Received this email this morning

News Details: "Foreigners Own Thai Land via 36,277 Companies; Chonburi Ranks #1, Authorities Eyeing Nominees"

1. Overview and Background of the Investigation

Database Integration: The Department of Business Development, in collaboration with the Department of Land, linked and cross-checked their real estate

 ownership databases.

Total Discovered: They found 36,277 legal entities with foreign co-investors holding land title deeds across Thailand.
Target Group: Authorities have categorized all 36,277 entities as high-risk target groups for in-depth investigation to prevent and suppress the illegal use of Thai nominees holding land on behalf of foreigners.

2. Shareholding Structure Breakdown
Based on the shareholding structures of these 36,277 legal entities, they are divided into two main categories:
Group with foreign shareholding up to 49% (Total: 31,516 entities):
Limited Companies: 30,633
Public Limited Companies: 737
Partnerships: 146

Note: This group is considered high risk and is being closely examined regarding their source of funds and the actual Thai shareholders.

Group with foreign shareholding of 49% or more (Total: 4,761 entities):
Limited Companies: 4,709
Public Limited Companies: 41
Partnerships: 11

Note: Most entities in this group legally operate under investment incentives, such as those from the BOI or the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) within the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

3. Land Title Deed Ownership Breakdow
Focusing on the group with foreign shareholding up to 49% (31,516 entities), the details of land ownership are as follows:

By Number of Plots Owned:
Holding 1 plot: 20,537 entities
Holding 2–5 plots: 8,068 entities
Holding 6–10 plots: 1,511 entities
Holding 11 plots or more: 1,400 entities

By Total Land Area Owned:

Up to 1 Rai (~1,600 sq.m.): 21,106 entities
Over 1 Rai up to 2 Rai: 2,550 entities
Over 2 Rai up to 5 Rai: 2,490 entities
Over 5 Rai up to 10 Rai: 1,505 entities
Over 10 Rai (~16,000+ sq.m.): 3,865 entities

4. Geographical Concentration & Top Provinces
Land ownership is heavily concentrated in 16 strategic provinces (Bangkok, its perimeter, and major tourist cities), accounting for 35,154 entities (over 96.9% of the total):
Rank 1: Chonburi Province (11,215 entities)
Rank 2: Surat Thani Province (5,752 entities - including Koh Samui)
Rank 3: Bangkok (4,437 entities)
Rank 4: Phuket Province (3,086 entities)

5. Legal Penalties and Next Steps
Nominee Penalties: If an investigation reveals the illegal use of nominees to hold land, offenders face penalties under the Foreign Business Act:
Imprisonment: Up to 3 years
Fines: From 100,000 to 1,000,000 THB, or both
Property Enforcement: Forced disposal/sale of the real estate

Next Phase: Government agencies are also preparing to expand their investigations to include condominium ownership.

14 hours ago, sometime said:

Received this email this morning

From who?

If this is news to you you presumably haven't been reading much........

https://aseannow.com/topic/1402719-thailand-flagged-47000-companies-it-has-prosecuted-under-900/#comment-20717065

https://aseannow.com/topic/1401021-thailand-built-the-nominee-scheme-but-foreigners-pay-the-price/#comment-20691180

and many others in news section when the raids started........

Maybe this is the source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/general/40069926

Using nominees has to my knowledge always been illegal, but silently accepted until about 15 years ago. By that time the Law was changed from seven shareholders to only three, and at same time giving company owners some period to change their shareholder structure to legal ownership. Those that didn't — or form new companies with nominee shareholders — can be in trouble. Even without land holdings; having a business with nominee shareholders is illegal.

“Next Phase: Government agencies are also preparing to expand their investigations to include condominium ownership.”

There are a huge number of company-owned condos in Patt. Will they enforce it?

4 minutes ago, Mroovah said:

“Next Phase: Government agencies are also preparing to expand their investigations to include condominium ownership.”

There are a huge number of company-owned condos in Patt. Will they enforce it?

Just have a look at Hipflat and select any project of choice, to see the condo's offered for sale in company name has increased significantly in the past month.

The whole issue of nominees has been debated a lot here recently

I think many owners of property with such an arrangement are in deep trouble- and disposing of the property will no doubt be a problem too

37 minutes ago, Mroovah said:

“Next Phase: Government agencies are also preparing to expand their investigations to include condominium ownership.”

There are a huge number of company-owned condos in Patt. Will they enforce it?

Surely 49 per cent of the condo's in a block can be owned by foreigners, can’t they?

Or do you mean that more than that 49 per cent have been sold via ‘nominees’?

39 minutes ago, Mroovah said:

There are a huge number of company-owned condos in Patt. Will they enforce it?

Condo ownership does not include the land?

2 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Condo ownership does not include the land?

You might want to revisit that statement...

15 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

Surely 49 per cent of the condo's in a block can be owned by foreigners, can’t they?

Or do you mean that more than that 49 per cent have been sold via ‘nominees’?

Many of the 51% allocated to Thai people are actually owned by foreigners under company .

20 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

Surely 49 per cent of the condo's in a block can be owned by foreigners, can’t they?

Or do you mean that more than that 49 per cent have been sold via ‘nominees’?

Yes, can own up to 49% of the total floor space in the building. The Juristic Person is supposed to keep careful records to keep the foreign ownership at or below 49%.

So I think, yes, for Chonburi (Pattaya especially), a condo building could very quickly hit the 49% mark of foreigners, so a determined buyer might resort to forming a nominee company instead. I guess the same might be true for more expensive parts of Bangkok.

19 hours ago, sometime said:

2. Shareholding Structure Breakdown
Based on the shareholding structures of these 36,277 legal entities, they are divided into two main categories:
Group with foreign shareholding up to 49% (Total: 31,516 entities):
Limited Companies: 30,633
Public Limited Companies: 737
Partnerships: 146

Note: This group is considered high risk and is being closely examined regarding their source of funds and the actual Thai shareholders.

I still don't understand how/where they'd get the human resources to closely investigate/disect shareholdings of 30,000 limited companies. Maybe they have some AI tool to help weed out the foreigners to make a short list?

12 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

Many of the 51% allocated to Thai people are actually owned by foreigners under company .

Oh, I wasn’t aware of that. I’ve owned various condo's in the past and always assumed that this was within the permitted 49 per cent.

I never bothered to check whether that was actually the case.

1 hour ago, Peterphuket said:

Oh, I wasn’t aware of that. I’ve owned various condo's in the past and always assumed that this was within the permitted 49 per cent.

I never bothered to check whether that was actually the case.

If the title is registered in your personal name there is no worry because it should be within the 49%

1 hour ago, ronnie50 said:

I still don't understand how/where they'd get the human resources to closely investigate/disect shareholdings of 30,000 limited companies.

They just don't have the means. AI can make short lists and shortlist further the short lists, but can't enforce the law.

Eventually they will pull few out of a hat and court cases will last for years, until a new government amend or draft new rules that will make foreigners 100% owning land/house as primary residence somehow legal. And all this mess will be forgotten.

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

Condo ownership does not include the land?

The land under a condo project is owned by the condo project, which owners, both Thai and foreign, own a share of. In the unlikely event the condo project is disolved and the land sold, each owner, Thai and foreign would get a portion of the proceeds based on their share percentage. Google spells it out:

If a condominium project is dissolved and sold in Thailand (such as for redevelopment or due to severe structural damage), the legal process is governed strictly by the Thailand Condominium Act. Owners receive a proportional share of the net proceeds from the sale of the building and the underlying land based on their exact ownership ratio of the common property.

I was watching a utube video about all this. In the past the law they used for a foreigner owning land has been tweaked a bit. In the past a foreigner would be given a time frame to sell and recoup what money they could. Now it seems the Thai authorities are going to take possession of without the foreigner able to sell. Basically they will confiscate the home and land.

Either way there will soon be a collapse in the real estate market. Should be a fire sale on company owned property with owner trying to sell before they lose it all.

54 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I was watching a utube video about all this. In the past the law they used for a foreigner owning land has been tweaked a bit. In the past a foreigner would be given a time frame to sell and recoup what money they could. Now it seems the Thai authorities are going to take possession of without the foreigner able to sell. Basically they will confiscate the home and land.

Either way there will soon be a collapse in the real estate market. Should be a fire sale on company owned property with owner trying to sell before they lose it all.

Don't believe YT videos

Court Discretion and Forced Sale of Land

Probation: If the defendant (including foreigners and Thai agents) has no prior criminal record, has shown a good attitude of confession, and the case does not involve transnational crimes or serious offenses such as money laundering, the court will typically impose a lenient sentence, convicting them of a prison term but granting them probation, and imposing a fine separately.

IV. Handling of housing and land, and the funds derived from their sale.

Mandatory Sale Order (Article 94 of the Land Code): Upon confirmation that land was acquired illegally, the Director of the Land Office shall have the authority to order the sale of the property and land within a specified timeframe (usually one year). If the sale is not completed within this timeframe, the Director of the Land Office may have the land auctioned according to the law.

Reimbursement of funds to the foreign individual: After selling the property and land, any remaining funds must be returned to the foreign individual (i.e., the actual investor), after deducting relevant transaction fees and enforcement costs.

 Since this money is personal property and does not constitute illicit gains obtained through criminal activities such as money laundering or fraud, it does not meet the criteria for confiscation and seizure.

1 hour ago, EVENKEEL said:

I was watching a utube video about all this. In the past the law they used for a foreigner owning land has been tweaked a bit. In the past a foreigner would be given a time frame to sell and recoup what money they could. Now it seems the Thai authorities are going to take possession of without the foreigner able to sell. Basically they will confiscate the home and land.

Either way there will soon be a collapse in the real estate market. Should be a fire sale on company owned property with owner trying to sell before they lose it all.

Already houses in predominately foreign areas and condos in company name are worth Pennies on the dollar.

There is massive oversupply and very few buyers.

27 minutes ago, sometime said:

Don't believe YT videos

Court Discretion and Forced Sale of Land

Probation: If the defendant (including foreigners and Thai agents) has no prior criminal record, has shown a good attitude of confession, and the case does not involve transnational crimes or serious offenses such as money laundering, the court will typically impose a lenient sentence, convicting them of a prison term but granting them probation, and imposing a fine separately.

IV. Handling of housing and land, and the funds derived from their sale.

Mandatory Sale Order (Article 94 of the Land Code): Upon confirmation that land was acquired illegally, the Director of the Land Office shall have the authority to order the sale of the property and land within a specified timeframe (usually one year). If the sale is not completed within this timeframe, the Director of the Land Office may have the land auctioned according to the law.

Reimbursement of funds to the foreign individual: After selling the property and land, any remaining funds must be returned to the foreign individual (i.e., the actual investor), after deducting relevant transaction fees and enforcement costs.

 Since this money is personal property and does not constitute illicit gains obtained through criminal activities such as money laundering or fraud, it does not meet the criteria for confiscation and seizure.

I'm 100% with you on these utube videos. This guy wasn't doing the scare mongering but some villas were bought for sole purpose of renting out which may change the course of leniency.

Either way the huge sale of villas will soon change the entire real estate market. I've seen home on the market for several years and still not sold. Now with a soon to be flooded market things will get interesting.

On 8/20/2026 at 12:48 PM, Mroovah said:

“Next Phase: Government agencies are also preparing to expand their investigations to include condominium ownership.”

There are a huge number of company-owned condos in Patt. Will they enforce it?

Why would anyone buy a company owned condo? It's illegal and there are thousands of freehold farang quota condos available. It's the one thing we can buy !!

3 minutes ago, henryford1958 said:

Why would anyone buy a company owned condo? It's illegal and there are thousands of freehold farang quota condos available. It's the one thing we can buy !!

Yes but there are stupid people who believed the agents and lawyers or just thought their word was enough.

Proposed new legislation to give those stupid farang sleepless nights

43 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Already houses in predominately foreign areas and condos in company name are worth Pennies on the dollar.

There is massive oversupply and very few buyers.

Can't say I'm seeing in Pattaya any properties advertised for 'pennies on the dollar'. Just about a month ago my Thai spouse and I sold a house to the first buyer to view it; it had only been on the market for a week or two. Got a price we were happy with, made a modest profit--we only owned it for a year. Had inquiries even after it had sold. It was in Thai name and sold to a Thai buyer. It bears remembering that there are over 70 million Thais who need a roof over their heads--there are Thai buyers.

We don't want another Pattaya house--we already have a new one we just built--but we might be tempted by an oceanview condo selling for your pennies on the dollar. But haven't come across any of them, just some modest reductions here and there. I can't imagine good quality foreign quota condos losing much value, if any, here. Especially larger units. Some of those Pattaya expats who were buying houses will likely pivot to a foreign quota condo.

1 hour ago, henryford1958 said:

Why would anyone buy a company owned condo? It's illegal and there are thousands of freehold farang quota condos available. It's the one thing we can buy !!

I agree with you. However, while there are large numbers of condos for sale, there are not 'thousands' of desirable ones. There are also not 'thousands' that meet a condo buyer's specific wants and needs.

As I've pointed out many times, when you start with just 3 basic criteria--location, size, and price--you instantly narrow down your choices. Then, when you add some specific things you want in your condo, such as seaview, good-sized balcony, foreign quota, on-site gym and large pool, etc., the choices whittle down to not that many. I know of several very desirable Pattaya condo projects that people wanted to live at so badly that they bought in Company name.

Home deals are popping up on facebook that are in a company name. Some good deals I'd say. More to come.

People with property in company name are going to have to pay to transfer it to Thai name. Getting property out of a company is expensive. Taxes are high, closing the company is expensive too.

No buyer is going to split those expenses with you.

On 8/28/2026 at 10:41 PM, newnative said:

We don't want another Pattaya house--we already have a new one we just built--but we might be tempted by an oceanview condo selling for your pennies on the dollar. But haven't come across any of them, just some modest reductions here and there. I can't imagine good quality foreign quota condos losing much value, if any, here. Especially larger units. Some of those Pattaya expats who were buying houses will likely pivot to a foreign quota condo.

Since your spouse is Thai, would you consider such a condo that isn't in the foreign quota? My thoughts are that good quality Thai company owned condos may be losing quite a bit of value.

Personally, I would consider this as an option as would consider such a purchase for my Thai wife and dual citizen Thai-US adult children.

17 minutes ago, donx said:

Since your spouse is Thai, would you consider such a condo that isn't in the foreign quota? My thoughts are that good quality Thai company owned condos may be losing quite a bit of value.

Personally, I would consider this as an option as would consider such a purchase for my Thai wife and dual citizen Thai-US adult children.

Problem with thai quota condos is both thais and farang arent buying now, ok for renting

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Problem with thai quota condos is both thais and farang arent buying now, ok for renting

I understand this is the situation. However, a foreigner married to a Thai might find a good quality, well located, ocean front condo currently in the Thai quota that is owned by a Thai company controlled by a foreigner being sold at a significant discount. Since I know @newnative has a Thai spouse that owns landed property, my question was directed to him and to anyone else in a similar situation. I agree that a Thai not married to a foreigner is not likely to be interested, although if a price is ridiculously discounted, that might change.