Wealthy foreigners to own small landholdings associated with homes here agreed in principle

[Ralf001]

4 minutes ago, generealty said:

Ralf001 - My my who got out of the wrong side of the bed then ?

Surely if one committed to the country by laying down a wad of hard earned on land and house then progressing from immigrant visa to PR is within their plans and achievable within 10 years.

 

Or did I misread Hotchilli's post and he expects PR  to be given on a silver platter ?

 

[Karma80]

28 minutes ago, bwanajohn said:

After seeing what happened to foreigners allowed to buy land in Sri Lanka and Malaysia I always thought the Thai government did us a solid by not allowing foreigners to buy land here. 

Agreed. Anyone that thinks this is a good idea underestimates the sheer volume of Chinese money looking to snap up property overseas and the impact it will have on prices and rents.

This is an irreversible fire sale on the part of the government.

[Pattaya Spotter]

Just proposals...get back to us if and when anything is actually enacted into law. 

[Muhendis]

The acid test for owning land will be who can inherit. Who can it be passed on to when you die.

I would imagine this will never happen if the beneficiary is not Thai.

[DUNROAMIN]

Wealthy foriegners will not come here with numties running the country.

[RobinV]

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

There is stuff in that article that may apply to you that wasn't included in the bit snipped/pasted in the OP.

Stuff like:
"In the last week, changes first introduced on October 1st last by the Ministry of Public Health in respect of enhanced requirements for any foreigner applying for an O/A Retirement visa were highlighted by Thai officials and international embassies.
 

This means that those applying for this retirement visa type, which should be differentiated from the normal O Non-Immigrant Retirement visa, must show hospital inpatient insurance of $100,000 or ฿3.4 million, an increase from the previous requirement of ฿400,000.
 

Higher medical coverage requirements for O-A retirement visa option but now Immigration Bureau will also accept self-insurance for those with assets

However, the Thai Immigration Bureau has, at the same time, provided an option for applicants to self insure provided that they have adequate capital and income available.
 

New health insurance regime for retirees living in Thailand means foreign firms can provide cover

The critical requirement for this option is to show ฿3 million in available assets including cash in the bank, available financial assets or ownership of property.
 

It is also understood that Immigration Bureau officers are authorised to accept evidence to show that any hospital bills will be paid for by sources from abroad.

This would apply to insurance provided to foreign retirees by their national governments or services in their home country.
 

The evidence requirement will mean that written documentation must be provided and certified by the foreigner’s embassy in Thailand.
 

New regulations do not yet impact the more popular Non-Immigrant O visas for marriage and retirement

These new arrangements do not impact current requirements for non Immigrant O visas or extensions either for marriage or retirement visas for now but may signal future intentions by the government which have also been regularly aired publicly by senior officials.

(So - rich Chinese in, old (white) retirees out. (Kind of like the "good guys in, bad guys out" motto of Immigration eh ?)

So my understanding of this is that Perm Residents do not require health insurance??

Is that right?

I have Defence Vet cover for ongoing disabilities, but they are specific in nature. I'd fly back to Australia for anything major as it's free.

So I'm not really interested in insurance anyway.

[Pravda]

44 minutes ago, bwanajohn said:

After seeing what happened to foreigners allowed to buy land in Sri Lanka and Malaysia I always thought the Thai government did us a solid by not allowing foreigners to buy land here. 

 

Did you a solid? Must be some American slang. When I think of solid I think of stool. So, yes....in that case Thailand gave you a lot of solids 

[jeanrem]

Did I miss something or nothing was written regarding the new work visa ?

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, rickudon said:

unless of course they are aiming at the Chinese

Bingo

[Silencer]

Since you can buy a house, or buy land and build a house now, through using a Thai limited company, and sell it again later if you want, I don't see what the big deal is with "owning" land in the western sense? Just seems like a topic to complain about even though you can achieve 'almost' the same results under current rules. I know dozens of people here that own their houses through a Thai limited company arrangement. Some have recently sold their property and moved on. 

[Sydebolle]

I'm sure the illegal Burmese, Cambodians and Laotians will be more than excited to hear the good news! 

Thais go to Saudi Arabia and Caucasians might opt for places like Singapore or similar as the entire bureaucratic environment is not alienating as in Thailand. The days of juicy salaries etc. are gone, so is the fun to work in Bangkok, traffic will crawl backwards anytime soon and a family with two kids in international schools can hardly make ends meet. 

Your call! 

[LivinLOS]

4 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Don't get excited.....There will be loads of requirement to be met, in the small chance this goes through...

Well half a million USD invested (not in the home) and 80k USD per annum income for the under 50s and 250k usd invested and 40k per annum for the over 50s means most will just howl how its not for them.. 

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Don't get excited.....There will be loads of requirement to be met, in the small chance this goes through...

It's not yet approved.

 

And it must be published in the royal gazette to be absolutely approved.

 

Wait and see.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by scorecard

[Tonypandy]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

No earth shattering news here, foreigners can own property legally through an easy, problem proof company set structure and buy and sell as they pleased...

Grey area 

[Guest Isaanlife]

One whole rai.

 

Amazing!

[Cake Monster]

The type of people that Thailand would like to Invest in the Country, really are not gullible enough to fall for this kind of entrapment.

These people have mostly gotten their wealth from sheer hard work, and being savvy about the World in general.

They will not want to put all their hard work at risk with an Investment that could highly likely turn very sour very quickly, in a Country run by Tin Pot Soldiers with little or no idea about  the needs of Investors.

Dream on Prayut, and the rest of the rabble. When you can run your Country like professionals, then maybe try to entice the people you seek.

If you can prove your ability to run the Country well, the Investors will naturally come, and with them, their Money, which, when all is said and done, is the only reason you seek these people in the first place.

 

 

 

[Freddy42OZ]

1 Rai or 0.4 acres is 17400 sq/ft   

That is a tiny plot barely big enough to put a house on.  You wouldn't have any space for a garden.  

So I expect if it happens it will consist of Moobans with tiny houses with no gardens, with each "owner" owning the tiny parcel of land their house sits on. 

Also never forget that 'Foreigners' does not mean exclusively Westerners.   This is more likely to be aimed at a million Asians than a million Whiteys.

 

Dimensions that equal 17,400 sq2 (rounded to 2 digits)

131.91 ft x 131.91 ft

118.72 ft x 146.56 ft

105.53 ft x 164.88 ft

92.34 ft x 188.43 ft

79.15 ft x 219.84 ft

65.95 ft x 263.84 ft

[Eric Loh]

Why even bother to rant when you are not the targetted group of wealthy foreigners. 

[Misterwhisper]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

residents must have the ability to generate wealth and prosperity for the kingdom’s wider economy.

I've done exactly that for the past 30 years by paying religiously paying my taxes and spending practically all my income here to support "the wider economy". Not that I gained any advantage from my commitment. I still have to prostrate every year, kiss countless b**ts and submit increasingly thicker reams of paperwork just to secure another visa and work permit extension. (On a side note, I never had to extend the validity of my tax ID. It's very curious.)

 

Well, I guess I am just not wealthy enough. But then again, perhaps I shouldn't complain. I am not sure I want to be part of that newly cooked up scheme. Even at this early stage it very strongly reeks of "fleece them, fleece them, fleece them, then fleece them some more".

Edited February 2, 2022 by Misterwhisper

[Forza2002]

DPM Supattanapong Punmeechaow must have borrowed one of TAT's calculators to have come up with those spending projections by the fabled 1 million wealthy tourists...

 

[Misterwhisper]

5 hours ago, ukrules said:

I can see it now, triple priced houses in the special rip off zones.

a.k.a. foreigner ghettos

[tomacht8]

No interest.

Definitely going to be another super complicated and time consuming paper war monster with too many institutions and officials involved.

 

Then again and again various paper collection excesses from immigration, foreign ministry, tax authorities, health insurance, land office, local ampore, own embassy, BOI, banks, building authority, telephone company, electricity company, garbage disposal company, etc.

No thank you.

[Caldera]

As per usual, they'll tank an initially sensible proposal with heaps of nonsensical regulations, and the result will be that they'll attract a few thousand wealthy foreigners instead of the million they envisioned.

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

No earth shattering news here, foreigners can own property legally through an easy, problem proof company set structure and buy and sell as they pleased...

I think you will find that any scheme designed to avoid the foreign property/land ownership laws such as this is technically illegal. Of course, many have done so without problems -- yet. I would not do it myself, preferring the legal method of condo ownership.

[SymS]

Interesting... they want to attract wealthy foreigners and only allow them a plot of one rai. That's what a wealthy person's home (and land) looks like...

 

I'm sure it will also be in gated communities as previously mentioned with houses close to each others.

[thaibook]

3 hours ago, Kerryd said:

There is stuff in that article that may apply to you that wasn't included in the bit snipped/pasted in the OP.

Stuff like:
"In the last week, changes first introduced on October 1st last by the Ministry of Public Health in respect of enhanced requirements for any foreigner applying for an O/A Retirement visa were highlighted by Thai officials and international embassies.
 

This means that those applying for this retirement visa type, which should be differentiated from the normal O Non-Immigrant Retirement visa, must show hospital inpatient insurance of $100,000 or ฿3.4 million, an increase from the previous requirement of ฿400,000.
 

Higher medical coverage requirements for O-A retirement visa option but now Immigration Bureau will also accept self-insurance for those with assets

However, the Thai Immigration Bureau has, at the same time, provided an option for applicants to self insure provided that they have adequate capital and income available.
 

New health insurance regime for retirees living in Thailand means foreign firms can provide cover

The critical requirement for this option is to show ฿3 million in available assets including cash in the bank, available financial assets or ownership of property.
 

It is also understood that Immigration Bureau officers are authorised to accept evidence to show that any hospital bills will be paid for by sources from abroad.

This would apply to insurance provided to foreign retirees by their national governments or services in their home country.
 

The evidence requirement will mean that written documentation must be provided and certified by the foreigner’s embassy in Thailand.
 

New regulations do not yet impact the more popular Non-Immigrant O visas for marriage and retirement

These new arrangements do not impact current requirements for non Immigrant O visas or extensions either for marriage or retirement visas for now but may signal future intentions by the government which have also been regularly aired publicly by senior officials.

(So - rich Chinese in, old (white) retirees out. (Kind of like the "good guys in, bad guys out" motto of Immigration eh ?)

The government text says that self-insurance (for non-immigrant O-A visas) will be accepted for those who can provide documentary evidence of having been rejected by insurers.  So you must still apply for insurance and only if rejected, because of age or pre-existing conditions, can you benefit from self-insurance assuming you meet the other conditions.

 

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

Many countries have investment schemes which include citizenship and a passport.

For example, Turkey has a scheme whereby a property investment of $250,000 secures Turkish citizenship/passport. 

What is Thailand offering? A 10-year Visa with masses of paperwork? 

[Presnock]

Another "sounds great" idea that even if it comes to fruition will undoubtedly have too

many caveats for "smart" buyers.  Give them a 5/10 year visa, let them buy property, then

don't allow an extension of that visa and give them like a year (sorta like property left to a

foreign spouse when Thai spouse dies and one has a year to sell the property which also

has to be approved by the FM).  Will be interesting I am sure to see the final bill if passed.  

[Misterwhisper]

58 minutes ago, Silencer said:

Since you can buy a house, or buy land and build a house now, through using a Thai limited company, and sell it again later if you want, I don't see what the big deal is with "owning" land in the western sense? Just seems like a topic to complain about even though you can achieve 'almost' the same results under current rules. I know dozens of people here that own their houses through a Thai limited company arrangement. Some have recently sold their property and moved on. 

I likewise know dozens...  whose trusted Thai wife and her family, who usually are the "majority owners" of the limited company, sold the property and MADE the foreign husband "move on".  

[SunnyinBangrak]

IF we can genuinely own a small plot of land in our own name, I for one will be an immediate buyer. I expect if the law changes again in the future to ban this ownership that we would be grandfathered in to the old scheme. Much like with Thaksin's initial lifelong 1m baht Elite Visa.