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.

[sandyf]

On 5/31/2025 at 2:06 PM, aldriglikvid said:

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. 

Do try and stick to the context.

[aldriglikvid]

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

Do try and stick to the context.

Well, you said that there were hardly any foreign buyers and I just pointed out the actual fact that foreigners represent 30% of the market, and perhaps closer to 40% or above accounting for all the shady nominee companies and the wife being on the contract. 

 

[sandyf]

20 hours ago, aldriglikvid said:

Well, you said that there were hardly any foreign buyers and I just pointed out the actual fact that foreigners represent 30% of the market, and perhaps closer to 40% or above accounting for all the shady nominee companies and the wife being on the contract. 

 

This is the comment I responded to, but you want to start quoting figures on condos.

"Plus this will stall the property market unless buyers are buying condos."

 

It would be quite delusional to think foreigners represent 30% of the property market.

[aldriglikvid]

2 hours ago, sandyf said:

It would be quite delusional to think foreigners represent 30% of the property market.

I'm fairly confident the property market will take a hit if foreigners completely left. "We" represent 1/3 of every condo acquired. There are no similar stats available for land, as "we" can't own it. But, as you very well know, the amount of wife-owned properties, legit-leased properties and the company-owned properties are in the hundred thousands. Not really sure why we're debating if foreigners can sway the market or not - it's considered a fact by the developers and analysts themselves. 

 

 

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, aldriglikvid said:

I'm fairly confident the property market will take a hit if foreigners completely left. "We" represent 1/3 of every condo acquired. There are no similar stats available for land, as "we" can't own it. But, as you very well know, the amount of wife-owned properties, legit-leased properties and the company-owned properties are in the hundred thousands. Not really sure why we're debating if foreigners can sway the market or not - it's considered a fact by the developers and analysts themselves. 

 

 

It doesn't matter what you are confident about,

Your "we" should be aware It is against the forum rules to take posts out of context,  unless of course your "we" do not understand the difference between ground level housing and condos.

The exodus from Bangkok condos to housing estates escalated with covid and has nothing to do with foreigners. The view is nothing more than a misguided sense of self importance.

[aldriglikvid]

5 hours ago, sandyf said:

It doesn't matter what you are confident about,

Your "we" should be aware It is against the forum rules to take posts out of context,  unless of course your "we" do not understand the difference between ground level housing and condos.

The exodus from Bangkok condos to housing estates escalated with covid and has nothing to do with foreigners. The view is nothing more than a misguided sense of self importance.

Well, at least I support my confidence in actual, objective, facts. If your of opposite view, which your condescending tone suggest, I'd appreciate if you could return the favor. 

On the topic of facts, here's a Q1 (First Quarter) summary up low-rise sales. To your benefit, I completely left out Condos which are in very much worse shape.  Uptake is down double digits across the board, and if you read what the developers are saying in their communication to investors they are saying the demand is low from domestic as well foreign investors. 

Coming back to my first point: if foreign capital left it will not only hit condos, but also "housing" that only Thais can own. It all sticks together. 

I'm out, but you can continue swinging if you like. 

 

[CallumWK]

On 5/30/2025 at 7:39 PM, edwardflory said:

 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.

 

Not sure which point you try to make, because Americans can't own a business which owns property under the amity.

[CallumWK]

On 5/29/2025 at 2:21 AM, aldriglikvid said:

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


 

 

This is not about the average foreigner who has a house in company name, but rather businesses restricted to Thais but run by foreigners.

 

The clue should be in the figure of, 26000 suspected companies. That figure dwarfs the number of houses owned by foreigners through the company route in Pattaya alone