One ministry is rewriting business laws to attract foreign capital. Another is prosecuting foreigners who invested in property using the structures lawyers told them were standard. Both are happening in the same year, under the same government.
The contradiction matters because it shows the gap between Thailand’s investment ambitions and the uncertainty foreign buyers now face, especially in Phuket property.
What the Commerce Ministry is doing
In April 2025, Thailand’s Cabinet approved the biggest overhaul of the Foreign Business Act in twenty-five years. In January 2026, the government confirmed it would remove ten business categories from the restricted list, including software development. Foreign tech companies can now operate in Thailand without a local partner or special licence.
The policy is part of Thailand 4.0, the national plan to build a modern, high-value, open economy. The reasoning is direct: Thailand has fallen behind Vietnam and Indonesia in competitiveness, and OECD membership requires a better openness score.
The move signals the right direction for a country that needs to attract serious capital and compete regionally.
What the property enforcement agencies are doing
While one ministry courts foreign capital, another is running the most aggressive property crackdown the sector has seen in two decades.
New rules require Thai shareholders in foreign-linked companies to prove the money they invested is genuinely theirs. An analytics system now flags nominee arrangements where a modest-salaried Thai somehow owns most of a multi-million-baht villa.
In May 2026, an operation on Koh Phangan, conducted around a prime ministerial inspection, resulted in 22 arrests and the seizure of more than 40 rai of land. Police summonses now arrive under criminal procedure. Six agencies share data they previously kept separate.
On genuine abuse, the enforcement is justified. A Thai shareholder who put in no money, makes no decisions and takes no profit is not an owner. When investigators find one person fronting dozens of companies, that is fraud.
But the net does not only catch fraudsters.
The retiree problem
The enforcement also catches the retiree who bought one home a decade ago through the exact company structure a respected Thai law firm sold them as the normal way to do it, and who has done nothing since but live there and pay tax.
That person was not gaming the system. They were using the only system the country left them after it removed the legal alternative.
In late 2022, Thailand’s Cabinet approved a law that would have let qualifying foreigners legally own a small plot of residential land. It would have been the first real, on-the-title route to land ownership in two decades.
A senior minister defending the law admitted foreigners could already acquire land anyway, through leases, the condo quota and nominee companies. The law would just make one path legal and visible.
The law lasted under two weeks. The opposition claimed the government was selling off the country, and the bill was withdrawn. The honest route died. The workaround it was meant to replace was left exactly where it stood.
Then, in March 2025, the Supreme Court ruled against the long-lease renewal structure that thousands of foreign buyers had trusted for security.
Why this matters for Phuket property
Phuket has more foreign property buyers, long-stay residents and lifestyle investors than almost any other part of Thailand. Many used nominee company structures because leases were seen as insecure and the condo quota was limited or unavailable in the areas they wanted.
The sequence of events is now clear. Thailand invited foreign capital. It drafted a legal way to own land, then scrapped it under political pressure. It left the nominee workaround standing because the honest fix was harder. Its courts then weakened the lease structure people used instead. And now it is prosecuting buyers for using the workaround it twice refused to replace.
Meanwhile, one ministry over, Thailand is dismantling the very same kind of foreign ownership restriction in business and calling it progress.
The legal gap that was never filled
A nominee company was never a clever Thai trick. It was a symptom of an absence. It existed because there was no legal road, so people built a private detour.
The same pattern appears across Thailand’s business rulebook. The Foreign Business Act’s catch-all clause, written in 1999, requires a licence for almost any service business not named elsewhere. It is one of the biggest reasons Thailand ranks as a closed economy.
The Commerce Ministry is now removing those restrictions because it recognises they cost more than they protect. But the property enforcement agencies are prosecuting people who used similar workarounds, without offering a legal alternative first.
What remains uncertain
The enforcement is real and escalating. But what is not yet clear is where the line sits between prosecution-worthy fraud and tolerated historical practice, or whether the government will offer any pathway for buyers who acted in good faith under the structures lawyers advised them to use.
For foreign buyers considering Phuket property now, the question is not whether Thailand wants foreign capital. The question is whether the country can offer a stable, predictable legal framework that lasts longer than the next political shift.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can foreigners still buy property in Phuket?
Foreigners can legally buy condominium units within the 49% foreign quota and can lease land under long-term lease agreements. Nominee company structures, previously used for land ownership, are now being actively prosecuted. No legal alternative for freehold land ownership currently exists.
What is a nominee company structure?
A nominee company structure involves a Thai company owning land on behalf of a foreign buyer, with Thai shareholders who contribute little or no capital and hold no real control. Thailand is now prosecuting these arrangements as fraud, even when they were set up years ago through respected law firms.
What happened to the law that would have allowed foreigners to own land?
In late 2022, Thailand’s Cabinet approved a law allowing qualifying foreigners to own small residential plots. The law was withdrawn within two weeks after opposition parties claimed it was selling off the country. The workaround structures it was meant to replace were left in place.
Is Thailand still trying to attract foreign investors?
Yes. In January 2026, Thailand confirmed it would remove ten business categories from the foreign business restricted list, including software development. The Commerce Ministry is actively pursuing policies to attract foreign capital and improve competitiveness under the Thailand 4.0 strategy.
What should foreign buyers in Phuket do now?
Foreign buyers should work only with legal advisors who understand the current enforcement climate and can explain the risks clearly. Condominium purchases within the legal quota and properly structured leases remain the safest options. No legal route to freehold land ownership exists, and historical workarounds are now being prosecuted.
Sources
- Thaiger — Thailand is throwing out the foreigners it spent a fortune inviting in — link
