Thailand’s Department of Lands has stepped up efforts to crack down on illegal nominee landholding arrangements used by foreign nationals to acquire land through Thai citizens or company structures. Authorities warned that offenders could face imprisonment, fines and compulsory land sales under existing laws.

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The tougher measures include stricter checks before and after land registration, along with closer cooperation between government agencies to monitor suspicious transactions. Officials said the campaign is intended to protect national interests, ensure fairness in land ownership and prevent attempts to evade Thai property laws.

Under Thai law, foreigners may own land only in limited circumstances. These include inheritance as a statutory heir, residential purchases made under investment conditions permitted by law, or ownership allowed under specific legislation such as Board of Investment promotion rules.

Authorities said some foreign nationals have attempted to bypass restrictions by using Thai nominees or establishing companies to disguise foreign ownership. In response, the Department of Lands has introduced more proactive screening measures before registration takes place.

Officials will examine the source of funds and relationships between parties in cases where a Thai national is suspected of holding land on behalf of a foreigner. In Thai-foreign marriages, the Thai spouse must confirm that the money used to purchase the land is genuinely personal property.

Where companies are suspected of acting as nominee structures, officials will investigate shareholding arrangements, actual business income, investment funding sources and the intended use of the land. The department said the aim is to prevent firms being used as fronts for illegal ownership.

The crackdown also extends beyond registration. Authorities will monitor land use patterns, advertising activity and public behaviour in target areas where foreigners may appear to present themselves as the true owners of land.

If complaints or suspicious information emerge, a fact-finding committee will be established immediately. The department also plans to monitor legal entities with foreign shareholders every three months to track changes in investment and landholding patterns.

The Department of Lands said the operation will rely on data-sharing with the Department of Business Development, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, the Department of Special Investigation and other agencies to improve detection and enforcement efforts.

If investigations find no wrongdoing, monitoring will continue. However, where nominee ownership or other illegal conduct is identified, legal proceedings will begin immediately and cases may also be referred to the Ministry of Interior for further consideration.

The Nation reported that officials stressed the measures are not intended to discourage foreign investment, but to ensure fair and transparent enforcement of Thai law while safeguarding the national interest.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now Nation 13 May 2026

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sigh ... actually it is so obvious - majority or no Thais will ever use a company to own a piece of land. It is a foreign concept with only one focus - to allow the foreigner to own land ....

4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

officials stressed the measures are not intended to discourage foreign investment,

However, that is the result. How will any foreign investor give 51% of the business away for the privilege of investing in Thailand?

Another article that is chasing foreigners. But foreigners can't do this without help of local people. Maybe start with the locals to investigate, but own people are left alone. The policy of the xenophobic Government

47 minutes ago, Purdey said:

However, that is the result. How will any foreign investor give 51% of the business away for the privilege of investing in Thailand?

Foreign investment has never allowed 51% for farang./

This is to get the people who bought land, built a house, and live in it, or rented it, or sold it, and have mnp friggin idea and have never met the Thais they gave money to to sign on.

The interesting part I find is tht the spouse has to show proof that she had the money and that her husband did not give it to her. Where that gets interesting is tht for tax purposes, we are allowed to give our spouses a gift. I guess the next best thing is to give it to the family as your Sin Sod, with the understanding that it will come back to the daughter so she can buy the property.

14 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

Another article that is chasing foreigners. But foreigners can't do this without help of local people. Maybe start with the locals to investigate, but own people are left alone. The policy of the xenophobic Government

Itis not chasing proeignrer as you state what it is doing in cleaning up the mess that has accrued. The law has always been there they just looked the other way.

As for shutting down places, I think if a foreigner is living alone in a house and has no idea who the other "owners" are, he deserves to get the boot.

This whole thing is brought about for no other reason than that Anutin has his hands tied with everything else, but needs to show people that he is in charge and looking after them. Just like policing and arresting people working on the walking street and beach road happens and is shouted for a month, then stops, this too shall pass

people i know have boasted for years that the Thai nomlneer system would never be questioned because like with retirement visa via agents obtained without funds have too many Foreigners participating for the government to crack down and inforce the law.

You guys worried now????

Just now, jippytum said:

You guys worried now????

Yo i wuz fkin rollin mah G

I see all the company own house will be fire sale soon to those dolts who are

smart enough to bail

And then you have to legally dissolve the company to boot

My opinion is they will focus on the Large/High value foreign business ownership first.

Maybe land in Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Bangkok and Chang Mai.

If the business structure or ownership was not done correctly there will definitely be some work to do.

It should be viewed as Fair Use and Business use actions.

I know not all land owners will Lease Land but foreigners are allowed to lease land and build a house.

Carefully research building a house on leased land.

1. Right of Superficies at the Land Office

2. Building Permit was issued in your name and you have a "Sale of Structure" document registered at the Land Office:

3. If there is no specific registration of house ownership separate from the land, the general legal principle of "Accession" (Section 146 of the CCC) suggests that anything permanently attached to the land belongs to the landowner.

   At the end of a standard lease:

Wouldn't it be simpler just to allow certain foreigners, perhaps those who've been living here on retirement or marriage extensions for an extended period of time like 10 years, to legally own a rai of land for residential purposes? While they spend so much time and effort trying to maintain these 19th century property practices, there's little chance their economy will ever move into the 21st century.

It might be simpler but it’s socially undesirable because it will mean much higher land prices, effectively preventing most lower to middle income Thais buying property. Those 21st century property practices have had exactly that impact in major European cities - London being an obvious example

15 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Wouldn't it be simpler just to allow certain foreigners, perhaps those who've been living here on retirement or marriage extensions for an extended period of time like 10 years, to legally own a rai of land for residential purposes? While they spend so much time and effort trying to maintain these 19th century property practices, there's little chance their economy will ever move into the 21st century.

It might be simpler but it’s socially and politically undesirable because it will mean much higher land prices, effectively preventing most lower to middle income Thais buying property. Those 21st century property practices have had exactly that impact in major European cities - London being an obvious example

7 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

In Thai-foreign marriages, the Thai spouse must confirm that the money used to purchase the land is genuinely personal property.

The nominee thing has created chaos and has been taken advantage of so I'm not suprised too much about that, but that above about normal officially married couples who have just bought a house together on some estate somewhere in the wife's name, and the husband has no legal claim over it, could get awkward for many law-abiding people... going too far IMO and just shows how vicious and vindictive this government is.

Often for legit house sales with bank mortgages the high street banks here make the husaband sign a document saying he will jointly help the Thai woman pay for the mortgage... sound like it could be a big problem for many unless they eventually realise how distruptive that could be and back off.

Edit - Unless "confirm" only means saying that it is and signing something... forgot about that, but if it's more difficult and they want official records and sources, then I guess that's what I was alluding to.

Edited May 13May 13 by Sir Dude

2 hours ago, jippytum said:

people i know have boasted for years that the Thai nomlneer system would never be questioned because like with retirement visa via agents obtained without funds have too many Foreigners participating for the government to crack down and inforce the law.

You guys worried now????

I don't think anyone is worried about this sabre rattling..remember reading exactly the same in the Samui news magazine 23 years ago, what exactly makes you so excited about this subject?

Nominee shareholding has flown pretty much under the radar for a couple of decades, until, it has become so widely abused that, the government needs to be seen to act..................As an example, there are some gated communities/moo baans pretty much solely owned by Chinese in Chiang Mai...rows upon rows of houses all Chinese owned.................As a nation things are done en masse and it could be the prolific use by their agents has been one of the main catalysts for a nationwide crackdown................All good things come to an end, that's subjective in this instance, but the structure has certainly helped many acquire real estate for quite a while...............

4 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Foreign investment has never allowed 51% for farang./

This is to get the people who bought land, built a house, and live in it, or rented it, or sold it, and have mnp friggin idea and have never met the Thais they gave money to to sign on.

The interesting part I find is tht the spouse has to show proof that she had the money and that her husband did not give it to her. Where that gets interesting is tht for tax purposes, we are allowed to give our spouses a gift. I guess the next best thing is to give it to the family as your Sin Sod, with the understanding that it will come back to the daughter so she can buy the property.

But that wouldn’t be legal. All that would need all new rules and regulations to be passed by the government.

4 hours ago, jippytum said:

people i know have boasted for years that the Thai nomlneer system would never be questioned because like with retirement visa via agents obtained without funds have too many Foreigners participating for the government to crack down and inforce the law.

You guys worried now????

If they are not worried they need to be

Indeed any purchaser from a foreigner with that structure in place can drive a hard bargain now I am sure

17 minutes ago, geisha said:

But that wouldn’t be legal. All that would need all new rules and regulations to be passed by the government.

That are dreams. Thailanf will not change any outdated law, as the want everything in Unesco Heritage, but dont care about the economy

The sky is falling so look out. SELL SELL SELL

3 hours ago, yumyai said:

It might be simpler but it’s socially and politically undesirable because it will mean much higher land prices, effectively preventing most lower to middle income Thais buying property.

Why? People who wish to own a house plus the land it's built on usually either do so via a company or put it in their wife's name. The demand for land more or less stays the same as many people prefer to live in condos anyway, only the ownership structure changes so that foreigners aren't forced to stretch Thai law and the Land Department officials can stop getting apoplectic.

Cracking down and forcing sales of all such property will result in a real estate crash in tourist areas. While I agree it's in Thailand's best interest to keep foreign investors out - there need to be reasonable exceptions for legit residents. They should eliminate nominee companies owning properties but also allow resident visa holders to own one house/piece of land. They've created a situation where it's impossible for foreigners who are legit legal residents to own their own home without breaking the law. And yes- I know it's possible to lease the land, but that's not owning - a house you own with the land you can sell or pass to your kids, a house on leased land is basically sunk cost and worthless later on.

13 hours ago, Purdey said:

However, that is the result. How will any foreign investor give 51% of the business away for the privilege of investing in Thailand?

13 hours ago, Purdey said:

However, that is the result. How will any foreign investor give 51% of the business away for the privilege of investing in Thailand?

You kinda miss the point - you are not supposed to open a business by yourself and "gift" 51% of it to Thai partners. You are supposed to have a REAL Thai partner and that partner is supposed to invest his share of the company. BTW - if an LTD company goes bankrupt, partners have to show proof that they have fully paid for their share of the company or they will be liable for the amount of their shares.

13 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Foreign investment has never allowed 51% for farang./

This is to get the people who bought land, built a house, and live in it, or rented it, or sold it, and have mnp friggin idea and have never met the Thais they gave money to to sign on.

The interesting part I find is tht the spouse has to show proof that she had the money and that her husband did not give it to her. Where that gets interesting is tht for tax purposes, we are allowed to give our spouses a gift. I guess the next best thing is to give it to the family as your Sin Sod, with the understanding that it will come back to the daughter so she can buy the property.

A couple things here are getting mixed together.

First, nominee shareholders and proxy ownership schemes have always been legally questionable in Thailand even if people have been doing it for years.

Thailand cracks down this from time to time, but getting more vocal recently.

Second, Americans actually do have special rights under the US - Thailand "Treaty of Amity".

I owned a Thai company with majority US ownership legally through the treaty.

So saying “foreigners were never allowed over 51%” is simply not accurate for Americans under Amity protections.

But even with Amity, foreigners still generally cannot directly own land.

And on the spouse issue: yes, the foreign husband usually signs a declaration saying the land belongs solely to the Thai spouse and he has no ownership claim. That part is standard. But the idea that every Thai wife has to fully “prove” all the money independently came from her is overstated. The Land Office mainly cares about the legal declaration and compliance paperwork.