18 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

It's not getting away with local privileges, we're talking about law and unlawful acts.

I'm OK to comply with the rules if everybody does. Else rather "do as the Romans do".

How bout' this, you come to foreign country to live, you follow the rules that pertain to you and you stay in your lane, mind your business and enjoy. If it turns out you can't handle all the injustice you perceive to be before your eyes, well, you go home.

27 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

It's not getting away with local privileges, we're talking about law and unlawful acts.

I'm OK to comply with the rules if everybody does. Else rather "do as the Romans do".

Depends, as long as you know what the consequences are, so as always ...

... choose wisely.

Getting a traffic citation, or, a drone confiscated/small fine, or stern finger wag, vs, losing a rather large business or RE investment, doesn't quite compare.

If Thailand wanted all the foreigners out simple raise the non o to 1.5 million that has to stay there each year(no agents allowed must go in person to immigration) if you are to old or not fit enough to get to immigration well tough out you go, max time on tourist visa 6 months a year, scrap the DTV visa, 3 simple actions that would clear out the dead wood, not hard plenty more they could do.

2 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

Cambodia has next to nothing to offer. Nothing against the people, as they are, by and large, lovely.

Lousy infrastructure as soon as you are outside city limits, sketchy power supplies and internet.

No beaches worthy of particular mention when you look at the stunning beaches available in Thailand and Vietnam,

After a week, you have seen all that Cambodia has to offer.

I think all the retired expats living around Kampot and Kep might disagree with you on those points.

3 minutes ago, banyanman said:

I think all the retired expats living around Kampot and Kep might disagree with you on those points.

I have been there to those places and there just isn't much happening.

Add back, what do you do if you have a serious health issue whilst there?

I think I would get bored quickly TBH.

Unlike such as Danang or Koh Samui or Rayong even/

However, horses for courses.

Even Siem Reap now, after ten visits to the temples and 50 to the town, the novelty has worn off and desperate tuk tuk drivers peddling the same tours.

Maybe, I've just exhausted the place.

40 minutes ago, Sully_ said:

How bout' this, you come to foreign country to live, you follow the rules that pertain to you and you stay in your lane, mind your business and enjoy. If it turns out you can't handle all the injustice you perceive to be before your eyes, well, you go home.

I do, and I stay in my lane, and if somebody is doing something they shouldn't, I avoid them, keep my nose out and say nothing.

What they do has nothing to do with me, as long as we respect the rules, I don't worry about any knock at the door.

47 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Depends, as long as you know what the consequences are, so as always ...

... choose wisely.

Getting a traffic citation, or, a drone confiscated/small fine, or stern finger wag, vs, losing a rather large business or RE investment, doesn't quite compare.

Sure, one should always act responsibly. I suppose readers are grown adults.

People didn't know this was illegal maybe. I'm thinking of this Chinese girl I saw on YouTube where she made a video of herself holding the deed of some farmland she bought and the nominees were in the photo together! She's operating it as a farm stay in Chiang Dao and running it herself with her friends and making public videos on YouTube even. 🤦 Maybe they get away with it outside of tourist hotspots but still that's so stupid they must not know better.

1 hour ago, Sully_ said:

How bout' this, you come to foreign country to live, you follow the rules that pertain to you and you stay in your lane, mind your business and enjoy. If it turns out you can't handle all the injustice you perceive to be before your eyes, well, you go home.

Home is where I currently live for years: Thailand.

I handle the injustice as all the unprivileged locals do, complying with discernment.

Been explained many times, and way too easy to do. Far from an inconvenience. Strange how we all managed to do it, and yet .... "how do I do that ?"

Different time and different rules back then.

Just like the guys who lived in Thailand for decades on monthly van trips to the border... (In fact, a lot of guys just sent their passports and they stayed home.)

I remember reading about 16 years ago when I was researching building a house in Thailand that Americans can legally own a plot of land to build a house on in Thailand. However, to that date no land office had ever allowed it. I think someone should call Trump and whisper in his ear.... 😆 🤣 😂 if this fact is true!

3 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

What relevance does that have to the OP ?

Just another part of the corruption which foreigners involve themselves in because it has been possible to get away with paying bribes for extensions not entitled to for a long time. It had been possible to get round the law to 'buy' property, until it's not. I would be worried if I had an extension and had no money in the bank when I got it.

5 hours ago, henryford1958 said:

You mean driving out crooks who broke Thai law. Good riddance. They KNEW a foreigner buying land/property was illegal.

But, but it was assured it would not be a problem, and everyone else did it?

I have no idea how many thumbs down and hostile replies I have had over the years for saying the same thing. I have also had this discussion many times in real life. When we looked at the first house, the same options came on the table right away: my girlfriend’s name, which was out of the question for me at that time, since the relationship was still in the first phase, a nominee company, or a land lease.

That kind of sales talk was normal in Thailand, especially with houses in gated communities. I am not sure how it is now, since it has been a long time since I gave up those kinds of projects, thanks to Covid.

So what is next? Fake visa arrangements? Visa agents covering for the money in the bank method have also been treated as “normal”.

13 minutes ago, BritScot said:

I remember reading about 16 years ago when I was researching building a house in Thailand that Americans can legally own a plot of land to build a house on in Thailand. However, to that date no land office had ever allowed it. I think someone should call Trump and whisper in his ear.... 😆 🤣 😂 if this fact is true!

Like each and every land office in thailand depends who is in charge of the office !! the law still current Section 96 Bis of the Land Code Special Investment Exceptions: Under rare circumstances (like bringing in 40 million THB of approved investment), foreigners can apply for Ministry of Interior permission to buy up to 1 Rai

8 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

The crackdown targets structures where Thai shareholders act only as legal fronts while foreigners effectively control assets. Authorities argue such arrangements violate Thai law and amount to fraud.

Sounds good to me.

Or is fraud and corruption only bad when "they" do it?

This is the grab of the century n no one seems to understand it ... 😂

42 minutes ago, impulse said:

Different time and different rules back then.

Just like the guys who lived in Thailand for decades on monthly van trips to the border... (In fact, a lot of guys just sent their passports and they stayed home.)

Different time ... yes

Different rules ... no, just not enforced as strictly.

We can blame the tightening of the screws, on our fellow expats, for scamming the system.

To do properly, same rules apply. Very little has changed.

The problem with a lot of the aforementioned is that corrupt officials simply get moved (a kind of reprimand or demotion) whilst the foreigner loses their shirt and their investment. Only for it all to go into smoke and mirrors and be stolen by different corrupt officials.

1 hour ago, Yumthai said:

Sure, one should always act responsibly. I suppose readers are grown adults.

Think you are being too kind with that last statement, or this thread wouldn't be 3 pages already

2 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

The problem with a lot of the aforementioned is that corrupt officials simply get moved (a kind of reprimand or demotion) whilst the foreigner loses their shirt and their investment. Only for it all to go into smoke and mirrors and be stolen by different corrupt officials.

They still have nobody to blame but themselves, as guessing very few to none, thought their fake whatever s, were legal.

1 minute ago, KhunLA said:

Different time ... yes

Different rules ... no, just not enforced as strictly.

We can blame the tightening of the screws, on our fellow expats, for scamming the system.

To do properly, same rules apply. Very little has changed.

It was always accepted as the rule of thumb in the nineties, with terminology such as ' That's how it's done! ' Or ' That's the workaround'

It all works until there's a new sheriff in town!

You can't put the blame at the door of the expats, without equally placing the blame with corrupt Thai officials.

Police target nominee network in land raids across three Andaman provinces

SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2026

Thai police have launched a large-scale operation against an alleged foreign nominee network in the Andaman region, seizing land and buildings worth more than 1 billion baht in Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga.

The courts approved 59 arrest warrants, covering 28 Thai nationals and 31 foreigners, along with 60 search warrants. Police said the wider investigation would continue as officers trace lawyers, auditors and other people suspected of helping conceal illegal ownership structures. *

A key search point in Phangnga was Sava Beach Villa, where investigators found seven villas being operated with staff and daily rental payments in a manner police described as an unlicensed hotel business. A British company director named Andrew was arrested.

Police said the investigation found Thai nationals registered as shareholders in several companies in a nominee-like arrangement. Some were allegedly employees or relatives of company directors and held social security status, making it unlikely they had the financial capacity to invest in or hold shares in multiple companies.

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/40067662

* So it looks like they are also after the Romans in Rome.

1 minute ago, Scouse123 said:

It was always accepted as the rule of thumb in the nineties, with terminology such as ' That's how it's done! ' Or ' That's the workaround'

It all works until there's a new sheriff in town!

You can't put the blame at the door of the expats, without equally placing the blame with corrupt Thai officials.

Not saying the corruption is blame free, but you do have to feed it. When you know you're doing something wrong, it's your fault, no matter who else is complicent.

I could have retired in my 20s as a drug dealer, as know many who could have, but I knew the consequences if caught, and was morally wrong in my mind anyway.

Many things I passed on, as consequences too high, or was not a 'victimless' crime.

The blame is squarely on the expat.

5 hours ago, ChipButty said:

They could start with the Land department,

and the real estate agents and lawyers who promoted and arranged this business model for foreigners to own land.

At least someone has a sense of humor

4 hours ago, mikebell said:

I think it is significant that this witch-hunt started when Anutin (millionaire) came to power. His oft quoted, 'dirty foreigners', show his distaste for us. As farangs desert his Kingdom, the poor will suffer the economic problems inherent in a possible drop of the 20% income associated with tourism. The shortened VOA will stop snowbirds from fleeing the Western winters; will curtail the tourist's time to decide whether to become an ex-pat, surely TAT's Holy Grail.

absolutely right, because these rich Thai Chinese families don't give a s**t about the poor people in Isaan etc.

4 hours ago, mikebell said:

I think it is significant that this witch-hunt started when Anutin (millionaire) came to power. His oft quoted, 'dirty foreigners', show his distaste for us. As farangs desert his Kingdom, the poor will suffer the economic problems inherent in a possible drop of the 20% income associated with tourism. The shortened VOA will stop snowbirds from fleeing the Western winters; will curtail the tourist's time to decide whether to become an ex-pat, surely TAT's Holy Grail.

Right on cue....the blinkered "Anutin don't like foreigners" rationale.

Last time that was trotted out was in the early Thaksin years because he shut the farang bars.

2 hours ago, howerde said:

If Thailand wanted all the foreigners out simple raise the non o to 1.5 million that has to stay there each year(no agents allowed must go in person to immigration) if you are to old or not fit enough to get to immigration well tough out you go, max time on tourist visa 6 months a year, scrap the DTV visa, 3 simple actions that would clear out the dead wood, not hard plenty more they could do.

You mean the dead wood that spends more money monthly than most locals, and takes care of women and children that the government wouldn't, and a lot better than many local fathers?

16 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Not saying the corruption is blame free, but you do have to feed it. When you know you're doing something wrong, it's your fault, no matter who else is complicent.

I could have retired in my 20s as a drug dealer, as know many who could have, but I knew the consequences if caught, and was morally wrong in my mind anyway.

Many things I passed on, as consequences too high, or was not a 'victimless' crime.

The blame is squarely on the expat.

Pulling out in time is a universal problem very few master. Literally said.

6 hours ago, rocketboy2 said:

If they take the bad Thais down with the bad foreigners.

i'm ok with that.

But anything that's one sided BS, No.

If the Thais want your opinion ten of them will gang up and beat it out of you