Guest Posted September 10, 2001 Report Share Posted September 10, 2001 clickonline “people will ask 12 M Baht for a hectare of swamp area” This statement indicates to me that you do not have any clue about land prices. Value of land in very much subjected to location, the infrastructure, utilities available and the way that the land is registered at the land department. This has nothing to do with land prices in Hong Kong or Singapore. I live in Chiang Mai, just a few km out of the city and land prices in a radius of 10 km will varies between 0.5 Mln bath/rai to 5 mln bath/rai. The later is the price for a plot in Chiang Mai city. “And I would never buy land in my wife's name either. You can own a house on "her" land but marriages can go sour and often do.” Well this is up to the individuals choice and there are ways to minimize risks, as money still talks. But if you see a fiddle in each corner, then better buy nothing and keep stay back in that beautiful flat protective country which I have given up long, long time ago. As we Dutch used to say “ You don’t walk over the lake, after 1 night of freezing”. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 10, 2001 Report Share Posted September 10, 2001 “if you sign a 30 year lease, and the property is sold, does that invalidate the lease? or is the lease still legally binding" lamai87 In this structure, you will nominate your (Thai) wife to purchase the house or the land and have a 30-year lease with optional 30 years from the nominee. I'm not a specialist in Thai law, but I do know that any lease period exceeding 3 years must be registered and you will pay for the registration fee and stamp duties, using an xx% of the rental fee for the whole lease term. The lease conditions and price are fixed in the agreement. The original registered lease remains in force and effect even if the property is sold. Note that the extension of the lease with another 30-years can be contractually agreed between the parties, but this cannot be registered as a right. hope this answer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 10, 2001 Report Share Posted September 10, 2001 “On the setting up a company to buy land. My feeling is that this is really only worth it if you are going to operate a business anyway as once set up I think you have to supply regular accounts and show that the business is actually doing something.” CQ20 I agree with you on this: I had a chat with my Thai lawyer friend the other day and he did give me a warning to be careful in forming a company, for example an Limited liability Company, just to cover procurement of land. The Thai law requires that 51% of the shares be held by Thai nationals. Any company with more than 40% foreign interest that procures land in Thailand is subjected to be investigated by the central land office in Bangkok to ensure that this company has not been organized in an attempt to get out of the prohibition against foreign ownership of land. Of course, the foreigner can still be the director of this company who can commit the company in contractual dealings, thus giving the minority shareholder full control over the company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coltlongbone Posted September 17, 2001 Report Share Posted September 17, 2001 How does the law differ as far as condominiums are concerned ? I read somewhere this is the only type of property a farang can "own". Is this true ? Do you actually own the property or just a complicated lease ? Regards, C.L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 17, 2001 Report Share Posted September 17, 2001 "How does the law differ as far as condominiums are concerned ? I read somewhere this is the only type of property a farang can "own". Is this true ? Do you actually own the property or just a complicated lease ?" Coltlongbone There are no restrictions to foreigners to buy a condo unit, unless you want to buy more than 50% of the units in the same building. Normally, you will have to proof that the funds used for purchase the unit is remitted from overseas and this will have to be recorded correctly. You can do this by seeing your bank in Thailand and you have to ask for a so-called “Tor Tor saam” document. These documents will indicate that the transmitted money will be used for the procurement of property. In event that you do not want to buy a condo but another type of property, then you will end-up with the several options available to overcome the issue that foreigner are prohibited to own land. I hope that this answer a bit, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted September 17, 2001 Report Share Posted September 17, 2001 quote: Originally posted by cq20: What I really want to do here is try and determine what the facts really are as there seems to be a lot of half truths and out of date info relating to this. At least that is my perception. M. I posted that earlier in this section: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the Pattaya mail: Your land rights Last week’s comment on owning land has led to requests for a bit more info, so here we go. In Thailand, foreign nationals can own a unit(s) in a registered condominium or even a building as distinct from the land it is built on. It is also possible to hold a registered leasehold of up to thirty years for all types of titled land or buildings. Appropriate extension clauses can make this period even longer. Typically, farangs ‘buying’ a house for thirty years establish a Thai company with themselves as minority shareholders. There are taxes to pay at the point of buying and of selling as well as (in theory) levies on any rental income. Amity treaty But foreigners may not own in their own right freehold land, nor may they own more than 49% of the shares in a Thai company. The only partial exception are US nationals because, since the 1970s, they have benefited from the so called ‘amity treaty’ which allows for a Thai company under certain conditions to have special rights of company ownership which can extend to one hundred percent American ownership. However, the legal process is complicated and such companies as have been established do not own freehold land anyway. 40 million or bust In 1999 there was indeed a change in the law to allow a foreigner in his own right to purchase one rai of land on which to build a house provided that he or she had invested 40 million baht and kept it in Thailand for three years. However, no such houses have yet been built as the detail has not been finalized by the Ministry of Finance. One unclear aspect is whether you could build a house out of the 40 million baht or whether the investment is separate. Also no one seems to know if the investment can be cash or bonds or equities or a combination, or even a large capital injection into an existing business venture. The property future For most farangs then, the situation remains basically as it has been for the past ten years. If you prefer not to be a renter, either buy a condo unit or establish a Thai company with the property or house leased back to you. Alternatively, you can put the ownership in the name of a Thai you can trust, or think you can anyway. In all cases, purchase only through a well established real estate agent with a proven track record you have checked out. And the golden rule is to put your money only into a dwelling which is the love of your life. It’s nice to think property prices in Pattaya will rise in real terms, but nobody knows for sure. Remember that houses in England fell in value for a hundred years after the battle of Waterloo (1815). Pattaya’s present success on the property front owes much to the government’s generous immigration policy which has spurred the numbers of retirees and farang investors on long stay visas. Who knows if the policy will be the same in five or ten years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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