PHUKET – Police officers checked and arrested legal entities with foreign shareholders operating car and motorcycle rental companies and real estate rental companies in Phuket. The investigation revealed that there is a network of individuals who have violated the law in the same way.
Region 8 police together with Phuket provincial police raided a building in Moo 7, Tambon Si Sunthon, Thalang district, Phuket province on March 19 2024. The building was used as a storage facility for cars and motorcycles by foreigners who were partners in a Thai legal entity. A large number of suspicious cars and motorcycles were found and the foreign operators are now under investigation.
It was established that these foreign individuals had entered Phuket as tourists. They then inquired with legal experts about the conditions for obtaining a residence permit in the country, focusing on the registration of legal entities. Originally, the shareholders were Thai nationals, but then the shares were transferred to the foreign individuals to hold in accordance with the shares required by law for Thai legal entities.
The legal entities with foreign shareholders then hired themselves or other foreigners as employees of the legal entity. This resulted in the conditions for applying for a work permit and opening a bank account at a financial institution for financial transactions, including the extension of the residence permit in the Kingdom.
The transactions involved the purchase, lease-purchase and long-term rental of real estate, as well as the ownership of vehicles, buildings and villages by legal entities whose shareholders were the foreign suspects.
The officers had to collect evidence and continuously monitor the transactions. It turned out that the group of foreign perpetrators also invited their relatives and friends to enter the Kingdom, who may have committed similar crimes.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Surapong Thanomjit, commander of Region 8 Police, also stated the results of an investigation into crimes committed by foreigners in Phuket province in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to date). He reported that there were 614 cases of criminal law violations, including Driving under the influence of alcohol, working without a permit, illegal entry, damage to property, overstaying, forgery, drug offenses, obstruction of justice and sexual offenses.
Of these cases, 98 people were prosecuted and their residence permit for the kingdom was revoked.
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