for the Southern region visited Koh Samui, Surat Thani province, to issue licences on site and facilitate procedures for operators.
At the same time, a joint operation was carried out with the Koh Samui tourist police and the provincial Tourism and Sports office of Surat Thani. Twelve establishments were inspected.
Four of them were identified as suspects: they allegedly used nominees (nominees) Thai nationals to conceal the presence of foreign directors.
The administrators concerned are of Israeli, Belgian, French and Italian nationality. They changed the structure of the board of directors after obtaining their licence, rendering them non-compliant with the law.
This practice contravenes article 17 (1) of the 2008 law on travel businesses and guides, which requires that more than half of the board of directors members be of Thai nationality.
The Director General of the Tourism Department, Jaturon Phakdiwanich, confirmed that the registrar is about to publish the order revoking the four licences concerned.