Schooner

I'm not hearing anyone say what we should do if we happen to have an illegal company that was established for the sole purpose of buying and owning land. If I fall into that catagory what can I do to correct this without loosing my ass.

Since I came to Thailand I have tried to learn the rules and to do things correctly. I suffered through several expensive and frustrating process's to obtain a drivers licence, retirement visa, ect. Most frustrating of all is hiring a Thai lawyer and paying him 25,000 baht to look over my home purchase and make sure it was ok. He never said a word about any potential problems. I suspect my company may have a problem, but I will be suspect of hiring another Thai lawyer to sort it out.

When I bought my place I was obviously pretty green. OK, so now I have learned something, but how can I correct this? Apparently signing the place over to my girlfriend is not an option. How about getting the developer that sold the place to enter into some sort of partnership. Frankly, at this point I would be happy to unload the place and return home where the rule of law is clearer. Thailand seems to have modern laws on the books, but so many of ignored and that has become accepted practice that even the lawyers seem to advise based on what is being enforced today. What a system.

It seems impossible to get a straight answer from anyone in this place.

I agree that it is too early to panic over this change. I read on line that one option might be to give my home to my future Thai wife and put it in her name. As I understand it I would have to relinquish any claim to the asset however I can restore my claim through a well written prenuptual agreement in case something should go wrong.

I would be interested in any opinions anyone may have on this approach.

I'm very concerned about this recent turn of events regarding home ownership. There have been several new articles in the local papers about limited companies being illegal and I read that the land office has stopped transfering land until they get clarification. Needless to say this is not good news.

I have a signifacant investment in my home here as do my neighbors in this village and the thought of loosing this investment does not make me happy.

I purchased my house in December. I was told by the realitor and the seller that setting up a company was the way to go and my understanding at the time was that this was not only accepted practice but legal. The company was set up by the realitor at a cost of 20,000 baht. I than paid a Thai lawyer another 25,000 to check it all over and make sure it was legal and that my interest was protected. The lawyer actually did the transfer at the land office here in Pattaya.

Given that this is Thailand I'm not going to panic, but I would like to kick around some options so I can be ready to make a move if necessary and I have many questions.

1. If the land transfer was illegal than shouldn't it be considered void and the developer responsable for returning the money? I can't see the logic behind distributing the property amonst the shareholders if the deal that made them shareholders was illegal.

2. Obviously my first thought being a good American is to sue the lawyer I hired to protect my interest. Nobody told me, including him, that there could be a problem down the road.

3. My neighbor, who has been trying to sell his place for months had a buyer who has backed out over this news.

4. One option I am considering is to move up the date of my marrage to a Thai lady who I want to marry anyway. This has obvious risks involved. She is a wonderful middle class Thai lady that has only demonstrated integrity for the 6 months I've known her, but lets face it money does things to people, Thai or otherwise.

5. If this law is enforced it will effect thousands so the question of a class action law suit against the Thai govenment comes up. They have to be blind to not be aware that limited companies were being used to allow foreginers to buy property. It has been because of LTD companies that has been driving the real estate market for years. This amounts to a nationalization of foreign assets no different from stealing money.

Finally, who can we write to. If this comes to pass and why is it so quiet out there?