CIB, DBD bust alleged foreign front firm network in Ratchaburi
CIB and DBD raided eight firms in Ratchaburi over an alleged foreign nominee scheme accused of distorting the coconut market and depressing farm-gate prices.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), in cooperation with the Department of Business Development (DBD), has launched a sweeping crackdown on a foreign-backed network accused of setting up front companies in Ratchaburi province.
Authorities found evidence that Thai nationals had allegedly been used as proxies to monopolise the coconut trade and distort farm-gate purchasing prices, causing fresh coconut prices to fall abnormally and damaging Thailand’s economic system.
Under an operation dubbed “Peeling Back the Nominees”, officers searched eight coconut purchasing companies and processing plants in Ratchaburi after an investigation found that foreign investors had interfered in the market mechanism for aromatic coconuts.
- De Wang
- Hetaisheng International
- Longman Coconut
- Thaichoengta Trading
- Zhan Hui Raya
- Mu Xian Yuan (Thailand)
The other two firms targeted in the searches were Easy Coconut and Fly Coconut.
Investigators from Sub-Division 4 of the Economic Crime Suppression Division found that the Chinese investor group controlled the supply chain from upstream to downstream through several methods:
- Employee nominees: operational staff or ordinary individuals were listed as holding 51% of the shares, but had no real decision-making power.
- Direct orders from abroad: evidence was found in chat messages showing Chinese investors directly instructing purchases and setting prices.
- Price distortion: farm-gate buying prices were pushed down to just 2–5 baht per coconut, while exports to China were sold at 35–50 baht per coconut.
- Tax avoidance: the firms reportedly declared financial losses despite rising revenues in order to avoid paying taxes to the state.
Authorities seized more than 10 boxes of evidence, including accounting and tax documents as well as electronic devices. Preliminary findings identified 6 corporate entities, 10 Thai nationals and 7 foreign nationals as offenders.
The CIB warned that acting as a nominee is punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine of 100,000 to 1 million baht, or both, and said the practice could cause long-term harm to the livelihoods of Thai farmers.
