Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing "sworn declarations" in the context of incorporation here in Thailand. I've done a number of videos here recently talking about the crackdown on what are described as nominees in Thailand. I hesitate there for a minute because there is a legal definition of what it is a nominee in Thailand and there are criminal implications associated with that. I think it's important to be clear before we get into this, that there are legitimate business structures, corporate structures here in Thailand that are in line and in compliance with the Foreign Business Act that may have a Thai shareholder on them. But the issue here is one of nominees versus real shareholders. A real shareholder is actually involved in the business; they're not just a name on a piece of paper and then you never see or hear from them again. That seems to be the main thrust of the problem with regard to a lot of this crackdown on corporate entities. Also, corporate entities that are being used purely pretextually or you could argue pretensively, as a front for a foreigner to own land in Thailand, that is being cracked down on significantly and severely here in Thailand, and scrutiny is being applied strenuously and stringently here in Thailand at the moment. And we are seeing this - again I go into this article - if you read the article for yourself, there have been a number of incidences of heavy law enforcement, national level law enforcement being involved in this endeavour. That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: When high-stakes deals in EEC are shaken by "sworn declarations". What are we talking about here with the issue of "sworn declarations"? I'll get to it here real quick in a moment. 

Some folks have been watching this channel and brought up to me, they said look I don't always need a lawyer, but I do appreciate what you do on the channel. As I have discussed in many other videos, we've never monetized this channel. Now for obvious reasons it has promotional value for the firm so that's why I've been doing it for nearly 10 years; in fact in October I'll be at my 10th year of making these videos. But that said, folks have asked, "well how can we support you and things?" Well, my better half and I set up a restaurant here in downtown Bangkok, the name is Pancake Palace, as the name implies, breakfast anytime as well as American Diner style food. We also have an English breakfast as well. American Diner style food such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chilli bowls; we've also got hot dogs, Polish sausage, chilli dogs as well. We've got tacos, we've got grilled cheese sandwiches, we've got Coke in glass bottles. If you like down home American Diner style food, please feel free come by and see us, we would love to see you; that would be a great way you can support us and what we do here on this channel as well. Links are in the description below.

That said, let's jump in. Pattaya Mail, pattayamail.com, this issue of Sworn Declaration: quote: "Sworn Declaration: The double-edged sword for advisors and fronts and I would also say perhaps the sort of sword that cuts the Gordian Knot when it comes to the issue of fake lawyers here in Thailand as well. And the author of that article is more talking about it from the standpoint of undermining rule of law from a corruption standpoint. My big issue has been the fact that we have got all these fake lawyers running around Thailand. These people that have no qualification or credential in any jurisdiction as any kind of legal expert, pretending to be lawyers, and then on top of that, Thailand is clear in its restricted occupations. The legal profession is completely restricted to all foreigners. If you are not a Thai national, you cannot operate in the Thai legal sphere at all. I have discussed that in other videos; I put up the restricted occupations and the listed posting which is actually up on the Department of Employment's website here in Thailand, in English, yet we're still dealing with this stuff, but I expect this crackdown on nominees will probably have a significant impact on a bunch of these frauds. That being said, quoting directly: "Following the raids in Nikhom Phatthana and Bowin, the Government has deployed its latest weapon, the Sworn Declaration (Statement of Investment Source). Effective April 1, 2026, this has become the ultimate deterrent, A Vow that Leads to Prison Today, both the legal witness and the Thai shareholder must sign a sworn statement confirming the legitimate source of funds. If later found to be a "false certification" or based on forged signatures, the penalties shift from civil fine to criminal imprisonment and the permanent revocation of professional licenses." - I think this is probably a good start, but where law enforcement really needs to be looking here is at the fake lawyers. Fake lawyers don't care about you going after their professional certification, because they're fake to begin with.

So another, maybe one step further, or maybe I shouldn't say one step further but to more precisely and to more accurately target the problem, I think law enforcement should be looking at these fake lawyers in Thailand, and these foreigners who are operating completely illegally in light of the restrictions of the foreign restricted occupations if they're looking at this problem, because quite frankly, I think a lot of it stems from that if you're looking at it from like sort of a bird's-eye view sort of situation. That said, quoting further: "Check-mate in the Industrial Zones. Authorities are now utilizing AI to cross-reference shareholder names across various companies in Rayong and Chonburi. If an individual is found holding shares in multiple foreign funded companies without a matching financial background, the system triggers an immediate "Red Flag". 

Now, as to the issue of corporate registered capitalization and things of this nature, again you have got to get into the underlying facts of the given case and if you go backwards there were different laws prior to April now of this year, and different regulations as well, pertaining to capitalization, registered capitalization. I'm not particularly worried about those corporations that were set up legitimately in the past being able to continue to move forward, but in the future, I now expect we are going to see a much more stringent scrutiny on those new companies that get set up especially as it pertains to the underlying registered capitalization and I expect that  law enforcement here in Thailand will be assiduous in ascertaining whether or not there was a legitimate business that was incorporated whether or not it was legitimate investment made into that business. Now exactly what that looks like remains to be seen, so we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.