Central Scrutinizer Posted May 27, 2009 Report Share Posted May 27, 2009 "They told her that the provincial fuckwits rarely knew what day it was never mind the law on land ownership." I've run into this numerous times up here in Isaan. I've argued (politely and calmly) with provincial fuckwits a few times when I knew they were wrong and I was right. It seems it takes a long time for the backwater governmental authorities to get the news of any changes in policy and law and immigration rule changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 I was offered recently a piece of land (1/2 rai) in a spot I have wanted to own in the village for a long time. The woman who owns it was needing money quickly for some family emergency. (The 1/2 rai was offered for sale to me for around 3,000 USD equivilent in baht.) This land overlooks the lake in the village (great views and an excellent place for a deck to watch the gorgeous sunsets from with a cold drink in hand), and another small piece is owned by my wife's family which I know I could buy to add to this 1/2 rai. I was/am willing, but only with a legal land title (chanote) and no claims from any others on the land or any leins or tax owed. It seems this woman who has the land and is considered the owner by all in the village has the chanote, but it is in the previous owner's name. He sold the land to his brother (the woman's father) years ago when he was ill to pay his doctor and hospital bills. He got the money, but before signing the deed over to his brother he died in hospital. So the title is still in his name many years later, and it has never been taken to the land office to switch the names (lazy dopes, this was many years ago this happened). And, there are other relatives that could have a 'legal' claim. So now the woman is scrambling to get this changed over so she can sell it. Supposedly other relatives have agreed to give up their claim on the land and sign a document saying so. It remains to be seen if this will go through without problems. I am still waiting since early April. She tried to pass off the chanote to us and Sis saw it was not in her name. Knowing this I said 'no deal' without all claims withdrawn legally and it has to be in her name only with proof from the land office there are no leins or back taxes owed on the land. By the way, the land will be bought in my Thai daughter's name. She has enough saved in her bank account savings plan to cover it. I will later replace the money in her account, gradually. There is another plot adjacent to this land and the small piece our family owns I want as well, but that will take a while, as it is squatter land without papers as of yet (but 'owned' by one family for generations). It can be done, but will take some time to get the ownership papers in order. The 1/2 rai would be the back lot of the property, the family owned land borders the highway in front, and the squatter land is in between (another 3/4 of a rai). Stitched together it would make almost 2 rai overlooking the lake with road frontage across from the lake and be a property which no one could build on to block the views of the lake and which is surrounded by my wife's family's land. Best location in the village in my view and estimation. First property you come to when entering the village from the meandering highway with the lake in front and nothing but rice fields on the entry side. We'll see what happens. But, not a lot of money involved really, and I still will not part with a satang until everything is kosher. And they know that. Cent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 Hi, "Foreigners cannot use a Thai spouse as a nominee to buy property in Thailand, however." So, if I have this right then for the purposes of building land my money is my money and my wife's money is my wife's money. However, were we to divorce then all of a sudden my money is our money and my wife is entitled to half of it, right? Un-fucking-believable. "Yet again I'm reminded of how disliked we are...." Yep, the government makes this very clear again and again Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 My idiot home country (USA) needs to make things "tit for tat"...I can't buy land in LOS, Thais can't buy in the USA! Even up the playing field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 My idiot home country (USA) needs to make things "tit for tat"...I can't buy land in LOS, Thais can't buy in the USA! Even up the playing field. Exactly my feelings as well. If we cannot buy land in any country, their citizens should not be able to buy land in our country. Fair is fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 The house and land are in my wife's name, with a 30 year lease back to me. In 15 years, she will change ownership to our son. Conerning changing Thai law, so farangs have the same rights in Thailand that Thais have overseas, I would use the method employed by the English King in "Braveheart." Come to thing of it, I did use that method! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 I dont know how many of you live in cities where the influx of wealthy Chinese and Indians from various parts of Asia (mainly) has pushed up the price of real estate to unsustainable levels, but it annoys the hell out of me that this is seen purely as 'market forces' here while its viewed as something evil and insidious by the Thai government, or the people who pull their strings. The Malaysian government has rules in place to ensure that the average Malay still has access to affordable housing, but they dont use these bizarre and contradictory laws to stifle foreign investment in their country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzz Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 The house and land are in my wife's name, with a 30 year lease back to me.... If your wife used your money to buy the house and land, there may be a cause for concern: â??If the Thai spouse has enough money to buy the house that is fine, but if the Thai has no money and uses money given to him or her by a foreigner to acquire property, that is against the law. If we check and find out later that a Thai person has been using money from a foreigner to buy land anywhere in Thailand, we will revoke title deeds.â? I guess you can get around this law by just sticking to long term leases in lieu of purchases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimDidMeGood Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 Practically, I wonder how would the authorities enforce it? It seems very complicated to me to assert that the Thai spouse could not afford the real estate on her/his own? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 The authorities merely need to look at the Thai spouse's income and banking info to be able to deduce where the money actually came from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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