The Minister of Commerce, alongside 23 government and private sector organizations, signed a historic MOU to combat nominee schemes, ordering the screening of 980,000 high-risk companies to protect Thai businesses from disadvantage due to illegal foreign capital.
On 29 April 2026, Mrs. Supachai Sutthumpun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, chaired the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on preventing and suppressing the use of Thai nationals as nominee representatives. This agreement involved 23 agencies from both the public and private sectors to strengthen law enforcement against grey capital that hinders the country’s economic potential.
Mrs. Supachai revealed that the government intends to make this issue a key agenda executed efficiently. Although the official signing is recent, proactive work has been underway since October last year, with continuous enforcement actions. The Department of Business Development leads the initial screening of over 980,000 registered legal entities to prevent high-risk groups from entering the business system from the start.
The collaborative approach with the 23 agencies will focus on three main dimensions: integrating all agencies’ databases into a unified system to quickly detect irregularities and act; closely monitoring high-risk companies’ behavior; and removing unlawful businesses from the system to protect honest and transparent entrepreneurs.
“Today's signing is not merely putting signatures on paper but establishing a foundation for genuine fairness. We must transform improper trade into legitimate conduct and change concealment into transparency to mend the economic fractures of the nation,” Mrs. Supachai said.
Mrs. Supachai emphasized that these measures will protect Thai entrepreneurs’ interests from unfair competition caused by foreign capital evading the law. They will also reassure foreign investors who conduct business legally that they will be treated equally and fairly under international standards, benefiting the country’s overall economic and trade system in the long term.