Thailand has launched a nationwide crackdown on foreigners using Thai nominees to hold land. Investigators must determine who controls and benefits from suspected properties by December, examining financial records, corporate structures and asset trails before referring confirmed violations for action.
Illegal holdings may be subject to compulsory sale, with buyers monitored to prevent nominee arrangements from being recreated. The government also plans stronger registration checks, public tip-offs and enforcement disclosures while supporting lawful foreign investment and officials conducting investigations.
Thailand has launched a nationwide crackdown on foreigners using Thai nominees to hold land, ordering investigators to reach case-by-case conclusions by December and enforce compulsory sales where ownership is found to be unlawful.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced the operation on October 19, setting out three priorities: completing investigations, enforcing land sales and strengthening safeguards against new nominee arrangements, according to an article recently published by The Nation.
The Department of Lands and provincial governors have been instructed to prioritise high-risk cases, assign responsibility and establish procedures and deadlines for each investigation.
Investigators to trace control and funding
Anutin directed officials to look beyond names on title deeds and share certificates to establish who controls a property and receives its economic benefits.
Investigators must examine financial and asset trails alongside corporate structures to identify the wider networks behind suspected arrangements. Where wrongdoing is established, cases must be referred to the relevant agencies for further action.
The prime minister said enforcement results should be measured by completed cases and effective action, rather than the number of suspected violations detected.
He also stressed that Thailand continues to support transparent foreign investment conducted within Thai law, including rights granted under investment-promotion legislation. Officials were instructed to act firmly against offenders and fairly towards investors operating lawfully.
Buyer checks to accompany forced sales
The operation includes compulsory sales of land found to be held illegally. Authorities must monitor the buyers to prevent the same properties being transferred to replacement nominees.
The government also wants findings from current investigations to inform stronger checks before and after the registration of land rights and transactions. Those checks would include scrutiny of corporate structures, a channel for public tip-offs and regular disclosure of enforcement results.
Anutin pledged government support and protection for provincial governors and land officials carrying out their duties honestly, acknowledging that some cases could involve influential figures.
“There is no influence greater than that of the government and state officials performing their duties under the law,” he said.
He argued that successful compulsory sales could return tens of billions of baht to circulation. The report did not provide a verified valuation of land covered by the operation.
The December deadline puts responsibility on provincial authorities to convert investigations into legally supported decisions. Buyer verification will be a central test of the campaign: compulsory sales would have limited effect if the same land returned to concealed foreign control through a different ownership structure.
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