Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing nominees in the context of Thai Corporate entities. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Thai Government Issues Stern Nominee Warning. Quoting directly: "The Government has issued a stern warning urging people not to act as nominees for foreign investors and business ventures, especially in tourism-related sectors, or face serious legal consequences." 

I have discussed this in other videos at length. The whole term 'nominee' is somewhat nebulous and it kind of turns upon direct involvement in the corporate entity, but even more to the point is the underlying raison d'être, if you will, reason for being of the company. Is the company designed to be for example a real estate holding company for a foreigner? That can be a major problem, as we have discussed in many other videos. At the same time, tourism is a heavily regulated, heavily restricted occupation here in Thailand. If an operation is deemed to be set up in order to engage in that kind of occupation, you could have some real problems with that. That said, getting into the analysis of what a nominee is and is not can be a rather nettlesome endeavour and again it will all be driven by the underlying facts in a given case.

That said, quoting further: "Punishments include imprisonment, heavy fines, assets seizure and the revocation of business licenses." Again, going to asset seizure, I have discussed this in many other videos. Thai property holding companies, you need to be very, very careful about such things and those are of a special concern to authorities here in Thailand because of frankly the heavy restriction on foreign ownership of land. Thais are very concerned about that. It comes down to basically a national sovereignty issue and they take it seriously. That said, quoting further: "Deputy Government Spokesman Anukul Pruksanusak said many people have unknowingly or willingly been used as fronts (nominees) by foreigners to illegally operate businesses in Thailand. This violates the Foreign Business Act of 1999, which prohibits foreign ownership in certain sectors unless permitted by law. Now that said, legitimate 49% ownership of companies is allowed and it is in compliance with the Foreign Business Act. But if something is being used, again if nominees are just total fronts, I mean they have nothing to do with the business and they are just on corporate documentation, that can be a real problem and it can lead to even criminal penalties here in Thailand. 

Those who are looking to do business in Thailand, it is a really good idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.