Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy seeks forced sale of $417M in land linked to foreign ownership through proxies

Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced on Monday that his government is intensifying its efforts to combat foreign ownership of land in the country. The investigation is focusing on the acquisition of approximately 875 hectares of land related to suspected nominee arrangements, which is equivalent to 1,225 standard soccer fields.

This land constitutes a significant portion of Thailand's total property holdings. Prime Minister Anutin emphasized that land is a vital national resource and stressed the need for lawful and fair ownership and use. To enforce this, authorities are expanding investigations into high-risk cases by December and will enforce laws requiring the sale of illegally held land.

They are also implementing measures to prevent new nominee arrangements from entering the property system. The government will strengthen checks on buyers, requiring individuals purchasing land worth more than THB2 million, or properties with an assessed value exceeding THB5 million, to undergo background checks. Thai citizens married to foreigners will need to prove that the funds used for land purchases belong to the Thai spouse.

Companies purchasing property will have to undergo checks on their shareholders and funding sources, and they must submit supporting documents in line with Thailand's land laws.