Working group to review plans to allow foreigners in Thailand to buy land and work without work permits

[charmonman]

They could start by eliminating the utterly pointless and time wasting 90 day report requirement.

[inThailand]

Is this just to direct the attention of foreigners away from the many debacles? The Covid situation, the faltering economy, the tourism plunders, the silly immigration rules, and a coup that just won't go away? With no intention whatsoever to ever let foreigners own land? 

Edited June 13, 2021 by inThailand

[metisdead]

Please use discretion in your references to the government.  Referring to Thailand or the government as a dictatorship, military dictatorship or other such terms will be removed. 

 

Some posts using trolling images have been removed.

[Henryford]

So those of us already here that have invested millions, maybe tens of millions of baht, are not part of the deal.

[Huckenfell]

21 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

SURVEY: Is it time to let foreigners own land?

Have your say: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1220310-survey-is-it-time-to-let-foreigners-own-land/

 

Sadly the Thais just dont get it. They can only see big money and it is not going to work. It is the "bread and butter" retirees who wish to buy their own little piece of land for a house that will help the recovery. Rich will go elsewhere as they can afford to make their choices.

[Ralf001]

20 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

 

Then there is of course the problem with transferring funds OUT of the country. Thanks to Bank of Thailand regulations, It's a big, big inconvenience to even withdraw and transfer a minor amount of your own money - say $10,000 - without having to jump through hoops and providing reams of paperwork. 

 

 

I moved 20k home last week, no issue at all.

[Michael Hare]

I have been a permanent resident for 20 years and own a company and still have to get a work permit every two years. I don't see any plans to do away with this requirement for PR holders. 

 

[Darksidedude]

ha ha 

[renaissanc]

The conditions will attract the Chinese who want to flee the CCP which will eventually confiscate their wealth. Money-launderers will come, of course, and drug cartel folks who want to hide their money. As for normal folks, I don't think that the government will achieve its target. 

15 million Baht buys you a mansion outside the tourist areas, if you arrange the construction yourself. The house would be too big. The investment requirement is too high for real estate alone. I doubt if people will buy a condominium in Bangkok because of the pollution and because it will be flooding as a result of sea level rise in 10+ years.

[seancbk]

22 hours ago, fusion58 said:

 

…because everybody knows such individuals grow on trees. ????

 

 

According to figures from Dec 2020 there are almost 50 million high net worth individuals (people with at least 1 million of their own currency).  

Keep in mind also that a lot of them have +10 million or even +100 million.

 

[tinca tinca]

why only people with a work permit ???

[tinca tinca]

sorry i read the article wrong.......me a dumbo !!!

[petedk]

11 hours ago, whaleboneman said:

How exactly do you see all this? Are you following the gang and investigating their business dealings? I'm pretty sure your imagination has gone wild.

haha no my imagination hasn't gone wild.

Everyone in my area has noticed it. It is so obvious. 

 

All our neighbours talk about it . This is  was a quiet soi until they came along. Now they have wild parties only with Chinese guests, often with many supercars (incl Rolls Royce and most number plates ending in the same digits.) blocking the road, they throw many many Gucci, Prada and other brand name bags outside the houses to be collected by the rubbish collectors. We once mentioned that we would call the police to some of the partygoers and within 2 minutes, both houses were empty and lights turned off.

 

Oh, we did investigate a little after they set a sign up with the company name. They advertise the houses at VIP accommodation at 60K each per night. The whole website is fake with comments from westerners who supposedly stayed there (never ever seen Western people there). We tried for fun to book, but no matter how far in advance we tried we got a message that they were fully booked.

 

These houses ae on both sides of our house so it is easy to see what going on. In fact both immigration and the police know about the houses but need more evidence or signed statements from us about what's happening, but who wants to go up against Chinese mafia. 

[petedk]

12 hours ago, whaleboneman said:

How exactly do you see all this? Are you following the gang and investigating their business dealings? I'm pretty sure your imagination has gone wild.

 

Sorry this is a double posting. Thai Visa has crashed three times while trying to answer this.

 

We don't have to follow them. 

We live on what used to be a quite soi (5 houses around here + 2 bought by the Chinese) We saw when they came to buy. Always turned up in 2 or 3 Alphards with the same number plate endings. Then huge renovations with them coming to check up often. They would block the exit from our house and block the soi for those living further down.

 

The parties are always held for Chinese people. The girls are delivered in the same cars with the same number plate endings as the Alphards. The brand name shopping bags are piled high outside the house to be collected by the rubbish collectors. All the neighbours talked about his and how much money they must have.

One day they put a company sign up so everyone was interested in what the company was about, so of course we Googled them.  They rented out the houses at 60K per night, but they are impossible to book  as they are "fully booked" for the next 2 years. There were fake comments from Western guests about how they enjoyed their stay. No one has ever seen Western guests stay there.

 

One night when they were noisy, one of the Thai neighbours said he would call the police and within 2 minutes all the guest had gone and lights were off.

 

As for gambling. Often the soi is blocked by 10 -20 super cars from about 5 pm. Always Chinese men arriving and occasionally 2 or 3 girls would arrive together in another car. We can all see this as it is the same time most of us arrive home from work and have to wait while they park . 

 

One of the neighbours has talked to the police and another one has talked to immigration, but none of them seem to be able to do anything without signed statements from us. Of course we are not going up against these people.

 

So, no our imaginations have not run wild.

Just to add to that, we know of other houses on sois near here that are in the same situation.

Finally, a lawyer friend, said that Chinese people own 40 - 50% of property in parts of Pattaya.

Edited June 14, 2021 by petedk

[geisha]

Forget it, it’s not going to happen. People have seen what Thailand has become in the last 5 years. It’s been going downhill fast. You don’t invest in a sinking ship. Thailand was a cheap destination for retirement and tourism.  It worked that way. The country is a shambles , look at towns in Phuket , pattaya, Huahin, many of the islands, ramshackle huts for shops and restaurants, bad roads no pavements, general lack of infrastructure , a lack of hygiene a lack of educated workforce. A handful of luxury hotels do not make a chic tourist  destination ! It will attract certain countries like India and China  some other Asian countries, probably Russia,  but usually for the same reason. 

[geisha]

Forget it, it’s not going to happen. People have seen what Thailand has become in the last 5 years. It’s been going downhill fast. You don’t invest in a sinking ship. Thailand was a cheap destination for retirement and tourism.  It worked that way. The country is a shambles , look at towns in Phuket , pattaya, Huahin, many of the islands, ramshackle huts for shops and restaurants, bad roads no pavements, general lack of infrastructure , a lack of hygiene a lack of educated workforce. A handful of luxury hotels do not make a chic tourist  destination ! It will attract certain countries like India and China  some other Asian countries, probably Russia,  but usually for the same reason. 

[RocketDog]

On 6/13/2021 at 1:05 PM, Thomas J said:

I have thought the Thai government was wise in restricting land ownership to Thai citizens only.  The influx of money from wealthier countries like China would unquestionably cause the prices to rise which is good for the existing home owner but will likely price the native Thai out of ever owning a reasonable home. 

As for jobs.  I suppose if Thailand has a need for certain skill sets that it does not have domestically it makes some sense.,  However if the jobs are available and there are sufficient Thai people with those skill sets, why would you bring in foreigners to fill them.  That is particularly true today when Covid has already destroyed so many jobs. 

Or do they expect the Thai tourism to rebound and there will be foreigners staffing the tour busses, island ferries, and tourist attraction concessions. 

I think any country that will sell their only sovereign property to foreigners is making a mistake its people will regret for all the reasons you name.

I have always been against the USA selling land to foreigners.

There isn't any more being created. It's like selling your own body parts to get your next drug fix. Shortsighted to say the least.

Long term leases, longer visas, etc are acceptable solutions.

[Airalee]

On 6/14/2021 at 9:24 AM, seancbk said:

According to figures from Dec 2020 there are almost 50 million high net worth individuals (people with at least 1 million of their own currency).  

13 million HNWIs

 

As of June 2020, there were estimated to be just over 13 million HNWIs in the world. The United States had the highest number of HNWIs (4,700,000) of any country, while New York City had the most HNWIs (348,000) among cities.
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-net-worth_individual
 

There were under 20 million in 2019 pre-Covid.

 

I’d be willing to bet that most HNWI are closer to $1,000,000 than $5,000,000 (or even $2,000,000).   How many want to dump 50% of their liquid assets into Thai real estate or low bearing government bonds?

[RocketDog]

14 hours ago, Airalee said:

13 million HNWIs

 

As of June 2020, there were estimated to be just over 13 million HNWIs in the world. The United States had the highest number of HNWIs (4,700,000) of any country, while New York City had the most HNWIs (348,000) among cities.
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-net-worth_individual
 

There were under 20 million in 2019 pre-Covid.

 

I’d be willing to bet that most HNWI are closer to $1,000,000 than $5,000,000 (or even $2,000,000).   How many want to dump 50% of their liquid assets into Thai real estate or low bearing government bonds?

Arithmetic is being proposed as an extension of the current Thai educational system.

Just wait a few decades for that to evolve.