ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE FOR THE EXPAT IN ALL OF US What’s happening, and might be happening, in and around Hua Hin
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Clampdown? Foreigners ruffled by series of incidents
hua hin, thailand AWOL was hoping to start the year with a positive front page story with a New Year, new start type of feel to it, but events have unfortunately dictated otherwise. A series of incidents involving various branches of Thai authority have swept the town in the last few weeks, giving at least the appearance of some form of clampdown on foreigners and their businesses here. It is entirely possible that this is just coincidence, or a form of cleaning up at the turn of the year, but some of it has ominous overtones for foreigners who run businesses and own property here. The most worrying of the incidents though concerns, of all things, an organisation that carries out valuable charity work for the less fortunate in Thai society. Details of this incident and the whys and wherefores are not clear at press
been made on business premises run by and employing foreigners, checking on work permits and licenses, and another incident which appears to herald a close examination of the formation of companies where a foreigner is a shareholder. A common practice years ago when forming such companies was the use of what is known as ‘nominee shareholders’, but under Thai law this was, and Continued on page 2
INSIDE AWOL Online Observer Free Classifieds time so AWOL will only bring you the full story when the information is available. This follows hard on the heels of other incidents where raids have
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