Government coming for "...foreign nationals using Thai nominees to acquire land unlawfully."

[aldriglikvid]

The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Interior have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to tackle the long-standing issue of foreign nationals using Thai nominees to acquire land unlawfully.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3033167/ministries-tackle-nominees


 

[Celsius]

Oh no

[ronster]

They are going to be very very busy . Plus this will stall the property market unless buyers are buying condos.

[shackleton]

Well this is going to be interesting as  I can imagine a lot of brown envelopes and people in high places involved 😳 

[AustinRacing]

So they should. 

[BusyB]

I think this particular 'crackdown' comes round about twice a year. Seem to recall the last one only a few months ago.

[PETERTHEEATER]

The devil is in the detail. Note this extract from the linked report:

 

......aims to close legal loopholes.....

 

Advantage has been taken of the loopholes to use a nominee system but is now being abused by foreign developers.

 

Please credit and share this article with others using this link: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3033167/ministries-tackle-nominees. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved.

 

Please credit and share this article with others using this link: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3033167/ministries-tackle-nominees. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved.

[ChipButty]

When they going to start? Rawai is full of them

[crazykopite]

Maybe I should by a bulldozer to rent out at least the properties can be flattened rather than some government quango having them . The property market will go into free fall people will up sticks and move on to a more welcoming Asian country the economy will collapse they will be willing the Russian and Israel government to keep the wars going in the hope those who sought sanctuary in the kingdom rather than fight will support Thailand’s economy 

[norsurin]

Sell ur condo before its to late The condo owners is the next on the list.

[ronnie50]

They've been threatening this for many, many years and nothing happens. Ever been to Bangkok's Royal City Avenue? There, and basically much of the area nearby in Thiam Ruam Mit road and all the highrise condos there. All Chinese signs. Nothing in English or Thai. That's the tip of the iceberg of nominee scams, of course. But it's right in their face - if they wanted to do anything about it, an easy place to start. Meantime, Phuket for decades has been full of houses 'owned' by foreigners through Thai nominee company ownership of the land the houses sit on. It would take them years to untangle all that - if they really wanted to, but getting a bribe is so much easier...

[edwardflory]

 FYI:

Sections 37 and 41 of the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999), prohibits foreign nationals from using Thai nominees to circumvent ownership restrictions. 
BUT
For Americans, Check "The Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations" if YOU want to OWN a business for more information.

[Marco100]

Why simply not allow Foreigner to hold shares in Companies holding land . Not 49% ! Not 10%  Simply None ! 

Get the 99 year Leasehold done . 

Stop this hypocrisy!

 

[sandyf]

19 hours ago, ronster said:

They are going to be very very busy . Plus this will stall the property market unless buyers are buying condos.

Several large ground level housing developments around me, no shortage of buyers and i doubt any are foreigners. The first development had 2 x 4 storey blocks of condos, they knocked one down and turned it into a temporary car park with "for sale" notice.

For some reason foreigners seem to think they have a controlling influence on all aspects of the economy.

 

Just another housekeeping exercise.

[ChipButty]

15 hours ago, norsurin said:

Sell ur condo before its to late The condo owners is the next on the list.

Why? 

[aldriglikvid]

5 hours ago, sandyf said:

Several large ground level housing developments around me, no shortage of buyers and i doubt any are foreigners. 

 

 

In the first quarter of 2025 of all condos transacted in Thailand, 29.3% were foreign buyers. Approximately one third of demand came from foreigners. What other market, globally, does foreigners represent such a big part of the overall demand? Mind you, the numbers are even higher when we account for the nominee company transactions and the "bought via the wife"-transactions. 

 

I don't subscribe to the idea that if ~30% of demand would disappear, market prices would remain flat. Furthermore, almost all the major developers are listed and they all were unable to meet their sales target in Q1 2025 - not to mention 2024. 

[ronnie50]

16 hours ago, Marco100 said:

Why simply not allow Foreigner to hold shares in Companies holding land . Not 49% ! Not 10%  Simply None ! 

Get the 99 year Leasehold done . 

Stop this hypocrisy!

 

Apparently there's something called a 'usufruct' I think that's the right spelling that is (apparently) recognised in Thai property law. Basically it doesn't matter who owns the land in a lease, as long as they agree to this thing that means you have full rights to remain in the house, on that land until you die - they can't move you, they can't touch the house, they can't sell the land.. So the same thing applies I guess if you buy a house and land in a Thai wife's name along with a usufruct. There was some guy on the previous version of this web board that seemed to know a lot about this. Years ago.

[impulse]

17 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

you have full rights to remain in the house, on that land until you die - they can't move you, they can't touch the house, they can't sell the land.

 

I think the flaw in that plan is being worth less to the locals alive than dead.

 

[ronnie50]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

 

I think the flaw in that plan is being worth less to the locals alive than dead.

 

Quite possibly. Not sure if it has transfer rights upon death for remainder of leasehold.

[edwardflory]

A Thai wife ( orThai citizen ) can own the land ... One big exception, if the wife owner of land dies, and wills the property to a foreign husband, he can own the land for 1 year, then sell or the govt will sell for him - he gets the money.

 

To complicat things,  a foreigner can OWN a house anytime, but NOT the land it sits on for longer than 1 year.