As things stand, foreign companies are first required to seek a permit from the committee overseeing businesses operated by foreigners if they want to enter any of these fields.

Director-general Pongpun Gearaviriyapun said the committee generally granted permission to foreign applicants to enter these fields of activity, hence it was better to remove them from the restricted list to make it much more convenient for foreigners to invest in the three areas.

The commerce minister recently signed a ministerial regulation removing four business types – commercial banking, banks’ representative offices, life insurance, and property and casualty insurance – from Annex 3 of the FBA, meaning such businesses will no longer have to seek operating permits from the department as they are subject to specific banking laws and regulations of the Bank of Thailand and the Office of Insurance Commission, respectively. The aim is to reduce the number of redundant laws and regulations and to promote foreign businesses in Thailand, she said.

The agency head said the department had requested a budget of Bt6 million for fiscal year 2018, to be used to hire consultants to conduct a study of additional amendments to the FBA to ensure that the law and regulations keep up with the current business environment and can be enforced effectively.

As for the problem of Thais serving as shareholders on behalf of foreigners so that overseas interests can evade shareholding rules, or engage in prohibited types of business in Thailand without obtaining operating permits, the department over the past two to three years has joined other agencies to regularly monitor and inspect tourism-related businesses, brokerage services and real-estate business in provinces popular with foreigners, such as Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Phuket and Krabi, Pongpun said.

Her department has in that time discovered numerous violations related to the appointment of nominees, which the Department of Special Investigation has followed up on accordingly, she added.

“In amending the Foreign Business Act, we must study the pros and cons thoroughly as laws or regulations that are too restrictive could hinder foreign businesses and investments, while those which are too lax could be harmful to local business operators.

“Hence, in opening up businesses to foreigners, we may have to set the minimum investment capital limit in business areas in which Thais are not ready to compete with foreigners, and specify which businesses are fully liberalised in the annexure to the Act; [this is something] which the current attachment does not specify,” she explained.

The Business Development Department had earlier tried to revise the FBA, and especially the definition of “alien/foreigner”, as it creates a loophole leading to problems pertaining to the appointment of nominees. It is necessary to tighten such a definition to include voting rights and management authority of aliens/foreigners, which must comply with laws and regulations governing a company’s shareholding ratio at no more than 49 per cent for foreigners, and no less than 51 per cent for Thais.