Beach Road Will Be Closed To Weekend Traffic Starting From January 1

[beginner]

Totally and completely off topic, but as the planned Beach Road closure has now been postponed, maybe you could enlighten us on what Mr Noyes had to say on the subject of 'illegal arrangements' by foreigners to own houses? Did he have something new to impart?

Or maybe you could start a new thread and tell us about it?

Heres the sumary from PCEC newsletter. I hope Drew and PCEC don't mind me posting it like this. LAST WEEK'S MEETING

We ended the year 2007 with the 2nd largest attendance in our Club’s history - 130 people, which we think is pretty good since for our largest meeting, the San Miguel folks were giving out free beer! Of course we know that too much beer leads to weight problems, which then leads to New Year resolutions. Well, Jay Leno of the Tonight Show believes that America has solved that problem, when he observed, “Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average… which means, you have met your New Year's resolution.”

Since we were not giving away free beer, it shows that everyone was very interested in our speaker and his topic. Gary Hacker introduced our former Chairman and fellow member, Drew Noyes, to give us information on property ownership when it is held in the name of a Thai Company Limited and things you can do to comply with the pending amendments to the Foreign Business Act (FBA). Drew started his talk by saying don’t be afraid to own a home in Thailand. It is still possible to have and occupy a home in Thailand. The key is to structure it a way that protects the Expat’s investment, but still comply with the FBA and Land ownership laws.

Drew explained that as a result of the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the FBA was created for the purpose of encouraging foreign investors to create businesses that would employ Thai citizens. Thais could then learn from the technology and business practices brought in by the investors. The FBA allowed foreigners to own up to 49% of the shares in a Company Limited. The foreigner was expected to get a work permit to be the managing director and was required to employ at least 4 Thais. Although the companies were expected to have employees, be operating a business, and paying taxes, no Government agency or official was checking on this. Further, when the company acquired land, the Land Office did not require any documentation to show compliance with the FBA. As a result, to get around the law that foreigners could not, as a general rule, own land in Thailand, it did not take the lawyers long to start creating companies with their Thai employees becoming nominee share holders to own the required 51%. The companies were then used to purchase homes. Although the Land Act has criminal penalties for Thai citizens acting as nominees for foreigners purchasing land, who was checking?

Well, about 3 years ago, Drew said he was in the Land office where there was a big commotion among the staff. It seems that Thai ministries were joining the computer age – integrating data bases from various ministries, which would allow a them to check on compliance with the FBA. As a result of this abuse of the FBA, the proposed amendments to the FBA were drafted. As drafted, companies would have 2 years to conform to the FBA as amended.

Drew said that if a foreigner had purchased property with a Thai company formed through use of nominees, there were ways to ensure compliance with the FBA and the Land Act. One method would be to have the company actually operate a business no matter how rudimentary, employ the required number of Thais, and ensure that all taxes (employment and income) are up to date. If this is not feasible, then a Thai could be made the managing director of the company, with safeguards put in place through a lease and mortgage arrangement to ensure continued possession and use of the property. Alternatively, the company could sell the property to a Thai with similar safeguards. In Thailand, a foreigner can own the structure in their own name, but not the land. Also, a foreigner can own a leasehold interest on land and can own a mortgage for money loaned to buy land.

Drew pointed out that a foreigner can loan money to a Thai person or company for the purpose of purchasing property and hold a mortgage on the property, which prevents sale of the property unless the mortgage and interest is paid. The foreigner can then lease the property for 30 years with an option for another 20 years (if the option is greater than 20 years, the lease would not be valid). The lease and the mortgage must be registered at the Land Office and this is usually done simultaneously with the Thai purchasing the property and obtaining the title deed. If there is a mortgage, the foreigner, as the mortgage holder, usually retains physical custody of the original land title document. He also strongly recommends that the foreigner get a “power of attorney” from the Thai land owner authorizing the foreigner to act in their name to sell the property (would have to be to another Thai or a Thai company) in order to satisfy the repayment of their loan (mortgage). In the case of the lease, Drew mentioned that it should include a “right of assumption” in its provisions so that, if needed, the foreigner could transfer the lease to another party. He also recommended that the foreigner have a Thai will with provisions on who would inherit the lease and/or mortgage.

Drew concluded his talk and answered general questions from the audience. However, since each case is unique with its own set of facts and circumstances, Drew offered to make himself available at his office for free consultations on individual situations. Drew is the Managing Director of PAPPA Co., Ltd. and can be reached directly at 084-111-7999 or at the main PAPPA office on 038-301-050.

[tropo]

These local visitors mostly come from a lot closer than Bangkok; there's acres of factories and dormitory towns out beyond Mabprachan. I can't claim to have seen rampant double parking except on Jomtien beach road where they have those bizarre nose-to-kerb parking zones where someone can parallel park with the kerb and block you in. But you are correct that there is absolutely zero enforcement by the local police of any laws.

The local police are too busy looking for Farang motorcyclists not wearing helmits to have any time to do anything useful. It wouldn't be so pathetic if there weren't so many Thais not wearing helmets and carrying 3 and 4 up on their motorcycles...and dangerously running red lights....right in front of the police too!

You'll notice they always make a point of nabbing some Thais at the same time in order to make it less obvious what they're really up to.

that is utter tripe! - and typical of ex-pat paranoia...they're always convinced that the men in brown have it in for them personally - you are not the centre of the universe, take a good look around and you will see hundreds of motorcyclists being stopped all over the province and most certainly not preponderantly non-Thai.

It's not utter tripe, it's a fact. Personally I don't give a sh*t because I always wear a helmet and never get stopped, but facts are facts. Are you sure you live in Pattaya?