Hua Hin pool villa nominee raids net 13 foreigners

3 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

The Royal Thai Police said it will continue investigating nominee arrangements and foreign-funded businesses alleged to be operating illegally, including any state officials suspected of corruption or assisting offenders. Reports can be made to local police stations or the 1599 police hotline, available 24 hours a day.

That hotline is a golden opportunity for anyone to call and report on a neighbour they don't like. But it's also an opportunity for anyone to report on foreigners running an established company offering services - like a competitor.

Nominee companies for property purchase have been around for decades. But was this crackdown initiated by Anutin? He has a history of making negative and disparaging comments about foreigners. At least it's happening during his watch.

These are advertised on facebook all the time. I nearly bought one but I just felt the arrangement for ownership a bit loose and thought they were using a loophole in the laws. I’m so glad now I followed my instincts. The companies selling these need to be prosecuted and money returned to the scammed buyers!

6 minutes ago, L- Lifeline said:

ordinary folk

when people act illegally to circumvent laws
they are usually called criminals
just because "everyone does it" does not make it legal
have seen this coming for many many years
and yes you will lose your home
if you have property or land of significant value
its time to put it all in the wife's name (and rent it from her for 30 years if needed)
or sell it and rent, but now this is happening do not expect a good price

A foreigner should be allowed to own one home and up to two rai of land. This would not have a negative effect on the market, and could end up helping to improve the Thai economy a bit.

These rather draconian investigations will simply deter foreigners from buying property in Thailand and further depress the market. It's simply not smart policy, and they're going after expats who are contributing to society on many levels. Anytime the laws are incredibly stupid people will try to find a way around them.

Going after the Israelis on Koh Phangan, that's a completely different story, when the proliferation of foreign owned businesses impedes on the local competition.

Notice it's the foreigners being arrested - while the Thais are only being "summoned".

But it's NOT possible for a foreigner to set up a nominee company by themselves and arrange all the paperwork (to set up the company and do the balance sheets and meeting reports), then purchase a property and have it legally registered.

But the people who actually do all that are NOT the ones being investigated for some reason.

Imagine if you go into a shop on a Sunday and buy a beer and when you step out of the shop the police arrest YOU because there is a ban on alcohol sales that day.
But they don't even look at the shop owner that sold you the beer and should have known they weren't allowed to.

Just like all those companies that specialize in setting up nominee companies for foreigners specifically so they can (illegally) buy "land". They KNOW it's illegal, do it anyways, and apparently the police just ignore it and arrest the foreigners instead.

Seems a bit hokey to me.

Sadly the foreigners are the victims, but they were misinformed by the lawyers and sellers. Than you can't blame the foreigners for violation of laws, but those who advised them should be prosecuted.. If you believe that what you buy or rent or whatever is good and you did your job and a lawyer says there are no problems, let these people alone. Always in all scams there are Thais involved as I stated long before. So they can't be left out, and should be punished, as the foreigners mostly handle in trusting them.

Thailand was a good country to retire??? I am wondering if people will say the same with articles and actions like this

Edited August 11Aug 11 by ikke1959

4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

They (the foreigners) told police they believed this meant their ownership was lawful.

Just like their one year retirement extension via agent saying they live in a province they have never been to

15 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Imagine if you go into a shop on a Sunday and buy a beer and when you step out of the shop the police arrest YOU because there is a ban on alcohol sales that day.

Yes, in fact there is something along those lines happening now, but more low key.

Anyone driving in from Suvarnabhumi Airport will remember seeing a big billboard that said "Buddha is not for decoration" clearly aimed at incoming tourists. In fact it's illegal to export Buddhist images without an export license. Yet the tourists are the target. What about all the Thai merchants selling Buddha items and images? Shouldn't they be charged?

23 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

Sadly the foreigners are the victims, but they were misinformed by the lawyers and sellers. Than you can't blame the foreigners for violation of laws, but those who advised them should be prosecuted..

Agree to a point - many might have been naive. But a lot of people knew the nominee thing was illegal but did it anyway - because so many others had done it - and they wanted to 'own' a house. It was a gamble but many figured they get away with it.

I remember these discussions and debates taking place years ago on this platform and that of its predecessor. But as someone here has said, this will really dampen the retirement market if owning a house was the selling point and now, scared off, they will go somewhere else.

Edited August 11Aug 11 by ronnie50

These buyers are all 100% guilty, just like the people who use agents for their visa extensions without money in the bank. They claim to be naive, but I don't believe that. Now the lawyers are being pointed at as the culprits, but of course they are complicit, yet they were also used by the foreigners to devise loopholes. No prison sentences, but revoke the lawyers' licenses, confiscate foreign assets, and deport and ban the foreigners. People never learn and ruin it for people with good intentions.

4 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

The OP says there have been 20 convictions already. Have you read the rulings, and is that included, or is just something you base on the inheritance laws?

It's included, and what the arrested foreigners and Thai summoned are told. The houses are not confiscated before they've been on the sales market for a minimum of 6 months.

We've just had this crackdown with subsequently arrests at the village (and villages close) where I live.

Edited August 11Aug 11 by thaibreaker

My understanding is that a principle of Thai law is personal accountability. No matter what the advice you were given, it's the person's own accountability to check.

Not in Thailand, but similar happened to me once. An ex-employer's HR department told me very clearly that I didn't need an employment visa to work in a country I'd been sent to do contracted work in. My reading of the rules was that I did. When I told that ex-employer that I needed to leave that country as I believed I was working illegally I was told that I'd be fired if I did. Surprise surprise, I got arrested and charged. No matter what, it was my fault. The evidence I had ensured that I stayed out of jail, and the judge told the employer to pay my fine. Then that employer got fired off of every contract they had in that country as they'd broken those contracts with their behaviour, then I sued them and won of course, then I got asked to take over all of those contracts as the customer still needed the work done and by that time I was 'legal'. Karma was truly sweet.

I really hope that those who got bad/illegal advice get their money back from the cheats and scammers who advised them. I'm not confident of that, but I still hope.

Unless it's under IEAT or BOI section 96 or 27, everyone with half a brain knows foreigners can not own land in Thailand. So when someone tells you "no, it's ok, trust me" you are either a fool, or willfully complicit in fraud. And ignorance of the laws is no excuse. That's why smart people hire their own independent lawyers.

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

Notice it's the foreigners being arrested - while the Thais are only being "summoned

Notice that it's probably because the foreigners are likely to flee, the nominee Thais are very unlikely to leave the country and the nominees offences are considerably less serious than the foreigners' trying circumvent the law in order to own Thai land.

11 minutes ago, Watawattana said:

I really hope that those who got bad/illegal advice get their money back from the cheats and scammers who advised them. I'm not confident of that, but I still hope.

You mean the fees for using the lawyers or property agents? Agree. But I doubt that will ever happen.

However the amount you pay for the house is a different story. No chance of getting that back from them.

But given at least 6 months to sell, is at least something. You might be lucky to get out of it without a loss, but chances are those houses will enter the market on a lower price. The panick could appear closer to the end date, and the price heavily reduced.

Might be some good opportunities for (legal) buyers coming up.