Officials are intensifying their assault on foreign criminals who travel to Thailand as their main destination for crimes and pretend to be tourists.
The state has instructed the Royal Thai Police and the Interior Ministry to take steps to address the issue, especially in Phuket, according to Pol Lt Gen Surapong Thanomjit, director of the Provincial Police Region 8. He continued,” These foreign criminals are being investigated by Phuket authorities have established a task power.”
The Foreign Business Act and Foreign Workers Act, which establish rules to protect national security and grant Thai citizens access to specific jobs, must be followed by immigrants looking to start companies or find employment in Thailand.
Last year, more than 11 million tourists visited Phuket, bringing in more than 380 billion rmb, according to Phuket’s Tourism Authority of Thailand business. The private sector in Phuket anticipates a 5-10 % increase in visitors this year, which will reportedly take in 400 billion ringgit.
Prior to the Thai New Year holiday, April 12 to April 16, Lertchai Wangtrakuldee, chairman of Phuket’s Tourism Authority of Thailand business, predicted that the island state would be crowded.
The hotel occupancy rate as of April 11 was already at 80 % of power, he said, adding an estimated 264,350 guests were expected to flock to Phuket during the five-day event, spending 6,625 baht per man per day on average, which will provide 7. 04 billion ringgit to the beach.
Officials are concerned about international criminals who mask themselves as travellers and foreigners who use Thais as business nominations to circumvent laws that restrict certain companies to Thai people.
Lertchai: Criminals believe to be travelers
Candidate no-no
Locals in Phuket complained that many foreigners are taking jobs that are reserved for Thais, according to Tanakorn Wangboonkongchana, a United Thai Nation ( UTN) Party list MP.
He claimed that some immigrants attempt to avoid regulations by appointing Thai businesspeople to hold shares in a business on their behalf.
To allow businesses to operate as legal entities without the need for special permits, he said, this arrangement typically involves Thai individuals holding 51 % of shares and foreigners holding 49 %, he said.
”If for a business operates a restaurant, money will go to the company’s accounts and then will be transferred to the personal profile of the immigrants. The funds will then be sent abroad. In some cases, the cash may be turned into modern resources,” he said.
He argued that Thai citizens should n’t be misled into offering assistance, support, or shares of Thai companies to foreigners to make it illegal for them to conduct business here.
” I want to inform Thais who act as nominees for foreigners. It is outlawed. It is not worth the money and rewards you receive [for acting as nominees],” he said.
The Provincial Police Region 8 is looking into more than 60 businesses suspected of acting as immigrants ‘ nominations in the South, most notably in Phuket and Surat Thani, according to Pol Lt Gen Surapong.
He stated that local officials in Phuket did launch a campaign to educate foreigners on how to do business in Thailand.
Surapong: A new assault has begun
According to the Crime Suppression Division ( CSD ), police searched 17 businesses in Phuket on April 3 and 4 allegedly run by a Russian money-laundering network.
More than 50 commercial passports and 500 related documents were taken from two computers reportedly containing a collection of foreign clients seeking to enroll Thai companies for use as shell companies, according to CSD chief Pol Maj Gen Montree Theskhan.
Before the attack, authorities investigated a Russian man suspected of being involved in money laundering, he said.
He claimed a Thai company helped the suspect obtain his Thai immigration, adding that the company listed two Russian women as authorized shareholders and one Russian woman as well.
According to Pol Maj Gen Montree, the male suspect withdrew 186 million ringgit from his three bank records after reportedly receiving crypto exchanges and selling them for money between July 7 and November 19 next year.
He added that it is thought that the accounts are connected to a system that allegedly funnels cash to Russia.
As the officers delved into the judicial system, they found it was linked to 38 different businesses, he said.
The finding led the CSD to attack 17 of the businesses, he said. The two Thai women are also being detained by police because they allegedly confessed to starting phony businesses to support immigration and function permit applicants.
More than 400 firms in well-known tourist destinations run their businesses using nominations, according to the Business Development Department.
Auramon Supthaweethum, the ministry director-general, said checks have been carried out in big hospitality regions, including Phuket, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani and Chon Buri.
In-depth investigations were conducted on companies in the hospitality industry, including those managing visit guidelines, restaurants, car rentals and hotels, and real estate.
419 businesses may remain acting as firm nominations, according to the company. 313 of them were ordered to send more records for confirmation.
The department is also conducting a search of a further 59 businesses in Phuket in collaboration with the Tourism Department and the Department of Special Investigation ( DSI).