ThaiLawOnline

A lot happened in 12 years. The White Elephant is closed but not Pizza 101. i was told the Karaoke in Maithai is now closed. Rong Beer Pavillion used to be the place for fun. i personally like the national museum in the middle on the city. Many people do not see it. it is old, on 3 floors if I remember and gives a good idea of the Isaan Isaan. There was a restaurant on day time name “Falk land” that I like just outside the ring road. It is peaceful, with water, you could eat in huts, even some elevated. Maithai second floor was the aquarium for girls 15 years ago.

You absolutely need a to sign a form from the land department, a POA for condo, that is not the form TD21 used for Nor Sor Sam Kor and Chanotte. It is another one called Or Chor 21(อ.ช.21) (see attached)+ a copy of your passport signed. It is always needed for foreigners. The POA must be notarized if from abroad. It is written on the back of it. Here's an official link from the land department: https://www.dol.go.th/estate/Pages/17148.pdf Thai people us a copy of Thai ID signed + copy of their ta bian baan signed. This is 100% sure. I do transfer properties and condos for 17 years in Thailand. POA CONDO.pdf

First, you must look at the contract. It is normally always written in about any lease contract that I have seen. If not, maybe 560 or 566 of the Commercial and Civil Code would apply. One day is not reasonable. Second, you can look at the law: Section 560. In case of non-payment of rent, the letter may terminate the contract. But, if the rent is payable at monthly or longer intervals, the letter must first notify the tenant that payment is required within a period not less than fifteen days. Section 566. If no period is agreed upon or presumed, either party may terminate the contract of hire at the end of each period for the payment of rent, provided that notice of at least one rent period is given, but no more than two months notice need be given. There is also the consumer protection act that gives additional protections. This includes the right to clear and concise information about products and services, as well as the right to fair and reasonable terms and conditions in contracts. There is also a new law since 2018 when tenants have many units. https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2018/03/13/thai-law-what-landlords-must-quickly-do-or-go-to-jail/

I have PR since 2015 and wrote about it, my journey, rules, benefits, etc. This year, applications are opened from 16 October to 29 December 2023. Concerning real estate, the only benefit is when buying a condo, you do not have to show that money comes from abroad in foreign currencies. Someone mentioned about taking a loan, that is not in the law. I got a mortgage from a bank without permanent residency. Banks can have their own rules and it can change from a bank to another. Permanent residency give them more security, just like a work permit, a high salary or being married to a Thai. You have benefits on the work permit that many are not aware. As you do not need a visa, 90 days notifications or TM30, the restrictions linked to immigration do not apply. That is difficult to convince the labour department but it is possible, for example, to have a work permit under a company and ZERO employee. You do not need a Non-B visa, as you have PR. You can also sponsor a family member for PR when you have PR. That's one of the 5 categories eligible for PR. I do not know if I wish to apply for citizenship. I could, but I have no intention to buy land, my work permit is easily done for 2 years, I have Thai partners for business and my passport is better than a Thai one.

Marriage is a very personal question and asking people with so many different backgrounds or experiences won’t give you and answer. But I think I know what answer you re seeking and what she is also seeking. Why is it a personal question? Because it is about belief, religion, a paper that might give you more or less rights. But you can love a person without being married. So your real question is more, I think, about how much will it cost me to get married and what are the benefits. For her and many Thai ladies, it is first, something suitable to achieve. They love their family and marriage is well seen. It is also suitable to be with a foreigner and it is for stability. They wrongly or not believe that foreigners are more faithful, do care about their wives and treat them better. I might be wrong, but this is my 19 years in Thailand having done hundreds or marriages and divorces for clients. So what are you real benefits? Well, you can protect your assets with a simple prenuptial. You can also protect properties with usufruct, Sap Ing Sith, lease agreements or others. Including mortgage that often not married couple forget. I was one of the first writing about usufruct in Thailand in 2008 as I studied civil law. These are real benefits: 1. You might get some tax benefits if you declare incomes here. If abroad, I am not sure. 2. if you have a child with her, you have automatically parental powers. Not if you are not married but with 2 marriages before, I doubt that you are looking for new children. 3. you can have a cheaper extension with 40k incomes per month or 400,000 baht at the bank. More complex for papers than retirement, but cheaper. 4. by being married to her, you could also help the family and kind of help her in a business without asking a work permit but I do not want to enter into the unknown and complexity of what is work and how it is apply. I just hope you are not in Pattaya or Phuket as some are very greedy there and laws could be applied with the wrong intentions (I am thinking about bridges games not so far ago and others). 5. If your lady works for the government, you could her some benefits. I doubt it. 6. maybe more but taxes, parental rights, possibility to “help” for a business, I forgot to mention that you would be a clear legal statutory heirs under 1635 of civil code. but my personal experience is when you are married to a Thai, you become a part of Thailand. You are not just a tourist and you can be part of the family especially if you start to learn Thai and try to fit into the culture. what are the cons? 1. you seem worried about losing money. Prenup, simple contract about property and do not need to buy a house. You can rent and you talk that you already have two. 2, what you are married adultery is an infraction and can means you could have damages to pay. 3. when you are married, my own experience is passion start to go down. Maybe not for everyone. So if you are wise, do not spend more than you can afford, have a good understanding of how much money you will spend, I do not think you will lose a lot. I was married 11 years with a Thai wife and we split everything fairly when we divorced. I am not alone. But make the contracts and this understanding BEFORE you get married. Not after. i thought I would not get married. I got married at 38. For me, there were benefits. Visa, business, I did not know if e would have children or not, and I thought she was different. And in a certain way, she was. I do not regret it, it also gave me permanent residency but that was not planned. Living together is sharing a life, good and bad parts, sharing experiences and maybe expenses, but you can do that also unmarried. Getting divorce in Thailand if a party does not agree is not easy. (Clause 1516 of civil code for grounds). So it looks obvious to me that you want to secure your life, your assets, married or not, and I would do that before you got married. You are not young. Do you really have tax benefits, insurance benefits, medical benefits, from a marriage? Or will it be social benefits like I said, being part of a family, a culture, which can be quite interesting but all families are not the same. i was not closed to the family or my wife for 11 years. i was closed to the family or my ex girlfriend of 3 years and I miss them. But I have no contact as our relationship was toxic and I couldn’t stand it more. Talk to your friends, your neighbours, ask questions to people older than you, with different experiences and see what is good for you. we only have one purpose in life : to be happy. What will make you happier? Search that route, this is what matters and happiness is often much more in relationships than in money.

J&P House are well known in Korat: http://www.xn--42cfk2dadb4dkbfa7fj7gtacfd2d6zd.net/index+en.html There is another company that used to be in front of bus terminal 2. I found it on Google but they seems to have moved: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PzJaA1U4xn888Wsr9 They are PD house and I know them for a while. I had 1 or 2 clients satisfied by them. The larger the builder company is, the safer they are. The more quality they normally give but they are more expensive. They are also less flexible. Be sure that your building agreement is well done, with penalties if they are over the delays, and you structure payments according to the work. I have seen small builders going away with the first 20% and never came back!

It is more complex than that. You can separate a house and land with announcements and others at the land department and/or Tessaban. Superificies would also grant property of a house on top on the land is not marital property. Not only building permits gives ownership of a house and on top, if the person is married, who wants to buy half of a house without land? Even a full house? I had 3 cases where we tried to sell in auction a house without land. 3 failures.

It is not my job to answer all examples and exceptions, but I wanted to assure foreigners that they need not worry too much. My previous statement seems to have had the opposite effect. I am really trying to provide accurate information to foreigners. I was one of the first talking about usufruct, or the Thai Pink ID card. I used my common sense, experience, and knowledge of how things work in Thailand to make these predictions. However, the problem with Thailand is that sometimes, it does not make sense. For example, marijuana has been legalized, but you cannot buy beer between 2pm and 5pm at 7-11. Many things here are irrational, but we live here and must accept the rules. This does not mean that I love everything about Thailand or that you cannot contest things. Around 2019, I decided to contest TM30. Immigration started to apply the old immigration law to the letter, which required property owners to declare foreigners within 24 hours of their arrival in a new province. I thought this was unreasonable and excessive. Many people helped me, but many foreigners told me that I was stupid and that I would never be able to change Thai law. I even received threats. But in the end, the government backed off and changed TM30 in 2020. I was not lucky; I used common sense and the media's help. The Thaiger, Bangkok Post, and BBC all covered the story. Do you remember the government backing off about the preferred shares modification of the law? Or when they backed off about not having people in the back of pickups just before Songkran? I think immigration will probably ask foreigners for their tax documents in 2025. However, pensioners who are already taxed or exempt in their home countries should not be affected. I might be wrong, but we will see in 2025. Let’s not speculate.

i used an example of one client that I know who does it. He brings it in Thailand and does not declare it. i know tons of people living in Thailand, that could be British, French, working in Hong Kong or India, money comes to Thailand and no incomes is paid anywhere. They do not have offshore companies.

Very relevant comment. I suggest Alan Lonie from Asia Accounts.

I have been asked about 10 times this week about the modifications regarding taxes. I am not sure if it should be under immigration and visa but my experience tells me that immigration will ask for tax documents in the future. But do not worry and I explain. The new amendment to the Revenue Code in Thailand, which will come into effect on January 1, 2024, requires tax residents of Thailand to declare all of their overseas income, regardless of where it is earned. However, this does not necessarily mean that foreigners will have to pay more taxes in Thailand. Under double taxation treaties (DTTs), Thailand has agreements with many countries to avoid double taxation on income. This means that if a foreigner is already paying taxes on their overseas income in another country, they may be exempt from paying taxes on that income in Thailand. To take advantage of a DTT, foreigners will need to declare their overseas income to the Thai Revenue Department and provide documentation to prove that they have already paid taxes on that income in the other country. Thailand has 61 double taxations treaties and they are here: https://www.rd.go.th/english/766.html Difference between declaring and paying taxes Declaring taxes means reporting your income to the tax authorities. Paying taxes means actually remitting money to the government. Under the new amendment to the Revenue Code, all tax residents of Thailand will be required to declare their overseas income, regardless of whether or not they are exempt from paying taxes on that income. However, foreigners who are exempt from paying taxes on their overseas income will not actually have to pay any taxes to the Thai government. Here are some examples: A foreigner who lives in Thailand and works for a company in Europe will need to declare their overseas income, even if that income is from a foreign employer. However, if the foreigner is already paying taxes on that income in their home country, they may be exempt from paying taxes on that income in Thailand. A foreigner who lives in Thailand and owns a rental property in another country will need to declare the rental income from that property to the Thai Revenue Department. However, if the foreigner is already paying taxes on the rental income in the other country, they may be exempt from paying taxes on that income in Thailand. I personally know people from a country X, having a property in country Y and getting the incomes from AirBNB in Thailand, the country Z. That might change things for people like that. A foreigner who lives in Thailand and invests in foreign stocks will need to declare the capital gains from those investments to the Thai Revenue Department. However, if the foreigner is already paying taxes on the capital gains in the country where the stocks are traded, they may be exempt from paying taxes on those capital gains in Thailand. If you earn incomes from crypto, it is obvious that the Thai government and other countries, what to control the gains and tax you. They also want to stop loopholes as you can live in Thailand, get money into your bank account and nobody checks where it comes from if you are under the radar, or limits the governments check. Foreigners who live in Thailand should not be worried by the new modification to the revenue code. The new amendment simply requires tax residents of Thailand to declare all of their overseas income. However, foreigners who are exempt from paying taxes on their overseas income will not actually have to pay any taxes to the Thai government. A tax resident is someone living in the country to more than 180 days. I have a work permit in Thailand for 19 years. Before I got permanent residency and after the years around 2010, immigration was checking if I was paying taxes in Thailand. I expect the same but it is too early to know what documents they will ask, or if we will have to translate these documents. I do foresee a lot of bureaucracy. If you are unsure whether or not you are exempt from paying taxes on your overseas income in Thailand, you should consult with a qualified tax advisor. And I will be honest, I am not a tax advisor. If you do crypto or have large incomes and wish to stay under the radar, I can not advise you to setup a company in Dubai or Isle of Man, but let's say that many rich people do it. Dot ask me what will happen, this is Thailand and you never know. :)

I can affirm that this is totally possible and only few foreigners do mortgages but it is an excellent way to protect your investment. Well done, including the building permit on your name, which is not easy for a foreigner but can be done.

You are totally right. I am a French native speaker. Speaks also English. Can do some Spanish. Live in Thailand for 19 years, can read and write Thai and I learn Mandarin 2 years while living in China.

Some people correctly answer that a « ta bian baan » is just a proof of address according to the civil registration act of 2534. Only Thai citizens and foreigners with permanent residency can be in a blue book, also called Thor Ror 14 for the blue book or Thor Ror 13 for the yellow one. Thai people can be registered in these books for different purposes, like where to vote for an election, to apply for a government job, and more. It can be useful for foreigners as a proof of address, to buy a car or motorcycle, to get a driving licenses or other purposes. But foreigners can also get a document called « certificate of residence » from immigration which has similar purposes. Unfortunately, it is true that an amphur can have different rules than another one but there is a national regulation on it. Attached is an old document made by the amphur in Nakhon Ratchasima to get a yellow ta bian baan. That is why asking your amphur or Tessaban is important. You normally need to translate and legalize your passport, bring 2 witnesses, explain why you want a yellow ta bian baan, give pictures, etc. Yellow book Ta Bian ban Thailand Korat.pdf

It is not legal yet. But a Buddhist marriage can be arranged. A Buddhist marriage is not a legal marriage civil or partnership. They talk for years to make it legal and is night be done this year. Pita promised it but a coalition moved him out from the PM possibility after the last election.