Crackdown on foreign nominees: Luxury villas raided on Koh Samui - foreigner arrested

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Crackdown on foreign nominees: Luxury villas raided on Koh Samui - foreigner arrested

 

Image: ONB News

 

Officials from the Ministry of the Interior, police and local district descended on a set of luxury villas in the Mae Nam beach area of Koh Samui yesterday. 

 

The ministry had received complaints that Miskawaan Villa had been operating for years without a license and was operating with a foreign nominee. 

 

A representative of Miskawaan Co Ltd called Joanne Borm (name transliterated from Thai) was arrested and taken in for questioning at the district office. 

 

Papers are being prepared for the public prosecutor ahead of a court date. 

 

Investigations are also taking place amid claims that the property has encroached on beach land. 

 

Miskawaan is listed online as meaning "Buddha's Garden". It says there are 11 luxury villas with ten on the beach at the property.

 

Source: ONB News

 

 -- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-03-28

[Kieran00001]

Quote

Investigations are also taking place amid claims that the property has encroached on beach land. 

 

About time, now take a walk along the Southern end of Lamai, there is no beach left at all at high tide, the tourists have to walk up to the road to get back to their hotels, there is a long stretch where every single hotel has extended their development out beyond the tide line, it used to be a nice beach, now its just broken lumps of concrete, unbelievable.

[sammieuk1]

Expendable foreigners will be purged from this land and assets seized in a never ending crusade ????

[ezzra]

This whole country are awashed with proxies and nominees of all inds and all purposes both on behalf of Thais and foreigners alike, and all to circumvent the laws or to hide nefarious intents, so in order to eradicate the problems of nominees from its roots start with Thai people and the higher and richer you'll look for the more chances you'll find them there...

[beautifulthailand99]

So it continues one can expect a feeding frenzy as officials eye up thousands of potential land stuffed goody bags for their networks. This is really high-end stuff.

 

https://www.miskawaan.com/villas/lotus/

[beautifulthailand99]

2 minutes ago, ezzra said:

This whole country are awashed with proxies and nominees of all inds and all purposes both on behalf of Thais and foreigners alike, and all to circumvent the laws or to hide nefarious intents, so in order to eradicate the problems of nominees from its roots start with Thai people and the higher and richer you'll look for the more chances you'll find them there...

nah farangs are easy and unpopular targets and double plus they can't own land so an easy win. 

[jvs]

I predict 999 plus pages of people saying'never buy just rent,

told you so,we will all be kicked out of Thailand,they will take all your money and deport you,companies are illegal,latesr nail in the coffin'and a whole lot more .

It has all been said before and some people just love to try to put fear in the expats living here.

Read the op,what it is exactly about and what the main issue is.

I might just read the whole thing,it is too hot to work outside anyways.

Have fun everybody,

[mokwit]

I remember when a then Finance Minister (Tarrin) suggested to a room full of foreigners that company/nominees was a way for foreigners to "own" property in Thailand. Be careful who you listen to.

[Khaeng Mak]

10 minutes ago, mokwit said:

I remember when a then Finance Minister (Tarrin) suggested to a room full of foreigners that company/nominees was a way for foreigners to "own" property in Thailand. Be careful who you listen to.

No need to be careful.  Just never listen to a Thai.

[jvs]

Just now, Khaeng Mak said:

No need to be careful.  Just never listen to a Thai.

You are a person with a serious problem,not only in this thread but also other ones you are continiously trying to convince people the end is near.

It is not!!Instead of over reacting just wait and seen what is realy going to happen.

I know i will try and adapt,i do not have the idea all Thais hate me or are keeping an eye on me and cant wait to report me to the local authorities.

You need help man!!!

[Pravda]

No worry, just get Thai lawyer, Thai lawyer take care everything. Pm me for details ????

[GarryP]

14 minutes ago, Khaeng Mak said:

No need to be careful.  Just never listen to a Thai.

Oh right. You must really enjoy life here. Thailand is like anywhere else in the world. There are good and bad people here. You painting all Thais with the same brush says more about you than them. Been here legally for 30 odd years without any real problems. Have had Thai people go out of their way to help me with many things, not seeking anything in return. Perhaps, it is best if you keep away from the Thais, don't want to infect them with your negativity. 

 

[yellowboat]

Understand what the law says, but is there a shortage of luxury domiciles for Thai people or are they just making room for the Chinese ?   Are the foreigners driving up the price ?   Good economics rarely play a part in Thai legislation.

[justin case]

3 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Expendable foreigners will be purged from this land and assets seized in a never ending crusade ????

it will be for resale for.... thai rich dudes only or even for free with a bit of grease on the corruption wheel

[geoffbezoz]

Hopefully they will stop this illegal activity across Thailand, not just pick some places where the brown envelope to "forget it" may be fatter. Sure it may upset some, including some TV members I guess, but at the end of the day what is wrong with following the law of the land ? If you can not live with that then there is always the option to move elsewhere where the law of the land is in line with your own personnel preferences perhaps.

[Kieran00001]

3 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Expendable foreigners will be purged from this land and assets seized in a never ending crusade ????

 

If they are illegally encroaching on public land then they deserve to be purged.

[natway09]

Hey guys,,,, this happens in many countries even NZ. They eventually get caught

[xylophone]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

This whole country are awashed with proxies and nominees of all inds and all purposes both on behalf of Thais and foreigners alike, and all to circumvent the laws or to hide nefarious intents, so in order to eradicate the problems of nominees from its roots start with Thai people and the higher and richer you'll look for the more chances you'll find them there...

I wonder if they will start investigating other/more complex routes which farangs go through to convince themselves that they own land here, when the law is very specific that they can't (with one excetion)?

[sammieuk1]

1 hour ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

If they are illegally encroaching on public land then they deserve to be purged.

One mans encroachment may well be another mans jealousy ie who ever dobbed them in????  

[Ulic]

This should send a shiver down every villa/house owners eyes. Confiscation for resale. Maybe the current owners will get a 5% offer from connected Thais, like the shuttered Australian gold mine. 

[moe666]

6 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

nah farangs are easy and unpopular targets and double plus they can't own land so an easy win. 

Right there you have it cannot own land, in other words breaking the law.

[Regyai]

1 hour ago, sammieuk1 said:

One mans encroachment may well be another mans jealousy ie who ever dobbed them in????  

Land of Smiles Snitches

[DaRoadrunner]

One can understand if it is encroachment on beach land (all of which which belongs to the state), but this is going to put the fear of Buddha up many Farang who have bought property here via a Thai company.

 

Latest nail in the coffin. Once they realize they can take your property and auction it off for a profit there will be no stopping their greed. Increasingly it looks like time to leave.

 

So how can one safely purchase property here? It is known that many mainland Chinese are buying now. Estate agents, often with Farang staff, are openly selling to Farangs. How is it being done and will the powers that be take their properties too?

[watcharacters]

3 hours ago, geoffbezoz said:

If you can not live with that then there is always the option to move elsewhere where the law of the land is in line with your own personnel preferences perhaps.

 

I.E.    "go back to where you came from"?    ????

[mike787]

7 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Expendable foreigners will be purged from this land and assets seized in a never ending crusade ????

Well said.  I have been advised by many brits, exercise extreme caution "if" accumulating assets here.  DO NOT bring or acquire anything you are NOT prepared to lose. Period!  Best approach is to expect to lose everything, either your Thai honey, her boyfriend, family, the village, or Police will strip you of it.  Example:  buying a house your already signing over more than 51% to Thais.  So you're paying 100% for less than 49%; how's that for a great deal?  YEP!  That's the price we pay to feel good.  Let that marinade over in your mind until you see the light.... 

[Peterw42]

1 hour ago, DaRoadrunner said:

One can understand if it is encroachment on beach land (all of which which belongs to the state), but this is going to put the fear of Buddha up many Farang who have bought property here via a Thai company.

 

Latest nail in the coffin. Once they realize they can take your property and auction it off for a profit there will be no stopping their greed. Increasingly it looks like time to leave.

 

So how can one safely purchase property here? It is known that many mainland Chinese are buying now. Estate agents, often with Farang staff, are openly selling to Farangs. How is it being done and will the powers that be take their properties too?

Do you realise the OP says nothing about confiscating property or auctioning property with no compensation.

You can safely purchase property here by purchasing property that can be legally owned by foreigners, foreign title condominiums. To a lesser extent you can even have a level of tenure over land with a company structure, so long as the Thai partners are real and not just the cleaning lady in the law firm that set up the company. The crackdown is nominees, people who exist on paper only and have never even met the foreign/Thai partner.

 

Nobody has, or is, taking anybodies properties.

[Peterw42]

8 hours ago, jvs said:

I predict 999 plus pages of people saying'never buy just rent,

told you so,we will all be kicked out of Thailand,they will take all your money and deport you,companies are illegal,latesr nail in the coffin'and a whole lot more .

It has all been said before and some people just love to try to put fear in the expats living here.

Read the op,what it is exactly about and what the main issue is.

I might just read the whole thing,it is too hot to work outside anyways.

Have fun everybody,

Your prediction was very accurate however you didnt mention the statements that the Thai Government is, in fact, confiscating foreign owned property as we type/read the thread.

[emptypockets]

1 hour ago, mike787 said:

Well said.  I have been advised by many brits, exercise extreme caution "if" accumulating assets here.  DO NOT bring or acquire anything you are NOT prepared to lose. Period!  Best approach is to expect to lose everything, either your Thai honey, her boyfriend, family, the village, or Police will strip you of it.  Example:  buying a house your already signing over more than 51% to Thais.  So you're paying 100% for less than 49%; how's that for a great deal?  YEP!  That's the price we pay to feel good.  Let that marinade over in your mind until you see the light.... 

In reality if you are buying an already built house you have 0% ownership. I don't know where you get 49% unless you are talking about the dodgy company deals. Any thinking person would avoid that like the plague.

If you are married and then divorce you might get something back. Might being the operative word.

[Peterw42]

1 hour ago, mike787 said:

Well said.  I have been advised by many brits, exercise extreme caution "if" accumulating assets here.  DO NOT bring or acquire anything you are NOT prepared to lose. Period!  Best approach is to expect to lose everything, either your Thai honey, her boyfriend, family, the village, or Police will strip you of it.  Example:  buying a house your already signing over more than 51% to Thais.  So you're paying 100% for less than 49%; how's that for a great deal?  YEP!  That's the price we pay to feel good.  Let that marinade over in your mind until you see the light.... 

Or, you could not try and bend the rules to own land, accumulate lots of fully legal assets, apartments, cars, etc, and relax.

Nobody has ever had a legally acquired, and owned, property taken off them, ever !

[BigFun]

This artice is about a resort operating without a license and possible land encroachment. Why does the headline read about nominees? And as someone correctly mentioned, nominees are rife in Thai owned businesses too, in fact I believe it is totally legal to do so.