Reported developments in Thai property enforcement and regulation, each traced to a named source.
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More than 3,000 people in the Khok Tanod community in Chalong, Phuket, face eviction lawsuits over land a private party claims to own. On 21 September 2026 they asked the province for help, and officials said they cannot overturn the courts.
EXAT has sent a revised design for the Phuket expressway to the Ministry of Transport, with the Phase 1 tunnel narrowed from 17 m to 14 m. The revised plan is expected to go to Cabinet around December 2026, construction is planned from October 2027, and opening is targeted for October 2031. The revised design and the new timetable still await a Cabinet decision, and no contractor has been chosen.
The Department of Business Development (DBD) published Land Department records as of 4 September 2026. Of 123,542 supervised juristic persons holding title deeds, 36,277 have foreign shareholders. The province lists name Bangkok, Chonburi, Samut Prakan and six others — Phuket is on none of them, and that is a fact about corporate freehold, not about foreign money in Phuket property.
Somchat Techathaworncharoen did not appear before Thailand's DSI on September 7 as scheduled. He asked to delay to late September, citing parliamentary sessions and fieldwork; DSI's investigating team said the full extension was unlikely and was weighing an earlier date instead, and noted his appearance has now slipped more than once. He denies wrongdoing; no charge has been filed.
Thailand's DTV must now be filed at the Thai mission for the applicant's country of nationality or permanent residence. The rule took effect 31 August 2026. It closes the third-country route remote workers used to reach this five-year visa.
Thailand's Justice Minister confirmed on September 2 that a second DSI summons reached Phuket MP Somchat Techathaworncharoen after a first attempt went undelivered, setting a September 7 appearance before DSI over his role in Phuket property-holding companies with foreign partners. He denies wrongdoing and denies evading the first summons.
On 31 August Thailand's Royal Gazette published Interior Ministry notices cutting the 93-country, 60-day visa exemption to 30 days for most nationalities (15 days for two, visa-on-arrival for three), effective 15 September 2026. For a Phuket owner or long-term renter, this halves the visa-free stay — deeper for the 15-day countries, gone for the three moving to visa-on-arrival.
A Phuket MP faced public allegations of acting as a nominee for foreign shareholders across a network of companies reported to hold land and condominium units. He denied wrongdoing and went to Thailand's Department of Special Investigation on August 20 before any summons was issued; his own party says DSI let his name circulate first.
On 14 August the National Tourism Policy Committee considered draft principles and a draft collection notification and sent them to the prescribed public-hearing process. Ministers have been quoted putting the rate at ฿450, air arrivals first. Hearing dates, Cabinet, and the exemption list are still unpublished.
Since 1 April, a cash withdrawal of ฿5m or more at a Thai bank branch has needed a stated purpose. A draft rule out for consultation until 3 September would extend the same test to cash deposits, banknote exchange and foreign notes from 15 October. What that changes for anyone paying or being paid in cash on a Phuket deal.
On August 12, 2026 the government said 275 of 392 backlogged Phuket hotel-licence applications pending since 2018 had been approved, leaving 117. A day earlier, Bangkok Post reported the Phuket Tourist Association's estimate that roughly 70% of the island's hotels are still unlicensed, and cited a lapsed building-type regulation as one reason why.
At an August 7 Phuket Provincial Hall briefing, Deputy Interior Minister Worasit Liangprasit said 117 hotel-licence applications remained from a backlog reported at about 400 to 500 cases, with review targeted for completion by September 2026.
Natural Resources Minister Suchart Chomklin is widening the Phuket Model sweep from eight sites to more than forty across the island, and has ordered a recreational-forest proposal for Nui Beach.
From August 3-5, multi-agency operational teams including forestry staff from the Krabi branch of Resource Management Office 12 checked land-title legitimacy at eight sites across Thalang, Kamala, Rawai and Patong under the newly named 'Phuket Model,' and inspected a Paradise Beach restaurant row for suspected nominee ownership.
A July 31 DBD release explains why Order 2/2569 now covers certain registration amendments as well as incorporation. The department says the rules took effect August 1.
A Section 25 order posted at Phuket's Freedom Beach on July 6 names 22 structures on about 9 rai of Nak Koet Mountain Range reserved forest and gives occupants until August 5 to remove them or face enforcement at their own expense.
A weekly read on Phuket enforcement and market signals — what actually moved this week, what stayed the same, and the specific things worth watching next.
Thailand's Interior Ministry has expanded nominee-ownership inspections to more than 361 Phuket businesses, according to The Nation — the enforcement drive our earlier coverage tracked, now reported wider.
Order 2/2569 replaces two earlier registration measures and requires matching bank evidence for specified filings involving foreign investment or signing authority.
Officials began dismantling structures at Phuket's Nui Beach on 20 July 2026 — press reports on the day cite 50 structures on 18 rai, a larger figure than the ministry's own case page. A source-by-source check of the conflicting area and structure counts, the court challenge, and the minister's separate claim about land allegedly held by foreigners.
A 15-second cafe video from Koh Phangan went viral and became shorthand for Thailand's frustration with tourist conduct. What the clip shows, what the visitor says happened, and what's still unverified.
DNP posted eviction and demolition notices at a hotel in tambon Sakhu on July 10, enforcing a Supreme Court ruling that upheld revocation of a Nor Sor 3 Kor certificate over more than 13 rai inside Sirinat National Park.
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Yes — a foreigner can own a condo in Thailand freehold, in their own name, as long as the building still has room in its 49% foreign-ownership quota and the purchase funds arrive from abroad in foreign currency (the FET form).
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