Thailand’s Commerce Ministry is intensifying its scrutiny of potential nominee arrangements by examining corporate ownership data covering 125,622 companies with land or condominium holdings across the country.
The review will focus particularly on major economic centres and popular tourist destinations, where foreign investment and property ownership by foreign-linked businesses are most concentrated.
Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director-general of the Department of Business Development (DBD), said the records include 36,277 companies with some level of foreign investment. Collectively, these businesses hold 305,838 land plots spanning 1,064,265.38 rai.
Officials stressed that the figures are being used to identify cases requiring further examination and do not, by themselves, indicate that any of the companies have broken the law.
The initiative follows a meeting at the Commerce Ministry on Friday, September 4, 2026, attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun, Deputy Interior Minister Polpee Suwanchawi and senior representatives from both ministries.
During the meeting, the DBD, Department of Provincial Administration and Department of Lands updated their shared records and agreed to strengthen measures aimed at preventing nominee companies from acquiring or controlling land.
Authorities are also reviewing historical records to identify and close regulatory gaps that may have enabled nominee arrangements to be used in business activities and property ownership.
Information supplied by the Department of Lands shows that 144,706 legal entities owned land or condominium properties as of September 4, 2026. Of these, 125,622 are registered under the DBD’s supervision.
Within this group, 123,542 entities hold land titles covering 1,269,326 plots with a combined area of 4,504,926.88 rai.
The DBD divided the 36,277 landowning companies with foreign investment into three categories: those with foreign shareholdings of 0.01%–49%, those with foreign shareholdings of 49.01%–99.99%, and wholly foreign-owned companies.
For comparison, Thailand covers approximately 513,729.83 square kilometres, equivalent to around 321,081,144 rai.
Among businesses with foreign shareholdings of between 0.01% and 49%, Bangkok recorded the largest number of land plots. It was followed by Chon Buri, Samut Prakan, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi.
Together, companies in these five provinces held 135,040 plots, representing 47.02% of the category’s total by plot count. Their combined land area reached 198,019.37 rai, accounting for 21.96% of the group’s holdings by area.
Chon Buri ranked first among companies with foreign shareholdings of between 49.01% and 99.99%.
The five leading provinces in this category accounted for 4,395 plots, or 50.90% of the group’s total. Their holdings covered 34,928.30 rai, representing 59.12% of the category’s overall land area.
Chon Buri also led the rankings for wholly foreign-owned companies, followed by Rayong, Samut Prakan, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya and Prachin Buri.
Combined holdings across these five provinces reached 6,463 plots, equivalent to 64.44% of the category’s total. The properties covered 79,125.54 rai, or 76.38% of all land held by companies in this group.
The government’s condominium database covers 14,878 legal entities that collectively own 244,115 units with a combined floor area of 13,153,690.14 square metres.
Wholly Thai-owned entities represent 52.40% of the corporate owners and account for 68.52% of the units. Businesses with foreign investment make up the remaining 47.60% of owners and hold 31.48% of the units.
Most foreign-invested entities holding condominium units fall within the 0.01%–49% foreign-shareholding category.
Poonpong said the DBD would continue its campaign against nominee arrangements, concentrating initially on areas with high levels of economic activity, tourism, foreign investment and property ownership by foreign-linked businesses.
The department will provide company registration documents, shareholder details and financial statements to assist relevant authorities with their investigations.
“Using Thai nationals to hold shares on behalf of foreigners distorts Thailand’s economic system, creates unfair competition and harms Thai businesses,” Poonpong said.
He added that the DBD would work with other government agencies to coordinate investigations, exchange information and pursue legal action where violations are uncovered.
The inquiries will extend beyond individual companies to associated networks operating nationwide, with authorities promising firm action against those found to have breached the law.
Poonpong said the broader objective was to establish a more transparent and equitable business environment while supporting legitimate investment in Thailand.
