Finally some good news: Thailand tipped to ease 90 day reporting for foreigners

[David T Pike]

Buy a house for $316,000 and they will cut your lawn for you... ????

 

[Titan1962]

I think they are looking for wealthy farang to take care of the momas and poppas in the villages.

Oh,I am not wealthy but already doing that. Just get rid of that 90 day report,make it the visas holders responsibility to report permanent change of address. Adjust the monthly income requirements,eg if you already own a condo or home with partner,drop 20 K a month of that. 
If you have lived in Thailand for more than 5 years and been a good boy,make 5 year visas available after your probation period. Fix the online reporting system so it works like it should.

[PGSan]

Just now, Sqoop said:

Ouch .. I wasnt aware. Are you from the UK or Europe ? How did you lose property ? Were you forced to sell at short notice ? I havent lived in the UK for ten years so although I watched Brexit unfold it did not affect me personally. 

A mixture of all the above.  To start with, the Brexit referendum caused the pound to drop 20%, followed by the actual event and the associated regime change making high-end London residential and commercial property prices fall further,  by up to 20%.  

 

But I am luck enough to still not be totally destitute and so I do continue to be obliged to pay substantial UK income taxes — hence my earlier question!  

[Tony125]

The people with that kind of money can find better places to live and not  have to walk thru flooded streets no matter how many times they " fix " the problem over almost 20 years.

 

 

[flyfrog]

Wondering which European has a retirement income every month of 100-300 000 b?? They're trying to get all the European government employees over here or what?????????

[Charlie Halliday]

1 hour ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Best you start packing Charlie....looks like your stay will be a short one.......

Been 30 years so far. Steer clear of the scum and enjoy life. Too many moaners and lowlifes here. Love to see the govt evict the lot of em. 

[Sqoop]

1 minute ago, PGSan said:

A mixture of all the above.  To start with, the Brexit referendum caused the pound to drop 20%, followed by the actual event and the associated regime change making high-end London residential and commercial property prices fall further,  by up to 20%.  

 

But I am luck enough to still not be totally destitute and so I do continue to be obliged to pay substantial UK income taxes — hence my earlier question!  

 

Yes I understand, it was the crazy taxation situation in the UK which caused me to emigrate, that and the 2009 downturn. Each place ( east or west ) has its positives and negatives. In the west it is taxation for me and the east it seems to be instability. The only solution seems to be becoming a nomad but then you end up living out of a suitcase. 

[Tony125]

Just now, Tony125 said:

The people with that kind of money can find better places to live and not  have to walk thru flooded streets no matter how many times they " fix " the problem over almost 20 years.

 

 

If they don't have the expertise to solve the  problem go outside the country and find those that can fix the  problem permanately.

[ICELANDMAN]

52 minutes ago, PGSan said:

yuan, baht, $  kwd  ?? 

It seems to me that in Thailand we have Baht????

[SupermarineS6B]

Tell you what, this one's for free........ Wind the clock back six years, dump all the immigration garbage that's made coming to Thailand a nightmare, and just welcome people across the borders as it was for the last thirty years that i've been crossing them.  Then you'll have such an influx of people with money to spend that the individuals in gov/Imm won't have to come up with get rich quick schemes everyday that have as much chance of working as opening a bacon sandwich stall outside a mosque........

My suggestion to Imm/Gov/Plod, is to go back to quietly creaming off a living from bars and houses of pleasure as they did for years........      Remember what used to feed you boys.. ?  Go back to it and leave foreigners alone..........  Goose= Golden eggs.......     Worked for years and built the country....... 

[Kerryd]

I would have thought most of the discussion would have been about the proposal to allow foreigners to "own land".

"In order to do this, it is proposed that foreigners will be allowed to purchase and own outright a house located on a development valued from 10 million baht, with a land size of not more than 1 Rai."
(my bolding and underlining)

Now it would depend on the actual wording of the law, but to me, what that says is that you would be able to buy a house (land) in a "development" (i.e. a housing estate) so long as the estate itself was valued at over 10 million baht and your land size was 1 Rai or less.

But that would hinge on the definition of a "development". Condos are mentioned separately so that's not what they are talking about in the passage above.

To me, it means that if, for example, the new "development" being built on Soi Khao Noi (Chokchai 9 or something I think ?) was valued at over 10 million baht, you (as a foreigner) would be able to buy a house in that development so long as the land size didn't exceed 1 Rai.

Otherwise the passage would have been worded "a house valued from 10 million baht,...." and wouldn't have mentioned "located on a development".

The significance of allowing foreigners to own up to 80% of a condo development would also be significant as well. The current rule (of no more than 49% foreign ownership) is meant to prevent foreigners from (technically) owning the land the condo project sits on, as the foreigners would (in theory) never be able to make up the majority of a condo's "board".

Changing that rule would mean foreigners could make up the majority of the board and therefore "control" the land. It would also allow them to control things like the maintenance fees and other aspects (including approving/disapproving new owners I think ?).

One has to wonder though, if these changes are aimed at a specific demographic - and I can guarantee you that it isn't "old white guys" from the West. They may be beneficiaries of such changes if they go through, but you'd better believe the gov't isn't even thinking about them at all when they do stuff like this.

I suspect that with all the money China has been pouring into the country, or is planning to in the near future, the powers that be are making changes to keep them happy.
(Remember not too long ago there was an article about a Chinese company that was planning on spending something like 4-5 billion on a new condo building to be built near Immigration in Jomtien. That's one example. Then there's the high speed train project that is supposed to link Thailand and China. The submarine deal with China. And so on and so on.)

You can bet that there are Chinese language forums similar to TV where they probably discuss a lot of the same things we do. We don't see them of course, but I can imagine that they'd discuss things like "90 Day Reports" and not being able to own land as well.

I can also imagine that it would be really hard (and awkward) for Thailand to try and pass a law that allowed one set of people to do something while excluding a different set, so some of us may get "lucky" if they do make the changes suggested in the OP.

Not going to hold my breath on it though. So much can change between now and when (if) it happens and so much can depend on the different interpretations of a single word.

Like "development". 
 

[Sqoop]

1 minute ago, SupermarineS6B said:

My suggestion to Imm/Gov/Plod, is to go back to quietly creaming off a living from bars and houses of pleasure as they did for years........      Remember what used to feed you boys.. ?  Go back to it and leave foreigners alone..........  Goose= Golden eggs.......     Worked for years and built the country....... 

 

The trouble is that when covid finally recedes I think it will be years before people have the money to visit Thailand. I dont think that the economic problems caused by covid have fully played out yet. 

[Pattaya Spotter]

8 pages of comments on some SPECULATION in changes to the 90 Day reporting scheme ????????????

[SupermarineS6B]

3 minutes ago, Sqoop said:

 

The trouble is that when covid finally recedes I think it will be years before people have the money to visit Thailand. I dont think that the economic problems caused by covid have fully played out yet. 

I was one of the lucky ones that came to Thailand thirty years ago, it was a dream just to walk over a border without any hassle from Immigration. The whole country was full of tourists and back packers who of course were all spending money in varying amounts. 

People tend to forget that Thailand used to be a very basic country back then, and those back packers and travelers back then opened the place up to mass tourism, which in the end improved the country three fold.   

They have to drop all the pie in the sky dreams and get back to that very quickly before Thailand turns into a Burma situation........ Something which sadly is not that far off the books........   Historically Thailand's due a major bust up shortly.......... Usually every five years........ well overdue.....    

Open the place up now and it will be saved.......... Don't, and it will turn into mayhem.........  

[Neeranam]

37 minutes ago, Tony125 said:

The people with that kind of money can find better places to live and not  have to walk thru flooded streets no matter how many times they " fix " the problem over almost 20 years.

 

 

Do you really think rich expats are going to Soi Buakao ????

[mberbae]

I can guarantee you this, NO foreigner who can spend 200,000 baht per

month will put up with the 90 day rule, perhaps not even the 1 year

passport. A minimum 5 year passport would be welcomed for long term

pensioners. And we haven't even touched on traffic fatalities yet.

[Neeranam]

19 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Otherwise the passage would have been worded "a house valued from 10 million baht,...." and wouldn't have mentioned "located on a development".

The house must be valued at over 10 million baht.

[Kerryd]

Just now, Neeranam said:

The house must be valued at over 10 million baht.

It does not say that, but nice try.

As I said, it would depend on their interpretation of the word "development". Otherwise they could have just said "a house valued from 10 million baht".

Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't actually specify that outright. Would have simplified things. But there could be something lost in translation and definition.

Will be interesting to see if the proposal goes any further.

[hotandsticky]

49 minutes ago, Charlie Halliday said:

Been 30 years so far. Steer clear of the scum and enjoy life. Too many moaners and lowlifes here. Love to see the govt evict the lot of em. 

 

 

???? You should have joined That Visa years ago.......... those 30 years of experience are worth something............

[hotandsticky]

14 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Do you really think rich expats are going to Soi Buakao ????

 

 

I am not short of a Bob or two - and I love soi Buakhao.

[Neeranam]

3 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

It does not say that, but nice try.

As I said, it would depend on their interpretation of the word "development". Otherwise they could have just said "a house valued from 10 million baht".

Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't actually specify that outright. Would have simplified things. But there could be something lost in translation and definition.

Will be interesting to see if the proposal goes any further.

It does say that, just forgot a comma, what kind of development would be under 10 million baht? Use your loaf man.

[Walter Travolta]

Good news for who exactly?

[Neeranam]

2 minutes ago, Walter Travolta said:

Good news for who exactly?

foreigners

[Sir Dude]

Thing is, it's not just about what they pull out of the hat for today and announce. It's about sentiment and confidence. Where is the consistancy, strength, fairness plus longevity of law and rules so that people can be confident to invest (especially that much) and that all of a sudden a year or five down the line (or next week) the rules don't just do a total 180 on the whim of the government and there is no recourse at all?

Sorry to say, but there's a long way to go to gain that confidence in my opinion. Look no further than how so many expats have been screwed over and denied a route (even a hard one) back into the country in the last couple of years who have invested a shed load of money in the place. If you want big investment, you need to strengthen the law and make if fair, clear, unambiguous and without favour for all whilst not changing it to suit certain sections of society when it's convenient.

In a nutshell Thailand, you have to decide whether you are expat/tourist friendly or not and act accordingly, instead of this vague flip-flopping that keeps on happening to try to get the foreign money through false promises but also placate the nationalist xenophobia of the locals ... embrace or reject it.

[Walter Travolta]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

foreigners

Well you're easily fooled - good ruck kid

[Millcx]

19 hours ago, J Town said:

How many times have they made such claims?

I think they do it every 90 days “;0)

[condobrit001]

4 hours ago, A Los for words said:

Clearly the result of a big Think Tank (Cockney rhyming slang).

No, Cockney rhyming slang for that is J Arthur.

[Neeranam]

2 minutes ago, Walter Travolta said:

Well you're easily fooled - good ruck kid

pardon me? Fooled about what?

[Walter Travolta]

2 minutes ago, Sir Dude said:

Thing is, it's not just about what they pull out of the hat for today and announce. It's about sentiment and confidence. Where is the consistancy, strength, fairness plus longevity of law and rules so that people can be confident to invest (especially that much) and that all of a sudden a year or five down the line (or next week) the rules don't just do a total 180 on the whim of the government and there is no recourse at all?

Sorry to say, but there's a long way to go to gain that confidence in my opinion. Look no further than how so many expats have been screwed over and denied a route (even a hard one) back into the country in the last couple of years who have invested a shed load of money in the place. If you want big investment, you need to strengthen the law and make if fair, clear, unambiguous and without favour for all whilst not changing it to suit certain sections of society when it's convenient.

In a nutshell Thailand, you have to decide whether you are expat/tourist friendly or not and act accordingly, instead of this vague flip-flopping that keeps on happening to try to get the foreign money through false promises but also placate the nationalist xenophobia of the locals ... embrace or reject it.

Well said. All this does is benefit the coffers and when the idea runs dry, those who have invested will be left to rot - again!! Thailand does not care for you as a foreigner, only your wallet. If I had 300,000 baht a month to spend I would be living somewhere other than a xenophobic country

[Walter Travolta]

4 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

pardon me? Fooled about what?

I rest my case