I want to buy land in koh Tao

[Old Fool]

How does one go about this?

[phuketrichard]

as a westerner, legally, you cant

[Old Fool]

I have a thai wife so...

[bert bloggs]

7 minutes ago, Old Fool said:

I have a thai wife so...

Buy it in her name ,we own land a house ,everything here ,but then i trust my wife with my life ,we even have joint bank accounts in the UK .

[UbonThani]

A lot of farangs get fleeced like this. Tao is run by 5 or 6 families. Don't do it.

[saengd]

Buying land outside of a Moobahn or a known development can be risky, especially if the seller is wealthy or powerful because they tend to bend the rules to suit.

 

We bought a house seven years ago that sits on 1 rai of land, the land comprises four chanottes, a klong runs down the middle of the land. The retired seller was a nearby land owner who was once extremely powerful, a nice guy with a nice family with whom we socialize. A respected Thai lawyer handled the purchase and the Land Office confirmed the location of the markers.

 

Last year my wife asked the LO to combine the four channotes into one, to do that the LO needed to survey once again. Half way through that survey they told us our house sits on a small branch of the klong that had been filled in, the branch didn't lead anywhere it just stopped. But that meant our house was built on top of government land that had been encroached. The survey people suggested we withdraw our request to combine the channotes and the matter was closed. Our neighbor said we should have told him what we wanted to do and he would have instructed the right person at the LO to carry out our wishes, as things stand we are now advised to wait five to seven years before attempting to do that again.

 

 

 

 

[ezzra]

Either google in Thai and english but best to go in person to the nearest city or town and Koh Tao itself to talk to local realtors and people in general and look for signs for sale people put up...

[Old Fool]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

Either google in Thai and english but best to go in person to the nearest city or town and Koh Tao itself to talk to local realtors and people in general and look for signs for sale people put up...

thanks, that's what I was thinking too.  I think I need to get my wife to negotiate.  She isn't that good at doing that that though, but I'll train her!

[Sujo]

Be careful of accidentally drowning there, or any other thing.

[steven100]

Koh Tao also known as death island .... be careful

[Old Fool]

27 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Koh Tao also known as death island .... be careful

trying to take advantage before it's Disneyland..

[rumak]

i smell trouble.    and yes, i have a big farang nose.

to be kind,  keep in mind that there is always the  risk/reward  factor to consider. 

 

as someone else said,  in a moobahn or established neighborhood with measured Chanotes there is less chance of an unseen problem.   In the country, beach, land with questionable ownership or multiple titles or owners the risk of problems increases.  And the one with less power loses.

 

Don't trust sellers, lawyers,  neighbors,  anyone saying "mai pen rai".

Safest person to trust is the HEAD man at the land office  ( usually ! )

But if you get him upset then life gets more difficult.   So learn to smile and listen.   

EDIT:  if you do not speak thai well or have little experience in land dealings here..........   you will need good luck.  I am not trying to be a scaremonger,

but have a lot of experience with land dealings

 

 

[Tayaout]

I know it's obvious but make sure the land has proper papers. I get offers every now and then but when I ask for the papers it's all "word of mouth contracts". The whole village and surrounding fields where I live are on public land! It might work between Thai but I would not take the risk. 

[GeorgeCross]

7 minutes ago, Tayaout said:

I know it's obvious but make sure the land has proper papers. I get offers every now and then but when I ask for the papers it's all "word of mouth contracts". The whole village and surrounding fields where I live are on public land! It might work between Thai but I would not take the risk. 

yeah and i am not sure any land on koh tao is chanote land

 

might want to check that - just go to local land office with the land paper of the land you are proposing to buy and they will tell you the current status of the plot

 

[paddypower]

retrace your steps:

why do you want to buy land? persumably it is to build a house. At that point, you can add the land and house building budget together, to see how much of your capital you are putting at risk. Many expats who are cautious consider that any money you put into a Thai property, you need to ask yourself if all goes sour, can you afford to lose it?

Is your wife from the island? if she is, great, you have a better chance of finding land that is not overpriced, via here family. . The suggestion of going to the head man is sound advice. Also, if you do find some land, get a copy copy of the chanoet and take it to the Land Office, where they will tell you what its valuation is on their books - a useful indicator of is it overpriced or not.

Finally, you have 3 ways of doing this:

1. easy way is to buy in your wife's and don't worry until its too late.

2. same as #1, but register a lease or an usfruct in your name. one of the Thai law firms advertsing here offer a legally solid contract, for a reasonable price. You can fill it in yourself. 

3. the expensive way, is to register a company, to hold the land. Keep the house in your name. and good luck with your search!

 

[InsertNameHere]

6 hours ago, Old Fool said:

I have a thai wife so...

Question why do you want to buy land? No matter how you spin it no FOREIGNER legally cannot buy any land here. Why play Russian roulette with the government with lawyers and loop holes just to gain land? It always is still under a thai national. Now, if you are doing it for children or family issues then do it the legal way with your wife? When the government cracks down on the foreigners who are trying to do what the thai government does not want foreigners owning anything here. These law are put there cause of this very thing and change as the foreigner finds loop holes to go around or bend the rules to suit them. But, what do I know as I am just a guy living life here without wanting to bring attention or look for ways around the system. If and when I can no longer be here I will simply leave out of no control of my own. It is always the foreigner changes in the system not the thai wanting to make life hard for the honest couple. 

[blowin]

In my wife's village down south there are no chanotes all Por bor Tor 5. There has never been a problem and yes there are farang paid for houses there . The facts are a farang CAN never own land what ever way you dress it up trying loop holes and if your relationship goes tits up your out the door anyway and walk away .  

 

If your Thai wife talks to the village headman and the person selling the land and make an agreement go get it measured probably and marked and leave the map with village head. Thats how the Thais do it and a title deed is not worth the paper its written on as a farang " never invest money that you can not walk away from" thats the golden rule.

[TopDeadSenter]

Old Fool, I sent you a PM yesterday with correct up to date info of buying land at Koh Tao. You know discussing anything Koh Tao related on a forum brings out negativity, best kept private.

[Nip]

Buying land anywhere in Thailand is frought with problems. Buying land on Koh Tao is I suggest unwise and if it does go wrong everybody is gonna say I told you so. The best advice anyone can give is your inner voice and if you have to proffer support in this venture here you probably suspect there may be problems and your looking for support. Its not called Death Island for nothing. 

[1FinickyOne]

17 hours ago, Old Fool said:

trying to take advantage before it's Disneyland..

missed that by 40 years...

[Tagged]

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Old Fool, I sent you a PM yesterday with correct up to date info of buying land at Koh Tao. You know discussing anything Koh Tao related on a forum brings out negativity, best kept private.

Im interested in your good advises on buying land on Koh Tao? I have spent months over a few years (7 years), and got to know the island pretty well. 

 

I would never ever bought any land on the Island with the knownledge I have. 

[Vacuum]

12 hours ago, blowin said:

never invest money that you can not walk away from" thats the golden rule

[rumak]

16 hours ago, paddypower said:

1. easy way is to buy in your wife's and don't worry until its too late.

2. same as #1, but register a lease or an usfruct in your name. one of the Thai law firms advertsing here offer a legally solid contract, for a reasonable price. You can fill it in yourself. 

A  userfruct is easily done at the land office SIMPLY  by the owner requesting that your name is added to the Chanote (it is typewritten in )  with the term of the usurfruct .  Mine is for life .

Being a farang is not a problem when doing this.  Easiest done at time of transfer to new owner (your wife in this case)

Land cannot be sold, used, or whatever without you agreeing .  In Thai this is called a sitthi gep gin .        no lawyers needed   

NOTE:   as with anything done here,  if there is trouble later you will possibly have problems.

But "legally"  the owner of a usurfruct has control of the land

[Old Croc]

13 hours ago, blowin said:

never invest money that you can not walk away from" thats the golden rule.

Beware of hackneyed clichés and doomsayers.

[Pravda]

Troll 

[phuketrichard]

not sure about Koh Tao, but now, here in Phuket if a wife of a Farang buys land she needs sign a paper stating it is her money and if its later proved its not......Bye Bye land

[nobodysfriend]

The last time I've been to Koh Tao is about 20 yrs ago ... at this time there was no Chanote land , all land was government land , they just issued these ' green " land papers to the people living there .

May be that has changed ?

Check very well that you will get a real Chanote of at least Nor Sor 3 Kor , before buying .

[Curt1591]

All a foreigner can do is buy the interior space of a condo. 

But, I'm lucky. My wife owns a nice house and lets me live with her.

[SiSePuede419]

19 hours ago, steven100 said:

Koh Tao also known as death island .... be careful

Farangs are literally dying to go to Koh Tao.

 

Don't understand the island mentality. 

 

You're literally stuck there going around in circles. 

 

The local women are ugly (inbreeding).

 

Everything is imported and costs more. 

 

Everything is inferior except the beaches and air quality.

 

Nice place to visit, but...

 

[UbonThani]

I thought the Myanmars reduced inbreeding.