Police and local officials in Chiang Mai raided 31 companies suspected of being nominee firms under actual foreign ownership and arrested five suspects on Monday.
About 250 police and local officials were involved in the operation, searching 31 company premises and files at 18 locations in Chiang Mai.
Of the 31 companies, 16 allegedly have Thai proxy shareholders and the other 15 breach foreign shareholding limits. The 31 companies occupy about 20 rai of land worth about 633 million baht.
Police said there were 74 suspects in the case and police had arrest warrants for 22 - two Thais, seven Myanma, three Indians, one Briton and nine Chinese. On Monday police arrested five of the suspects - two Indians and three Myanma.
Some Thai suspects had been detained prior to the raids. One is a man who has been in Chiang Mai Central Prison since 2021. His name was mentioned as a shareholder in two companies.
He told police that a former inmate invited him into an investment project and asked for his ID card and house registration document, supposedly for company registration. He said he never received any return from the claimed investment projects.
Similar operations were planned in Phuket, Krabi, Phangnga, Chon Buri and Surat Thani provinces, police said.
