Thailand reviews citizenship rules and clarifies foreign business regulations

The Thai government has launched a comprehensive review of its citizenship and naturalization processes to combat fraudulent applications and ‘gray-market’ capital. Led by the Ministry of Interior, the initiative includes a retrospective audit of citizenship grants from the past year to identify bribery and links to organized crime. The crackdown specifically targets ‘nominee’ networks, where foreign entities use Thai identity cards or local stand-ins to illegally bypass restrictions on foreign business ownership. These findings are expected to inform amendments to the 1965 Nationality Act to strengthen national security and modernize regulatory loopholes.

Separately, Thailand’s Commerce Ministry has addressed misinformation regarding foreign business regulations. The ministry clarified that recent changes to the Foreign Business Act of 1999 do not allow foreigners to operate in sectors such as hotels, restaurants, or tour services without licenses. While the regulation removes certain licensing duplications for specific services—such as telecommunications and treasury centers—the government emphasized that core industries vital to Thai livelihoods remain protected under existing sector-specific laws and regulatory oversight.