Land ownership for Foriegners

Post by **wazza** » August 10, 2015, 7:19 am

So a legitimate Thai Company, that turns over 9,000,000 last year, with audits, pays taxes, that has contracts and offices based in a house that an Expat living in it , is illegal umm.

Yes there are real estate developers in areas where the expat / foreigner population is high , relative speaking and having a shelf company could lead to an audit and proceedings, but not all.

The Land Office in Udon ( anyway ) does a large amount of due diligence on any company that has an Expat registered as Shareholder / Director etc where a land title is being transferred, even down to the certified mortgage documents for loans, ( expat money not allowed )

Post by **glalt** » August 10, 2015, 9:32 am

I think this will eventually go the way of the 99 year leases offered by scamming developers. The maximum legal lease is 30 years.

As far as the company that does 9.000.000 a year, if it has nominees who have no investment, it too is illegal. Since that company pays their lawyer, the accountant and taxes, it is not likely the government will ever prosecute. Since this is Thailand, one never knows for sure. Better you than me. Keep a low profile and don't antagonize any Thais and you will likely be able to stay under the radar.

Post by **tataw** » October 5, 2015, 8:33 am

Interesting article about land ownership from Phuket

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34346620

Post by **papafarang** » October 5, 2015, 9:43 am

no real legal way around it. met a guy once said he had a way round it, he was going to build condos and then keep 49% for himself to sell on to farang at inflated prices, all sounded good until I explained he still needs a 51% partner for the land.. doh. as said the real problem is if you can find a lawyer that can get you some invisible thais as partners ,he's just shown himself to be untrustworthy already. easy way is just invest in condos , all yours.
or do as I did, get the wife to buy it with her money

Post by **glalt** » October 5, 2015, 2:42 pm

My wife has a number of properties. Each one she/we bought needed me to go with her to the land office and sign a document saying that I had no financial interest in the properties. They didn't care where the money came from as long as I signed that document. At least I know where I am at. If worse comes to worse, I'll throw my personal possessions in my truck and head for my condo that is in my name and was purchased before we were married. After more than ten years of putting up with me, she is entitled to all the upcountry properties. I'll still have a roof over my head and certainly won't miss any meals. Never spend more here than you can afford to walk away from.

Post by **Tracechain** » October 7, 2015, 4:25 am

As we were finishing paying taxes on the land I bought five years ago yesterday at the land office in Udon, the last stop in a seemingly ungodly unorganized process was a thorough explanation of how they did not want to see me, a foreigner, back in the land office in case wife tries to throw me out, demanding or expecting ownership papers to said land. He concluded by stating that starting next year, it would be possible for me to own land, but not this year! Not sure what this means and it may be old news. Just saying.....

Post by **arjay** » October 7, 2015, 5:13 pm

Tracechain,

May I ask, who was "he", and was he speaking in English, or do you understand Thai very well?

Post by **Bonanza** » October 8, 2015, 6:28 am

I have posted this story before - but believe it is still valid.

About ten years ago, the multinational company I worked for had considered expanding into Thailand. I helped work on the feasibility study and the potential investment came to U$150million. This involved land purchase, which required a Thai partnership of 51%. Our lawyers (with lots of money available for due diligence) were unable to find any way in which we could have either direct land ownership or a controlling interest in the joint company. Hence, the project and expansion into Thailand was cancelled.

To this day, I believe if our lawyers could not find a legal way, there isn't one.

Post by **wazza** » October 8, 2015, 8:12 am

I wonder what business model Tesco. Boots. Toyota . BMW. Honda all use then?

Post by **FrazeeDK** » October 8, 2015, 8:36 am

Up until around 1999 it was illegal for any Thai woman married to a foreigner to own land.. The Thai government changed that law and sent diplomats out to Europe to spread the word, evidently in a push to bring money back into Thailand during the 97-99 recession.. There is always the unlikely possibility that the government might decide to re-implement such a law and review land ownership files to determine how many of them have that "not my money, not my land" document signed by a foreigner... Wouldn't that be a mess??

Post by **tataw** » October 8, 2015, 10:34 am

Wazza, I suspect it is because they are sponsored by the Thailand BoI

Maybe this link will clarify things

http://www.doingbusinessthailand.com/bl ... pment.html

Post by **glalt** » October 8, 2015, 10:39 am

Some of the wives who married farangs use their maiden names to own land so that could get messy. My wife changed her last name to mine so that is an obvious flag to the land office to have me sign that document. Other than the inconvenience of having to go with her to the land office, I don't care one way or another.

I know one guy who was married for twenty years and had children. He put all the property in his wife's name. He lived upcountry and made regular frequent trips to Bangkok where he kept a rented apartment. One day that he went back upcountry, he found his key no longer fit the lock. The police came and told him that he no longer lived there. His wife was kind enough to have packed his bags with his clothes and some of his personal possessions. He put the bags in his truck and headed for Bangkok. The next day the police came to his apartment and demanded the keys to his truck. It was also in his wife's name.

It finally went to court and he was awarded half of the martial assets. Four years later he had not received a single baht. The judge's ruling had no means of collecting his half. Apparently he would have to go to a different court to get his half. By that time he had paid lawyers and was out of money.

I should add that I just couldn't feel sorry for him. He was a drunken bum and I was surprised that his wife had put up with him and his mia noi for as long as she had. The lesson here is that even if the court awards you half, that judge has no power of enforcing the judgement. I have lost track of him but I doubt that he ever got anything.