Investigation Reviewed Nearly 13,000 Companies on the Island
Police and Interior Ministry officials have uncovered sixty illegal nominee businesses on Koh Samui, ranging from unlicensed nurseries to a luxury hotel built on land allegedly hidden behind Thai shareholders. More than 300 police and officials carried out the raid on Saturday, targeting foreigners who used Thai nationals to hold shares or assets on their behalf while running businesses illegally on the island. Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said the operation was the seventh in a series of raids on major tourist destinations, following months of investigation, and it was led by Deputy National Police Chief Pol. Gen. Samran Nualma, who takes over as national police chief on October 1.
Officials reviewed all 12,906 companies registered on Koh Samui, finding that 8,254 had foreign shareholders and 875 showed signs of Thai nominee arrangements. Further screening identified 59 suspicious companies holding 37 plots of land and property spanning 31 rai, worth a combined 1.2 billion baht, or roughly US$36 million. The investigation led to 60 legal complaints against 88 suspects, including 26 Thais and 62 foreigners, and the Koh Samui Provincial Court issued 37 search warrants. Police have arrested 14 suspects so far: four Chinese nationals, four British, and one each from Italy, France, the Netherlands, Austria, the Philippines and the United States.
Five Networks Ranged From Unlicensed Nurseries to a Hidden Hotel
Searches focused on five groups of companies. The first was a nineteen-company network linked to Israeli nationals, using Thai shareholders to front unlicensed preschool nurseries and the sale and rental of luxury villas to foreign buyers. The second involved four companies linked to German nationals building luxury villas on steep hillsides, potentially in breach of construction regulations, with investigators suspecting the villas were sold through nominee share transfers to dodge land transaction and corporate income tax.
The third group, 27 companies, was set up to help foreigners secure work permits or business visas allowing stays of up to one year, with shareholder records that did not match actual investment amounts. The fourth group, 16 companies, was originally registered entirely by Thais before foreign nationals were added to the shareholding structure to obtain work permits and switch to business visas despite no genuine business activity. The fifth group, two companies, was flagged after the French Embassy reported a French national accused of defrauding French investors in a cannabis farm scheme worth 21 million baht, or about US$634,000; Surat Thani immigration investigators found Thai nationals had acted as nominees to help him buy land and build a luxury hotel with a pool and tennis court, advertised online despite holding no hotel operating licence.
Pol. Gen. Samran said the raid forms part of a wider, ongoing crackdown on nominee networks across major tourist provinces including Surat Thani, Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga, Chon Buri and Prachuap Khiri Khan. Over six phases, investigators have examined 238 companies and 272 plots of land covering 184 rai, worth an estimated 2.8 billion baht, and issued 178 arrest warrants.
