pattaya127 Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 I have these friends, a farang couple, who have decided to buy land in Koh Samui. They told me they went thru all the legalities with a farang realtor on the Island last time they went. They will build a house later on it. So, is it possible to buy land in Thailand, after all. Forgot to ask them if they have to set-up a Co, with a "passive" thai majority. I have a feeling it is not dome this way though. Just buying. I can find out, but anyone here can confirm the feasibility of farangs owning land, after all? What are the different ways to do it then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickfarang Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 There are documents on the Royal Thai Consulate, Los Angeles web site that spell out the policies covering land ownership by foreigners, the documents are in Thai and English. Here is the URL for the English version. http://www.thai-la.net/legalize/land_eng.pdf The deal sounds fishy - maybe that couple was swindled, or maybe a lot more took place than they realized (and maybe they dont' really own the land.) The policies are a little bit ambiguous, so it would be better to read and interpret it for yourself. RickF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Hi, Probably leasing for 99 years? Thai ownership. You really don't own it. You'll own the house you built, if you want to move it after 99 years. Unless contract reads that all improvements revert back to the lessor. Number of years for lease agreement could be any length of time. I thought I remember some on Samui, being this amount of time. Why not just ask your friends the details? Had this same thread some time back (6 months), so might want to run a search HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiledCowboy Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 It's just not possible for a foreigner to own land, that is in their own name in LOS, but it is very ok to own (49% max shareholding of the Thai company) the Company Ltd that does in fact own the rights to the land. It's just as secure. I hope that all is ok for them legally and that just like back home in our own countries, you never use the Vendor's recommendation for a Lawyer - find your own and use them instead as a lawyer working for the vendor will not serve your interests solely and especially one in LOS... :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501040503-629437,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Above is a bad link. Here is article: ---------------------------------- BUY A CONDOMINIUM You can own it, whereas with a house you can only have a leasehold of up to 30 years, with options to extend. If you have a Thai spouse, you can buy a house in his or her name?but if your spouse dies or you get divorced, you're entitled to nothing. You can also form a company with a majority of Thai shareholders and buy property through that. The only other option is to invest $1 million, which gets you clear title to 1 rai (about 1,600 square meters) of land. GET A GOOD LAWYER Ask him to do thorough background checks. It's amazing the history some Thai properties have?often, multiple banks are owed money on them, or all manner of liens and encumbrances will prevent you getting clear title. Swindles are rife?a common one is to sell a house but keep the land on a separate title. CHECK THE TYPE OF DEED There are many kinds of deed in Thailand, and this can affect both price and how ironclad your claim to the land is. Chanot ti din' means the land has been surveyed properly, and this is the best type of title to have. But there are many other types, such as Nor Sor and Nor Sor 3 Kor, which indicate imprecise boundaries. Sor Kor titles bestow little more than squatter's rights. From the May. 03, 2004 issue of TIME Global Advisor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Strange. No, actually that was the side article. The actual article is this: House of Horrors A second home in Thailand is a dream for some?and a nightmare for others BY JASON GAGLIARDI | BANGKOK Monday, Apr. 26, 2004 Looking back, I didn't like the vendor's furtive, beady eyes from the get-go?but such misgivings are swatted aside when you're on the emotional roller coaster that is house hunting. For a fatal moment my heart ruled my head, and I ended up entangled in every expatriate's nightmare. Rewind to March 2003. Bangkok was recovering from the property doldrums, banks were lending again, and it seemed a good time to buy. After months of searching for a new home, we stumbled on a village on the city's northeastern outskirts?full of old houses with potential, in quiet, green-canopied lanes?and spotted a small for sale sign. The house was a mess but we could renovate or rebuild. Shifty eyes aside, the owner was charm itself. He had retired from the air force, he said, and introduced himself as a general. We negotiated to rent for six months, with first refusal to buy after that, and asked him to fix the place up. But when we came to move in, it was a shambles. New paint was already peeling. Plumbing leaked. I had already paid for half of these so-called renovations, but now we smelled a rat and sought a lawyer. He told us to stall while a title search was made. It wasn't easy, as the deed number had been obscured on the copy the general had given us. But when we were shown the original, we were stunned: there was a big, red stamp on the top, forbidding the owner from selling or renting out the property. We subsequently learned from court documents that he had borrowed money against the house, been unable to repay it, and had his ownership revoked. The house had already been put up for auction three times by the court, without attracting a buyer. If we wanted it, we would now have to bid at the next auction. We were devastated, but decided to fight for the house?and to stop handing any more rent to the general. Soon after, the general's wife started showing up with a gang of cronies (including monks), yelling, haranguing, even singing. We received threatening letters in mangled legalese. Gun magazines ominously appeared in the mailbox, along with almost daily missives from debt collectors. One morning the general himself appeared?in military fatigues, frothing at the mouth?and threatened to put me in a coffin. He pulled out a pistol-shape package, brandished it, then drove away. Was it a gun? Or simply a last-ditch attempt to scare us off? The police told us we had every right to stay. They began to put together a case against the general for forgery and fraud. He had allegedly done the same thing to two other would-be buyers, but they'd been too scared to complain about it. Nor was he a general, police said, merely a middle-ranking officer who had been kicked out of the air force for misconduct. A warrant has now been issued for his arrest, and the police have set up a checkpoint outside the house. A cop comes by every three or four hours. In the meantime, we live in limbo. We've now built a big fence and bought four dogs. I sleep with a crowbar under the bed. And when I dream, it's of a legion of weary lawyers intoning "buyer beware." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Hi, I guess he had a Thai wife, whose name it would be in? HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 BK - why would they have the right to stay there in the house if the court had said that it cant be rented or sold? What publication was that from? JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Time magazine. The previous issue, not the current one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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