Re: "Nominee crackdown steps up", (BP, July 5).
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul should vigorously help good-faith micro and SME businesses that fell into poorly advised arrangements while continuing to punish those guilty of criminal concealment.
To do otherwise would not only be grossly unfair but will also repel potential investors from Thailand.
Mr Anutin should: (a) Have a one-time legalisation window of 6-12 months for those firms and married couples who voluntarily disclosed nominee arrangements and restructure ownership, avoiding criminal prosecution if there had been no large-scale money laundering, tax fraud, or other serious crime. This would reward compliance and free the government to focus on the big crooks.
(b) Announce that there'll be much tougher penalties after the transition period ends for anyone using illegal nominee arrangements.
(c) Create one-stop legal service centers combining services of all government agencies involved in transiting to legal arrangements, with automatic approval if applications if proposed revised structures are not approved within two weeks.
(d) Legal documents should be standardised and streamlined across agencies, so that, for example, applicants need not attach the same numerous documents to each agency anew every year.
(e) Simple online instructions on alternative ways to give investors the control they need without using nominees.
For example, minority owners might have the right to appoint one or more directors; approval rights for budgets, borrowing, or acquisitions; management contracts, or franchising/licensing, together with DIY templates for each method. This will make approval easier.
(f) There should be special rules for mixed-nationality couples to own their home or operate their small family business.
Also, if the Thai spouse dies or they separate, we should enable the business to continue as a going entity, rather than, say, force the foreigner to return to the country he may have left decades ago.
Burin Kantabutra
Build Thai apps
Re: "SMEs urge more oversight on e-commerce platforms", (Business, May 15).
The latest media debates on e-commerce vendor commissions have a second unrealised risk.
If Thailand became fully dependent on foreign applications for e-commerce and payment gateways, I consider that there is a sovereign risk.
Look at what happened in Europe, where there are no indigenous-developed applications for payments, credit cards, or the purchase and sale of goods and services.
If American companies want to put pressure on Europe, they can simply freeze credit cards and e-commerce apps overnight, as Russia realised with SWIFT.
It is a serious vulnerability.
The government needs to incentivise and promote the development of local applications to facilitate e-commerce and payment gateways, as India has done very well.
Locally developed applications will gain quick traction, spur competition, drive commission rates to become competitive, and keep profits within the country for reinvestment.
The right direction for Thailand to go.
Bala Natarajan
