200 Bangkok businesses serving tourists under nominee scrutiny
The Commerce Ministry is looking into some 200 businesses in four Bangkok areas that are popular with tourists to see if they are serving as nominees for foreign businesses.
The ministry met the press on Monday to announce that it is checking restaurants, hotels, car rental services, souvenir shops, spas and massage parlours in Huai Kwang, Yaowarat, Samphanthawong and Ratchadaphisek areas. This scrutiny will be expanded to other provinces popular with tourists, it said.
Jitakorn Wongkhatekorn, deputy director-general of the Business Development Department, said the 200 businesses being checked are not all run by nominees, but have foreign partners.
Jitakorn said his department launched this operation after learning that several Chinese businessmen are using Thai nominees to run “grey” operations that cater only to Chinese tourists. These businesses are in direct competition with local businesses.
Jitakorn said the operation will take some time as the department has to check if any of these businesses fall under Lists 1, 2 or 3.
According to the department, List 1 categorises businesses foreigners are prohibited from, List 2 specifies businesses that foreigners need Cabinet approval for and List 3 includes businesses for which they will need a foreign licence.
He said the department will check the 200 businesses in detail to see the ratio of shares held by Thai partners and see if they have any say in the operations.
“The checking will take time and will be done carefully. The department has asked the businesses for more documents and they will have 15 days to provide an explanation,” Jitakorn said.
He added that if initial checks show that some of the 200 businesses are suspected to be foreigners’ nominees, the department will hand the cases over to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
Speaking at the same press conference, Commerce Ministry’s permanent secretary Keerati Rushchano said he has instructed all provincial commerce officials and the Business Development Department to carefully check the registration of new companies.
He said the officials will check to see if the new business owners are suspicious and if they have a healthy financial status to prevent foreigners from using them as nominees.
Keerati said he has instructed officials to check businesses in all tourist destinations across Thailand, instead of just focusing on major tourism provinces.
“Thailand’s tourism industry is reviving, with many foreigners returning. This nominee problem often pops up when the industry starts picking up, so checks have to be conducted in all areas, including second-tier provinces,” Keerati said.
