Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing it appears that Thai Immigration has something of a preoccupation right now with nominees being utilized by foreigners to do things that are either not in line with the Foreign Business Act, the Restricted Occupations here in Thailand, or just outright criminal behaviour. So let's jump in here. 

I thought of making this video initially after reading a recent article from the Nation, that is nationthailand.com, the article is titled: Thai Immigration arrests foreign scam suspects; Koh Phangan nominee case. Quoting further: "Chinese suspect wanted for fraud found hiding in a Bangkok luxury estate. Quoting directly: "Immigration investigators said they received a tip-off about a Chinese man behaving suspiciously and living quietly in a luxury housing estate" - when I first read this, a tip off about a Chinese man behaving suspiciously and living quietly", that seemed like an oxymoron there - quoting further: "in a luxury housing estate in the Krungthep Kreetha area while using an expensive vehicle. After coordinating checks with the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Thailand, Officers identified him as Zeng (surname withheld), 34, a Chinese National wanted by Chinese authorities on allegations of jointly defrauding the public. Investigators said the suspect allegedly set up a fake company (shell company) to lure victims into "investment" schemes, with initial losses estimated at around 1,100,000 Yuan, (so 1,100,000 Yuan)." Quoting further: "Authorities said a building in "Mansiu" city, Myanmar (as stated in the briefing) was used as a base of operations before he fled to Thailand. The Immigration Bureau said it revoked his visa, obtained a search warrant, and raided the house where he was found and taken into custody. Police said they believe the suspect may have brought proceeds into Thailand to buy assets. Officers seized one Toyota Alphard" - so when I was reading this yes, I was like, I go back up and it said, "oh he had an expensive car" and then I was like, a Toyota Alphard! Really? I mean it's not an inexpensive car, but I mean it's a car. It's not like a Rolls or something. That said, quoting further: "with a "special" number plate, valued at about 3 million baht, registered in the suspect's name." Yeah, for those who are unaware, just a sort of side note here, yes there are specialized number place here in Thailand and some of those plates can cost a lot of money because there are all sorts of notions and superstitions about the luckiness if you will of different numbers and things. 

The reason for the thumbnail for this video is from, the movie is called Confidence. Dustin Hoffman in the film kind of plays the villain, and he goes into this sort of lecture to this young buck about how style can get you killed; it's a kind of a neat little scene. But that was what I was thinking the minute after reading that he's riding around in a Toyota, then went out of his way to get, presumably somebody went out of their way to get this specialized number plate, and as the scene in Confidence points out, it sort of like painted a target on his back, because if you notice, when they received a tip off, "living quietly in a housing estate" and then, "and using an expensive vehicle". Again, I mean a Toyota Alphard in and of itself I don't think fits that description, but the plate seems to have been what caused folks attention to be peaked if you will.

So again, I don't think that's an inaccurate use of that clip from the film Confidence - link in the description below and the reason for the thumbnail - because style, nobody got obviously killed in this situation, but in the sense of sort of ended his run doing whatever it was he was doing, style kind of hung him up. 

That said, this appears to be a trend on the part of Immigration. Going over to Khao Sod English, that is khaosodenglish.com, the article is titled: Chiang Mai Arrests Chinese Hotel Owners, Thai Nominee. Quoting directly, and again the through line here is this issue of nominees; I'll get to that in moment. Quoting directly: "Immigration Police in Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai have arrested two Chinese investors and a Thai woman accused of acting as a nominee in the illegal operation of a luxury hotel, while a third Chinese suspect remains at large, authorities said. Chiang Mai Immigration Officers executed Court warrants to arrest two Chinese investors identified as Mr. Ma and Mr. Mi" - so you have got Ma and Mi, "Mema" - quoting further: "At a four-star hotel on Chang Klan Road in the city centre. A Thai woman identified as Ms. Jin, was also arrested for allegedly acting as a nominee shareholder and Manager. Each suspect faces multiple charges. Police said a fourth suspect, Ms. Ma, the Chinese wife of one of the investors fled to China before the arrest and is still being sought." 

So I would say the big piece of analysis here is to understand that if you are purely using a Thai as a front to engage in things that one cannot otherwise engage in in terms of business here in Thailand, you are going to run into problems with regard to the nominee issue. Meanwhile, I think it's worth pointing out, there are structures that can be set up here in Thailand that do not violate the rules regarding nominees in Thailand but that still involve Thai Nationals being shareholders on companies. What it comes down to is primarily active involvement in the business, a nominee where you have just got somebody on paper that's on the company and you never saw them again, that's a real problem. Also again, they need to be involved in sort the day to day. 

We handle a lot of stuff here in our office dealing with our clients' companies and their corporate interests and we deal with a lot of administrative functions alone associated with corporations and, a very substantively different thing than just having somebody on your paperwork and you never see them again. Another thing that seems to be a key theme here is utilizing these structures to intentionally engage in activities that are restricted to foreigners. Again this is not one but two different articles, in two different locations, and two different publications talking about this issue and the same through line is Immigration implications for nominee structures. I think that that's a major data point to those of you out there in expat land especially, who may be engaging in certain types of business activity or maybe thinking about it. 

There are ways to structure companies in Thailand to be in compliance with the law and to be able to enjoy the benefits of ownership, as well as profit sharing under those types of structures. But again, the analysis regarding what the best type of structure is, is going to be driven by the underlying facts of a given case. For those who are a bit overwhelmed by all of this, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.