thaiwanderer

Farang money is more than welcome. All other activity is just to get the money. Even then Thailand need not be too welcoming because Farangs keep bringing money. It isn't a secret. Thats the deal.

I am not an agent or anything like that. I just happen to have bought a few pieces of land in Thailand for my own business purposes and have learned the hard way.

not THAT hard if you still have some property, money, breath

the spin will be 'there are bargains to be had so get shopping now before prices go up'

the 3% predicted drop in GDP was massively wrong even before the recent BK street parties - that merely serves as an excuse for government to revise and point the finger (new prediction of 'more than 6%' is right in that it will be more)

Yes but a non Thai company can own 49% of the shares in a Thai company etc.. That has the usual pitfalls but does have the added bonus that if theres a sale of the on Thai company registered overseas the controlling interest / voting shares of the Thai company transfer totally outside the Thai domain..

I know a 65m baht villa that this exact process was used on and that recently changed hands.. No Thai declarations, taxes, or interferance in the transaction yet still legal (if you discount the usual Thai company nominee issues)..

yep, and my further comments apply

the thai land owning company, the offshore company/ies controlling it and the offshore company as leaseholder need never die, transfers (inheritance or sale) are far easier and tax efficient (also less likely to ever come under scrutiny)

For Farangs the 'big 3' (in a little murky pond) seem to be: mcevilly & collins, belmont limcharoen and tilleke & gibbins

ability to liaise clearly with farang who then deals with their thai lawyers can help

this is reflected in their fees

so you think drug using tourists being concerned they may be subject to a drug test is a bad thing???????

Could be for an innocent tourist dealing with a corrupt cop...

as always

What you're experiencing is way above the average Thai's ability to comprehend, let alone deal with. Address this yourself through counseling and/or medication if necessary. Don't put it on yourself and your wife to deal with it.

calling racist on that - unless you mean Thais can't comprehend moaning about how you feel inside - oops

Don't make things worse then they are.

During the drug raids which were help in Patong only Thai staff members from the bars where tested and NO guest or tourists were tested.

so you think drug using tourists being concerned they may be subject to a drug test is a bad thing???????

there is no way for you to leave a landed property in thailand to your son without creating legal issues that probably are not worth it for you son to clear after you pass on.

if you really don't trust yourself with cash in the bank today, maybe you can synthetically create what you want - buy a condo and put it in your AND your son's name, rent it and use the condo rental income to rent your house.

if you die, your son can inherit legal title to the condo without going through probate and make legal changes to the lease agreement so that the rent income goes to his account.

the landlord from the house you rent will just assume your rent is void, and all your son have to do in come collect your stuff.

use of an offshore company can resolve this so that the only 'issues' are the same as the OP may face himself - with no additional legal difficulty for his son upon his passing, also tax advantages apply

whilst i understand the suggestions posters have made here about ensuring the son's inheritance is preserved as much as possible this cannot be the only objective when planning for one's own death - yes make as best provision as you can / wish for your dependants / next of kin etc. but at some point this does have to balanced against wishing to enjoy the benefit of your own money yourself (and can be done without squandering it if you so wish)

how much of the bill was for the consultation and how much for the meds?

Can't see that this has been posted elsewhere here. Make of it what you will.

Thaksin's open Letter

Thu, 16/04/2009 - 07:51 Thaksin Shinnawatra The past few days have been a terrible tragedy for the Kingdom of Thailand, as peaceful pro-democracy protests were met with force, first by state sponsored armed militias, then by the state itself. Well over a hundred protesters suffered injuries, and an unknown number of people have died.

Like all Thais everywhere, I was horrified to watch these events and want to express my sympathies and condolences to all those injured, including those in the security forces. They are our brothers, too, and although I strongly condemn the use of state violence against the Thai people, I also recognize that these foot soldiers were only carrying out orders. The blame must lay squarely with their superiors and with the government.

I have been giving this pro-democracy movement moral support for many weeks now, encouraging the people through video link and phone calls to fight for their democratic rights. In my remarks, I repeatedly emphasized the importance that this pro-democracy movement be peaceful, and that this peoples’ revolution be non-violent. Tens of thousands, indeed hundreds of thousands, of Thais answered that call, rallying peacefully in recent weeks to demand the return of real democracy to Thailand. I have been proud and deeply moved by the commitment of so many Thais to this cause – a call for “democracy for all”.

Those who have joined this movement are not just my supporters. On the contrary, the majority of people who have suffered through sweltering heat and rain showers to make their voices heard have been students, academics, housewives, businesspeople, and even policemen and other civil servants who have decided that the time has come to say no to the politics of intervention by the military. The time has come to reject a political order that repeatedly overturns the will of the people. And the time has come to demand a Thailand where all Thais enjoy the same rights, with equality, liberty and justice for all.

For more than three years now, the political elite groups in Bangkok have gone to extraordinary lengths to consolidate power at the expense of the Thai people, shredding all semblance of democracy in the Kingdom. This privileged class nullified the results of an election; executed and supported a coup; imposed an undemocratic constitution on the country; disbanded political parties (but onlyagainst those associated with me); supported sustained street protests that led to the takeover of government institutions and even the seizure of our nation’s primary airport in order to bring down another democratically elected government; and then supported the military’s intervention to establish the current Abhisit-led government, in what for all intents and purposes was a not-so-silent “silent coup.”

The “red shirt” pro-democracy movement was born of these repeated injustices and will continue to grow until true democracy is returned to all the Thai people. The blatant hypocrisy of this latest round of events, with the Thai military violently suppressing the pro-democracy “red shirt” movement after indulging, and indeed actively encouraging, the pro-aristocracy “yellow shirt” movement’s seizure of government institutions and the nation’s primary airport earlier this year, will only make our people more determined to fight on.

I reiterate my call here to all my fellow Thais that our struggle for democracy must be non violent. We must build the future we seek through the force of our ideas and our principles, and resist all the suppressive and aggressive attempts by the state and state-sponsored thugs to provoke us and incite us to violence. I know well, as do all who participated in the pro-democracy protests, that the bus burnings and other scenes of alleged red-shirted violence were created by the enemies of democracy with the intention of discrediting our movement. It is all too easy to put on red attributes and run amuck in the streets. Rest assured that the Thai people will not be fooled by this. We absolutely reject any form of violence, and reject the efforts of such enemies to tarnish what we stand for, to portray us as a mob, and to legitimize a crackdown on our people.

This is why the courageous leaders of the pro-democracy movement called on the tens of thousands of Thais still gathered outside Government House and elsewhere in the city to stand down on April 14 and return home. Confronted with tanks, thousands of soldiers and armed militias, and faced with the government’s false pretext of restoring law and order, the leadership of the pro-democracy movement rightly assessed that both their people and innocent bystanders would be badly injured and even get slaughtered if they remained on the streets. The leaders’ number one priority was protecting lives, and I commend them for putting the people first. Too many Thais have died in the past at the hands of the state. We must come together now and say “not this time.” This time, we must resist the temptation and provocation to fall back into the pattern of violence and hatred that has poisoned our politics for so long. We must reject the use of force by and on behalf of the state, just as we reject the determination of the Bangkok elites to rob the vast majority of the Thai people of their fundamental rights.

And so, today, we have stepped back from confrontation. But we will not retreat from our pursuit of democracy. If we are stopped, our work will not rest, for the pursuit of democracy is a just cause. In the end, I am confident that the will of the Thai people will prevail.

Thaksin Shinawatra

April 15, 2009

http://www.prachatai.net/english/node/1139

http://www.thaiphotoblogs.com/index.php?bl...p;tb=1&pb=1

Mr T also claims to have a German residency card

of course fog of war applies and whether any use.....

There are some cautious voices, though. "The translation is 'the said report lacks substance'," said Alastar Adams. "But I would be very cautious about interpreting this as a denail that a passport has been issued. A denial would be written along the lines "the Nicaraguan government confirms that a passport was not issued".

laughable but not surprising that this rag needs help with translation - how about proof reading the english first in this and all its 'reporting'?

100thb a day profit - he probably thought it was a charity shop

hope the OP reverts to provide more info although his previous posts indicate he 'completed' in 4 days?

I think it has to do with a lack of interest, and not with skills.

Everything on radio and tv in the Kingdom is for nearly 99,9% in Thai language. They dubbing all the movies.Exept who's working in the tourism industry, the majority of the people here have hardly any contact with the English grammar!

and long shall that remain - bravo

If yes you can get a legal letter sent through to them saying that you want the contents or the monentary value of such. Take it from there, if you can afford it chase it up.

And if the other side just ignore the legal letter, what then. You have to take your complaint to civil court, and that takes years (6 years now, and still going, in the case I am dealing with).

I recommend criminal charges (theft) as the most expedient way of dealing with this. But is this possible since they moved out the furniture from their own home, and before you took possession. Save your legal fees to buy furniture.

First if you have your documents in order and have the time and money to chase you should. Just because this is Thailand you should not just roll over and accept it.

Second if you are sending a legal letter to the sellers solicitor I am sure that they will have some kind of professional duty to at least respond, I am sure that you can file this with the police also this is criminal rather than civil.

If everything is in order paperwise on the purchase contract and was purchase was correctly handled by Thai Law then this is theft and so you should do something about it. If the OP has cut some corners with the purchase and does not have things in line then he will probably end up sitting on the floor.

not necessarily at all

and in any event the initial letter should be from the buyer to the seller personally rather than their sometime representatives (though lawyer can draft it)

service of that letter would appear to be a problem

anyway a lot of this is OT until the OP returns

will compile a list but in the meantime remember he did say everything was back to normal and stability had returned less than 2 weeks ago

it was certainly unpleasant viewing but i do not think the attck on the redshirt lady can really be described as 'horrific' or 'vicious'

farangs pontificating about farangs involving themselves in Thai matters that have nothing to do with them - is this is what is meant by irony?

any updates on this?

16) Not to post about gambling, betting, pornography, illegal drugs, fake goods/clothing etc and other activities that are officially illegal in Thailand.

Olsen should know what he is talking about as he has a real estate company in the area.

i nearly fell of my chair

Abrak,

These are my layman understandings based on minimal information - you should take legal advice as soon as possible.

I do not disagree with what you say about developers generally. There is of course scope for abuse. Indeed I am sometimes surprised there isn't more outright fraud, although with world finances the way they are that may change for the worse.

Offplan has inherent dangers for the buyer that could in theory be mitigated in varying ways and degrees. However developers often are simply not selling their properties with those protections. Yet buyers still want to make that bargain. If the developers can get away with not risking their own money (and are open about it) then we can't really blame them. I am more surprised buyers generally go along with it all. However I am a little puzzled by the developer's apparent attitude in your situation - it appears he is not even pretending there is not a problem - has that always been the case?

(As an OT side point I believe upon registration of a condominium building the land must be free of mortgage).

I was not saying a non-registered lease means you have no rights but they appear to be contractual only. If your lease predates the mortgage it may be possible for the court to order the title to be amended to reflect your interest taking precedence over the mortgage. You would have to take expert legal advice over that but even if possible i would expect a massive bunfight with the bank and the costs to be prohibitive.

Was your lease not registered because the development was incomplete?

What was the original plan for regsitration?

use of an offshore company can achieve the inheritance aim in a perfectly legal way

no can do!

care to explain why not?

I believe that what Naam is saying is that an offshore company can't own land with a house on it. Only a Thai limited company can be the owner of land with a house on it. Since the OP seems to only be interested in owning land with a house on it, the use of an offshore company doesn't help.

I hope Naam clarifies if this is not what was meant.

The OP says he thinks he is aware of the mechanisms to acquire a non-condo property and was asking about the inheritance aspect. Whatever the mechanism he chooses the additional use of an offshore company (rather than holding his interest/s in his own name) can allow that interest to be transferred to his sons.

Whether the particular mechanism he chooses is any good for securing 'his' interest in the first place (whether in his personal name or in the name of an offshore company) is another matter, and may have been discussed occasionally on this forum.