Pattaya 'Russian Village' Probe Uncovers Billion-Baht Nominee Property Network

PATTAYA, Thailand – Thai authorities on Friday raided a luxury housing estate in Pattaya, uncovering a network of Thai nominee shareholders used by foreign nationals to illegally purchase residential properties advertised as a “Russian village.” A joint force of over 200 officers, civil servants, and land officials raided 41 locations across 33 companies in Chonburi province. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The operation, valued at 235 million baht ($7 million) in seized assets, targeted properties where Thai nationals were registered as majority shareholders to bypass laws restricting foreign land ownership. Police said the network used Russian-language websites to market the properties as a “Russian village.” A wider investigation into several housing projects in Chonburi revealed 495 corporate entities holding 775 homes valued at over 5 billion baht ($149 million), with dozens of companies now under investigation for suspected nominee violations. (TNA) (function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push(["_mgc.load"]})(window,"_mgq");