A mystery woman who filed reports claiming to own nearly 100 billion baht worth of shares in six of Thailand’s biggest listed companies has shaken confidence in the Thai capital market, prompting an urgent investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The name Supaporn Pimpong was unknown in Thai investment circles until July 2, when the SEC published an acquisition report (Form 246-2) stating she had bought shares in True Corporation (TRUE) on June 15, lifting her total stake to 7.0992% of voting rights. The filing made her, on paper, the sixth largest shareholder of Thailand’s biggest telecom operator, with holdings worth more than 30 billion baht.
The single transaction, reportedly executed through Swiss brokerage UBS Group AG at 14.70 baht per share, was valued at more than 16.1 billion baht.
True moved quickly to distance itself from the filing. The company told the Stock Exchange of Thailand it found no record of any such shareholding or transaction, and pointed to a glaring red flag: the report claimed ownership of True preference shares, a class of security the company says it has never offered to the public and no longer has in existence.
Major Cineplex Group (MAJOR) then reported an almost identical case. A filing under the same name claimed a stake of nearly 10% in the cinema operator, including 4.64% in preference shares that Major says were never sold to the public.
Checks of SEC records revealed the name had appeared before. Since 2021, Supaporn Pimpong has filed seven major shareholder reports covering six listed companies: TRUE, MAJOR, GJS, Bangkok Bank (BBL), Asia Aviation (AAV) and Kasikornbank (KBANK). At current market prices, the claimed holdings would be worth more than 94 billion baht. Yet her name has never appeared on any of the companies’ registered major shareholder lists, leading Thai media to dub the case the “phantom shares” scandal.
The SEC says the filer is real. Deputy secretary-general Anek Yooyuen confirmed the person registered for the regulator’s online filing system correctly and passed identity verification against the Interior Ministry’s civil registration database. What the system could not verify, he said, was whether the share ownership data she entered was true.
The regulator’s preliminary checks found multiple irregularities. Her name did not appear in historical share registry records for five of the six securities, some filings claimed securities the companies never issued, and the reported stakes contradicted shareholder structures disclosed to the stock exchange. All seven reports were submitted within two days, on June 30 and July 2, despite claiming acquisitions dating back to 2021, with no disposal reports ever filed.
The case has reached the top of government. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said on July 8 he had instructed the SEC secretary-general to expedite the investigation, warning the matter affects investor confidence and the credibility of the regulator itself. CP Group senior vice chairman Suphachai Chearavanont declined to comment, saying questions should be directed to the SEC.
The SEC held a press briefing this morning, July 9, led by secretary-general Pornanong Budsaratragoon. The regulator has warned that knowingly filing false reports carries a penalty of up to one year in prison and a 100,000 baht fine.
Beyond the question of who Supaporn Pimpong is, the case has exposed a structural weakness in Thailand’s market disclosure system. The Form 246-2 filings that investors rely on for trading decisions were published without verification, raising concerns that the reporting channel could be exploited to manipulate share prices or destabilise the market.
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