Opinion –

 

By Thanaphum Charoensombatpanich

Today the much-hyped plans of allowing foreigners to be able to buy up to 1 rai of land or about 0.16 hectares of land that was approved on October 25th by the Cabinet of 2014 coup leader Prayut Chan-o-cha.

 

The decision to scrap the plans just 2-weeks since it was approved and made headlines around the world, comes as Thais have been labelling the scheme as ‘selling the country’ to foreigners.

 

The scheme that was put in place was for ‘wealthy’ investors to invest a minimum of 40 million Baht for a minimum of 3-years. These people also need to be in a category of either being wealthy global citizen, wealthy pensioner or those who want to work from Thailand and/or are highly skilled professionals or specialists.

 

Full story: https://www.thaienquirer.com/45674/opinion-foreign-land-buying-plans-scrapping-is-a-policy-flipflop-that-will-hurt-investors-sentiment-and-govt-s-image/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Enquirer 2022-11-08

 

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So does scrapping this measure scrap the previous law they were amending as well?  

The gov't should have let sleeping dogs lie. They have brought this issue onto international sights now. I believe companies should really have second thoughts about investing in Thailand now.

This should hurt condo sales by foreigners. Who knows how they will begin to look at condo ownership. I would not buy one now and would be afraid if I had any in my name. My wife owns some in her name only and I am happy we went this direction.

Foreign governments should reciprocate but I doubt if they are this xenophobic. This is not Thai bashing

Edited November 8, 20223 yr by bang saen guy

Must admit I had already bought the shovel and boxes to carry the land back to my own country. Darn, this flip flopping is so inconvenient! 

It is pathetic that the government went so far with this without any proper planning or PR campaign, knowing there woud be a backlash, only to chicken out. But, fortunately, this has no impact on foreign investment either way because it was never aimed at mainstream corporate foreign direct investment or institutional portfolio investment in stocks and bonds - only at individual investors who are an insignificant source of foreign investment flows. It would have been good for a few property developers, brokers, lawyers etc but the impact on the Thai economy would have been minimal as it was to be limited to people with the new LTR visas making other qualifying investments of 40 mil which is a fairly limited market.

 

It was a ridiculous concept to offer it to LTR visa holders only. This is an untested type of visa offered to unknown people who are don't have to be in Thailand laready. The law was passed in 1999 and the opportunity  should have been offered to permanent residents a long time ago. They are people who have already been in Thailand for a number of years, have proven contributions to Thai society and have clean Thai and home country police records. Offering to people whose main qualification is a bunch of hot cash they want to drop was stupid and asking for trouble.

Edited November 8, 20223 yr by Dogmatix

"Thais have been labelling the scheme as ‘selling the country’ to foreigners."

 

Most of my Thai friends, including those of Chinese origin, were talking about the government selling the country to the Chinese.

Nah. Investor sentiment could not be any lower, and the image of the government is that of a tinpot nation, without much respect for the rule of law. 

 

And the program would likely have only attracted 6 or 8 investors. 

"Knowing well that there could be a backlash like those seen in 2002, the Prayut government could have learnt a lesson or 2 from the mistakes and the criticism against the move in 2002 to look at how to improve on them."

 

Very poor reporting with no research done. There was no backlash whatsoever in 2002, simply because hardly anyone was aware these regulations had been issued and anyway the regulations were a deliberate attempt by the Thaksin regime to sabotage the law by specifying qualifying investments that didn't exist to prevent foreigners from taking advantage of the law.  The backlash took place in 1999 when the amendment to the Land Code was railroaded through parliament by the Democrat led government with Chuan Leekpai at its helm. There was a lot of opposition to the bill, including from Chuan's own backbench Democrat MPs, particularly to the original bill that allowed foreigners with Thai spouses to buy a rai of land without having to invest 40 million in other investments.  Once the dust had settled and they got the law passed in parliament, the Chuan government somehow got cold feet and didn't issue the enabling ministerial regulations before it got trounced by Thaksin in the 2000 elections.  The Thaksin administration dragged its heels for two years and then issued the regulations it did in 2002 to guarantee the failure of the new law. But the Chuan government was to blame for successfully fighting a monumental battle in parliament but failing to follow through with the enabling legislation. Since the justification of the law was to help revive the real estate sector devastated by the Tom Yum Kung crisis, it was inexcusable that they didn't activate the law immediately.

Edited November 8, 20223 yr by Dogmatix

9 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Nah. Investor sentiment could not be any lower, and the image of the government is that of a tinpot nation, without much respect for the rule of law. 

 

And the program would likely have only attracted 6 or 8 investors. 

Not really true.  Net foreign portfolio inflows on the equity side have been strongly positive for the last few months.

Well that's ruined my plans for a 2 bedroom bungalow in the centre of the universe.

 

I guess I'll have to send the 100 Million back to my country now.  

I still wait for the rest of the world to get their senses straight and don't allow any Thai to buy land abroad.

Wonder how the Thai racists would like that.

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Nah. Investor sentiment could not be any lower, and the image of the government is that of a tinpot nation, without much respect for the rule of law. 

 

And the program would likely have only attracted 6 or 8 investors. 

Couldn't have put it better! And, those 6 or 8 are either completely brainless and lacking in business acumen or so rich that a few million was just pocket change.

Those 2 qualifications seldom go together. ????

Was it ever published in the Royal Gazzette?

 

Or was it another attempt by property developers?

 

Is anybody surprised it got a very luke warm reception?

 

 

22 hours ago, webfact said:

The decision to scrap the plans just 2-weeks since it was approved and made headlines around the world, comes as Thais have been labelling the scheme as ‘selling the country’ to foreigners.

Thailand is okay with selling their daughters for dollars to boost the GDP but not land...

16 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

"Thais have been labelling the scheme as ‘selling the country’ to foreigners."

 

Most of my Thai friends, including those of Chinese origin, were talking about the government selling the country to the Chinese.

Selling to siblings is allowed.

Hurt the governments image... ????