The announcement came from Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul yesterday (Mar 7) when she visited Phuket to preside over a meeting held to follow up on the crack down on illegal nominee companies on the island.
Also attending the meeting were Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada, Vice Governor Prajiad Aksornthammakul, Tourism and Sport Chief Santi Pawai, Phuket City Police Col Saman Chainarong and others official.
Ms Kobkarn said, “We are holding this meeting because on February 23 the Council of Ministries ordered my department, the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Tourism and Sport and other agencies to crack down on illegal nominees.
“We had a meeting about this at the beginning of February to evaluate our procedures and regulations which included investigating businesses with an aim of preventing the use of illegal nominees,” she said.
“We want to prevent foreign investors/businessmen from working illegally in Thailand without paying taxes,” she added.
Ms Kobkarn pointed out that a crack down is also needed on account and law offices that these tourism businesses hire, and that these companies must follow the law strictly.
“The most important thing of all is that businesses must pay taxes as per the law,” she said.
“In the future we may have to adjust laws and regulations so businesses can operate legally because now there are so many forms of businesses. We want better regulations and our laws strictly enforced. Our aim is to eliminate any loophole and decrease chances for illegal nominees to exist,” she added..
“Last time when I had a meeting with the Phuket Governor and other officials about this issue we discussed several possible solutions to deal with illegal nominees. First, we must be strict when enforcing rules and regulations for businesses that are already open.
“Second, when it comes to registering new businesses, it is wise to seek help from non tourism private sector businesses and get them to join the tourism registrar committee to help them crack down on this issue,” Ms Kobkarn concluded.