The Commerce Ministry is developing the Intelligence Business Analytics System (Ibas) to effectively screen and identify nominee businesses, with the system expected to be operational in August.
Voravongsa Ramangkura, vice-minister of commerce and chairman of the ministry's committee for digital policy and digital economy, said the Ibas system is a big data analysis tool designed to screen legal entities that might be nominee businesses, or violate the Foreign Business Act or related laws.
The advantage of Ibas is its ability to conduct targeted screening with high precision, and rapidly identify the connection between individuals and entities, he said. This capability enables authorities to tackle nominee businesses effectively.
During the progress review meeting, the committee urged the expedited integration of data with relevant government agencies, including the Revenue Department, the Customs Department, the Department of Lands, the Royal Thai Police and the Anti-Money Laundering Office.
Mr Voravongsa said this initiative aims to make the central database more comprehensive.
The Ibas system should enhance the country's economic security, enabling authorities to detect and prevent violations at the source rather than addressing them after they arise, he said.
From September 2024 to May 2025, the committee for addressing illegal goods and foreign businesses took legal action in 57,739 cases involving illegal goods, resulting in damages exceeding 2.29 billion baht.
The committee collected import taxes on goods valued under 1,500 baht, amounting to 1.88 billion baht and implemented "notice and takedown" measures to remove over 14,976 illegal items from online platforms.
The committee has cracked down on 861 nominee businesses, with damages exceeding 15.3 billion baht.
On Monday, the committee for addressing illegal goods and foreign businesses set up the framework for the working group's operations.
This group will accelerate inspections of potentially risky legal entities, particularly those with foreign shareholders holding between 0.001% and 49.99%, totalling 46,918 entities.
The time frame of these inspections will vary from one month to one year, depending on the number of entities in each province.
Four provinces have been identified with a significant number of potentially nominee entities: Chon Buri with 14,264 entities, Bangkok with 10,193 entities, Surat Thani with 7,096 entities and Phuket with 6,682 entities.