Need Help Understanding A Land Purchase

[way2muchcoffee]

My wife and I purchased a small plot of land (1.75 rai) in her best friend's village near Sa Keaw last year. It was inexpensive, but is a lovely plot. When we purchased the land the village head needed to come. There were papers signed by the village head, with witness signatory by one or two other people. My wife was given a paper. On top it reads:

หนังสือสัญญาเช่า

When I look up the words it means something like a 'Promise' or 'Lease Agreement'. The land hasn't been properly surveyed and deeded by the government, so I assume there should be some kind of Nor Sor Sam, but I have no idea what that would look like.

My wife is convinced that it is her land, and will become so formally once the government gets around to surveying the area. I'm not so sure, but only because of the way in which those words seem to translate. Perhaps I am being a little paranoid, but I certainly wouldn't want to build on land that may not actually be hers. Can anyone comment about this?

Edited March 15, 2008 by way2muchcoffee

[Irene]

On top it reads:

หนังสือสัญญาเช่า

The Thai words mean "Lease Document", no more and no less.

[way2muchcoffee]

My wife's best friend's father arranged the deal. Strange that there are no expiration dates on the agreement whatsoever. What kind of lease agreement has no time duration?

My wife is having a hard time believing she's been cheated. She's kind of clueless about anything involving paperwork and legality. Unfortunately for my wife, she will lose her best friend over this. I'm sure the friend had no idea about the fraud being perpetrated, but the friend's father, village boss, land owner, and others must have. Pretty crappy thing to do.

I am neither shocked nor surprised. Fortunately for me the 'purchase' occurred over a year ago and I no longer have an emotional attachment to the money. It was only 30,000 bt anyway. On my teacher's salary at that time it took about 5 months to save the cash, so it's not nothing. But it's not the end of the world either. I've been reading up on various land/housing threads in this forum the last couple of days. The mistake won't be repeated.

Edited March 15, 2008 by way2muchcoffee

[way2muchcoffee]

LOL

My wife mistyped. I guess I need to restate my question. I'll do so in another post as the subtitle of this one is misleading.

Edited March 15, 2008 by way2muchcoffee