KOH SAMUI, Thailand – Surat Thani Immigration Police are investigating a 74-year-old French businessman accused of using Thai nominees to control businesses and land on Koh Samui, including a 12-room property allegedly operating without a hotel licence, in the latest phase of a crackdown on foreign nominee networks.

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The investigation forms part of “Crackdown on Foreign Nominee Networks, Phase 7,” launched under policies set by the National Police Chief and the deputy national police chief and director of the Centre for the Suppression of Transnational Crime and Illegal Immigration, with Immigration Bureau commissioner ordering an inquiry through Immigration Division 6 on August 15.

Investigators linked two companies involved in land ownership and accommodation businesses in Lipanoi subdistrict, Koh Samui district, with Ida B Co Ltd owning approximately 7 rai, 3 ngan, and 80 square wah of land, where a three-storey building was constructed in 2021 and later operated as IDA B Domain, featuring 12 rooms, a restaurant, online daily booking advertisements, and its own website targeting tourists.

However, officers found no hotel business licence issued by the Koh Samui district hotel registrar, while immigration records filed under Section 38 of the Immigration Act indicated short guest stays, and an application for a health-hazardous business licence described the operation as a 12-room rental business, suggesting attempts to circumvent hotel regulations.

Ida B Co Ltd reported continuing losses and no genuine business income, officers said, with three Thai shareholders holding a combined 60 percent identified as restaurant employees and a driver, none of whom had apparent capacity to fund such an investment, while IDA B Domain Co Ltd had two Thai shareholders holding 60 percent, one of whom admitted he was an employee whose name was used as a director and document handler without control over company finances.

Surat Thani Immigration expands probe into French business network on Koh Samui, uncovering alleged Thai nominee shareholding and an unlicensed hotel operation.

A 74-year-old French businessman, Stephane Thierry Bastok, is also facing allegations linked to a 26.4 million baht… pic.twitter.com/vGigBErP92

— Khaosod English (@KhaosodEnglish) August 16, 2026

Records showed more than 7.7 million baht transferred from company accounts to Bastok and more than 1.5 million baht to his son, suggesting the Frenchman supplied the funds and controlled both businesses, according to investigating officers.

The Frenchman is also facing separate legal proceedings over claims that he persuaded eight French nationals to invest approximately 3.3 million baht each in a cannabis farm project that investigators say was never established, with Bo Phut and Koh Samui police having completed the cannabis-farm case files and sent them to prosecutors.

Police have filed a complaint against the Frenchman under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542, including Sections 8, 36, 37, and 41, and the Hotel Act B.E. 2547 for allegedly operating a hotel without a licence, while the two companies face allegations of allowing a foreigner to conduct business unlawfully, using Thai nominees, and operating an unauthorised hotel, with the five Thai nominees facing allegations under Sections 36 and 41.

Immigration is also considering possible money-laundering action, including whether allegedly illegal proceeds funded investments, as officers had credible information that Bastok previously advertised a hotel, buildings, and land for sale at 300 million baht.

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The case serves as a reminder that using Thai shareholders as stand-ins to bypass foreign business or land-ownership restrictions can expose both the foreign investor and Thai participants to prosecution, as a Thai-registered company does not automatically make an arrangement lawful if its Thai shareholders are not genuine investors.

-Thailand News (TN)