The Department of Business Development in Thailand recently hosted a briefing for diplomats and international organization representatives to clarify the Foreign Business Act (FBA) of 1999. The objective of the meeting was to educate foreign investors on the law to ensure compliance and proper investment practices in Thailand.
The Director-General of the Department, Auramon Supthaweethum, emphasized the prohibition against using Thai nationals as nominees to circumvent the regulations. Participants in the briefing included members from various foreign chambers of commerce and trade promotion agencies.
The FBA is the primary legislation governing foreign involvement in Thai businesses, detailing procedures for establishing a business, types of businesses permitted, and the application process for foreign business licenses and certificates. The department highlighted that some foreign investors were not adhering to legal procedures, such as using Thai nationals as proxy shareholders to disguise foreign ownership and operate businesses illegally in Thailand.
This year, the department plans to investigate 26,019 nominee cases across four business sectors in six major tourist provinces. Additionally, the department collaborated with partner agencies to conduct on-site inspections in four provinces, focusing on shareholding structures that violated the FBA.
Furthermore, the department is preparing to launch an online service system called e-Foreign Business to assist in applying for permissions to operate businesses under the FBA. They are also working on amending the list of restricted businesses for foreigners on an annual basis, with ten service businesses identified as sectors where Thai nationals can compete with foreigners without requiring a foreign business license. Ministerial regulations are being developed to specifically exclude these ten service businesses from the restricted list.