1 hour ago, Guderian said:

The same is true of prostitution, as has been pointed out many times.

Hookers aren't much of a threat to national security.

The real issue here is despite the laws and regulations being there already, people have become inured to the corruption to the point that it is accepted or even sought out. It's this normalisation of illegal behaviour that prevents Thailand moving forward so, although it's not going to stop overnight, especially in very high places, I believe that some aspects are beginning to get reined in. And what better and easier place to start than the low-hanging fruit of the elderly foreign squatters, the ones doing the "when in Rome" bit.

Edited August 23Aug 23 by NanLaew

so it is not called investing ?

thailand prefers no investment than this fake scam of 49/51 they setup by not only lawyers, accountants, dbd, the land department that approved all of this

when I go to the land department , to buy a(nother) condo, they call the bank, every time, to check where my money came from, even it is printed on the bank's letterhead...

last time they even asked why I sent 1-2% more than the value

well, bad exchange rates and banks charging whatever extra's they can and giving you the lowest amount of baht for your euros or dollars...

8 hours ago, ezzra said:

Could it be that the Thai government needs the money to all of a sudden wake up and realized that : hey, we have been duped by all those farangs all those years, who now own all those prime properties preventing for Thai people a fair go''?

Something has triggered their response. I gave a few examples of what it could be, and the Thai economy not going so well was one of them.

Yes, there will be a market correction in property here, with future sales to foreigners taking a big hit.

Also, the flow on effect in the construction industry will not be pretty.

Goa,as I found out, if they cannot get you on one thing (property laws) they will get you on another (visas).

18 hours ago, Guderian said:

The same is true of prostitution, as has been pointed out many times.

There is no money to be made in chasing and eliminating prostitutions, as more than half of the tourists will not come anymore and you'll have ten of thousands of girls jobless.

On 8/22/2026 at 12:01 PM, Yellowtail said:

Setting up companies and keeping books is not illegal.

It would have to be proven that the bookkeeper knows that they are participating in an ongoing illegal activity.

I agree- but the act of setting up the company- which company is there to facilitate an illegal scheme will be tricky to justify

On 8/22/2026 at 2:05 PM, KhunHeineken said:

The lawyer/s and / or accountant/s may even be the nominees.

In which case they may well have some difficult questions to face

Certainly I always refused any request from any client when I was asked to sit as a Trustee on any settlement or trust

13 minutes ago, L- Lifeline said:

I agree- but the act of setting up the company- which company is there to facilitate an illegal scheme will be tricky to justify

The companies can originally be set up to operate as going concerns. They would not become illegal until it was clear that there was never any intent to operate as a legitimate business.

I imagine some are set up as traders and could actually make it look like the business is actually making money. They would not become suspect until they got lazy. If they used the business to launder money, they might never become suspect.

On 8/23/2026 at 1:17 PM, KhunHeineken said:

Something has triggered their response. I gave a few examples of what it could be, and the Thai economy not going so well was one of them.

Yes, there will be a market correction in property here, with future sales to foreigners taking a big hit.

Also, the flow on effect in the construction industry will not be pretty.

Ever the optimist ...perhaps there will be a

sure in demand for legitimate houses

and condos ?

16 hours ago, L- Lifeline said:

I agree- but the act of setting up the company- which company is there to facilitate an illegal scheme will be tricky to justify

Especially if the shareholders are the office cleaning staff!

8 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Especially if the shareholders are the office cleaning staff!

Especially office cleaning staff from Myanmar.

On 8/22/2026 at 8:51 AM, jippytum said:

Suprising recent Thailand business crackdown seem to be identifing more Isralies than Chineese

The more surprising —-there are no Russians among themidentified or arrested neither in Phuket nor Pattaya , 55

Awaiting anxiously the results of Operation Condo farang 49/51 % Thai Quota:)

On 8/22/2026 at 8:51 AM, jippytum said:

Suprising recent Thailand business crackdown seem to be identifing more Isralies than Chineese

Chinese are lellow, so they can't be foreigners. Obviously they don't need nominees to own a lellow PM.

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Especially if the shareholders are the office cleaning staff!

Maybe the cleaning staff are used specifically for the money laundering?

It's been reported that underware sales, amongst the expat community

in pattaya, have rocketed, shops are struggling to keep up with the demand.

Due to heavy soiling, by Thai nominee company, expat home owners.

5 hours ago, Karlik Pu said:

Awaiting anxiously the results of Operation Condo farang 49/51 % Thai Quota:)

It's basically the same operation.

47,000 Thai companies suspected of using nominees. Some would be for land / houses, some would be for condo's.

2 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

It's basically the same operation.

47,000 Thai companies suspected of using nominees. Some would be for land / houses, some would be for condo's.

You can only hope.

Posts naming an unrelated company removed

Waiting for visa agents raided for passing on bribes to immigration probe headline, it's coming!

4 minutes ago, visalady said:

Waiting for visa agents raided for passing on bribes to immigration probe headline, it's coming!

I use agents, and I agree. It's only a matter of time.

It's been a free for all here with land ownership and visas for years. Both have got out of control.

After that, it will be tax.

Edited August 25Aug 25 by KhunHeineken

There are visa agents that just do hand-holding and they'll be fine.

Some posters

1 hour ago, KhunHeineken said:

I use agents, and I agree. It's only a matter of time.

I think it's relevant not to precise how long it will take.

2 hours ago, visalady said:

Waiting for visa agents raided for passing on bribes to immigration probe headline, it's coming!

Agents don't have to be raided for passing bribes. They can be raided for being agents.

Section 143 of the Thai Criminal Code covers "trading in influence," which penalizes anyone who would induce a government official to perform or skip an official function, whether that action helps or hurts someone'

NB The statute language for Section 143 was written in year 1957.

Edited August 25Aug 25 by JerryM

3 hours ago, Yumthai said:

Some posters

I think it's relevant not to precise how long it will take.

It's not if, just when.

Whilst it's extremely lucrative for immigration, it allows people to circumvent immigration laws, and it's got way out of hand.

15 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

It's not if, just when.

Whilst it's extremely lucrative for immigration, it allows people to circumvent immigration laws, and it's got way out of hand.

What makes you say it gotten out of hand? It does not seem like much of an increase to me. The way the price has plummeted it may be tapering off.

15 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

What makes you say it gotten out of hand?

It's been allowed to compound, over decades, just like the Thai company nominee thing.

16 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

It does not seem like much of an increase to me.

When's the last time you walked into an agent's office?

16 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

The way the price has plummeted it may be tapering off.

Or, it's flourishing, and there's a lot more competition.