Phuket officials have been given seven days to complete an in-depth review of Chabad Patong, including its land, building and commercial permits, as well as possible shareholder links to a company behind a Jewish cemetery project.
Deputy government spokesperson Ploythalay Laksameesaengjan said today, September 15, that the review followed government policy and instructions from Deputy Interior Minister Phonphir Suwannachawi concerning the construction of a cemetery for foreign nationals.
Initial checks found that the company behind the cemetery has three shareholders or founders who are Israeli nationals holding Thai citizenship. They also own the land used for the project.
Officials are examining whether those individuals have any connection to Chabad in Phuket.
Ploythalay said Phuket Governor Chotnarin Kerdsom had ordered relevant agencies to conduct a broader review of Chabad Patong.
The checks will cover the land involved, how it was acquired, permission to use the land, building permits and commercial permissions connected to businesses operating within Chabad Patong.
Officials will also examine the shareholder structure to determine whether any of the same individuals appear among shareholders in the company linked to the Jewish cemetery.
The governor ordered the review to be completed within seven days, with all checks to be carried out under existing law.
The province is expected to release the findings to the public once the review is complete.
Ploythalay also released wider figures on foreign-linked companies registered in Phuket.
The province has more than 32,000 registered legal entities, of which more than 11,000 have foreign shareholders, representing 34.59% of the total.
The most represented foreign shareholder nationalities are Russian, Chinese, British, French and Australian.
Officials have also reviewed 6,682 companies considered at risk of using nominee shareholders. Of those, authorities found sufficient evidence to pursue legal action against 196 companies.
Nine cases have already resulted in court rulings, six remain before the courts, and 191 are still under investigation.
The government said tighter scrutiny has contributed to a drop of more than 60% in new company registrations involving foreign shareholders, while company deregistrations have risen by about 30%.
Related news
The story Phuket investigates Chabad Patong over land and permits as seen on Thaiger News.
