THE intensive crackdown on nominee companies nationwide is now targeting 14,000 more firms suspected to have used Thai nationals to circumvent restrictions under Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999), Naewna newspaper and Amarin TV said today (Sept. 1).
Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said at Songkhla University’s Hat Yai campus during today’s roving cabinet meeting that nationwide there are 2,314 companies holding over 5,800 plots of land worth 65 billion baht while government agencies are currently further investigating another 14,000 companies suspected of being nominees.
Questioned on the crackdown on nominee businesses in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang area the Deputy Minister replies:
“We already have information on which areas in Bangkok and other provinces we suspect may have nominee companies.
“We are compiling data from the Department of Provincial Administration and the Ministry of Commerce. Once we are confident about which companies are nominees, we will examine the details more closely, especially regarding business licences.
“If a company lacks a licence, we will conduct an inspection. There are many more locations in Bangkok, as well as provinces in the central and northern regions, that we are preparing to investigate.”
Regarding a raid on 577CLUB in Soi Pracha Uthit 11, Huai Khwang area, he and his counterpart Mr. Worasit Liangprasit had mounted with a Department of Provincial Administration’s Special Operations Unit (DOPA S.W.A.T.) team over the weekend after receiving complaints that this entertainment venue which was raided in August last year was still operating with the owner likely being a Chinese man, Polapee said that the authorities did not intentionally target that area and did not even know beforehand which of this zone’s three police stations was in charge but it turned out to be Huai Khwang station.
“Even if they move to evade us, they cannot escape us. We are determined to crack down, but we acknowledge that shady businesses continue to spring up like mushrooms,” he said.
Regarding Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) order to temporarily close some entertainment venues in Saphan Khwai area, Polapee said that he believes the city administration had noticed the action taken in Huai Khwang and the numerous media reports about these entertainment venues so went to investigate.
The temporary closure is likely due to public health concerns but there is a lot more BMA can do such as checking structural issues and permits.
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Top and Front Page: Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee raiding 577CLUB in Huai Kwang over the weekend. Photo – Naewna
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