The Department of Business Development joined forces with the Ombudsman to conduct inspections in Samut Songkhram and Ratchaburi, focusing on fruit packing houses and nominee practices."Nominee"This followed suspicions that foreign investors colluded to suppress the price of aromatic coconuts to as low as 0.50 baht per fruit. Authorities plan to propose legal amendments to prosecute money laundering offenses and swiftly seek new markets and solutions to support farmers throughout the system.
Mr. Poonpong Nainapakorn, Director-General of the Department of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce, assigned the Director of the Division for Prevention and Suppression of Illegal Business along with the nominee crackdown team to inspect Samut Songkhram and Ratchaburi provinces. The inspections were conducted in cooperation with the Ombudsman Office, led by Mr. Songsak Saichue, Chairman of the Ombudsman, the Department of Internal Trade, and related agencies. The aim was to verify facts regarding complaints from farmer groups suffering severe losses from plummeting aromatic coconut prices, and to follow up on nominee practices among foreign-owned fruit purchasing businesses.
Random inspections of legal entities with up to 50% foreign shareholding in Ratchaburi, conducted jointly with the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), uncovered evidence indicating"nominee"practices, where Thai individuals hold shares on behalf of foreigners.
Currently, the Department of Business Development is preparing to propose amendments to the Foreign Business Act, which would classify nominee offenses as "predicate offenses for money laundering." They also plan to propose a Prime Ministerial regulation to establish an integrated mechanism to sustainably address violations by foreign-related businesses and products.
A representative of farmers from Phraek Nam Daeng Subdistrict, Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram, reflected that the current price for large coconuts is only 3 baht and small ones just 0.50 baht each, while production costs reach 7 baht per fruit. This has caused severe losses for farmers. Additionally, government assistance measures have been inadequate due to a shortage of packaging factories locally. Farmers therefore seek state support to find markets for lower-grade coconuts and to support production inputs.
Meanwhile, the Aromatic Coconut Large-Scale Farmers' Cooperative of Wat Phleng, Ratchaburi, suggested that the government expand markets to Europe to reduce dependence on China, support conversion to organic farming, and promote GI (Geographical Indication) coconuts for wider recognition. Furthermore, the PK COCO FARM community enterprise group reported that foreign packing houses are aware of production costs and collude to fix purchase prices, controlling the entire pricing system. They request support with cold storage technology and solar power to reduce costs.
Mr. Songsak Saichue, Chairman of the Ombudsman, offered three main recommendations to address the issue:
The Department of Business Development confirmed its readiness to collaborate with all agencies to investigate businesses suspected of nominee practices. If violations are found, decisive actions will be taken. The public can report tips via the website www.dbd.go.th to help create a fair trading system.
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