Hundreds of police and officials raided businesses and properties suspected of being illegally owned by foreigners on Koh Phangan as Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited the tourist island Wednesday.
Nearly 300 police officers and land officials raided 27 companies suspected of illegally owning 37 land plots on the southern tourist island. Police also arrested a foreigner suspected of operating a business reserved for Thais, with three Thais detained at the same location.
Officials had earlier received 29 complaints about foreign businesses using Thai proxies, leading to the arrests of 62 suspects related to 21 of the complaints.
Police on Wednesday took legal action against 12 companies accused of illegal foreign land ownership.
A recent survey by the Department of Business Development (DBD) found that 68% of the registered businesses on Koh Phangan and neighbouring Koh Samui in Surat Thani are run by foreigners.
On Koh Phangan, 3,213 of the island’s 4,761 companies are run by foreigners, the DBD found. Israelis account for the biggest investors, followed by the French and the British.
The raids happened hours before Prime Minister Anutin arrived to follow up on the official response to complaints about foreigners’ business operations there.
