Thailand Urged to Overhaul 51% Ownership Rule as Inequality Distorts Foreign Investment
Updated
Updated · Bangkok Post · Jun 10
Thailand Urged to Overhaul 51% Ownership Rule as Inequality Distorts Foreign Investment
1 articles · Updated · Bangkok Post · Jun 10
Summary
Thailand’s debate over nominee shareholders and foreign land ownership is being recast as a deeper inequality problem, with critics arguing the real barrier is concentrated wealth rather than foreign capital itself.
The 51% Thai ownership rule looks balanced on paper, but ordinary Thais often lack the money to partner in tourism ventures, pushing foreign operators into proxy structures to run dive shops, restaurants and other businesses.
That system is also described as inconsistent: Thai landowners, lawyers and officials help approve such arrangements, then the state can later seize assets or dissolve companies, a practice critics call arbitrary and unfair.
In high-priced tourist islands and resort areas, land is already out of reach for most locals, while a shrinking workforce and weak education system are cited as reasons Thailand needs foreign capital, skills and business know-how.