Land

[Dakhar]

Just a simple question I have.

Ok, I recently paid for (not bought, because I cant "purchase/own" land) some land. It in my opinion was just a speck of dirt, cost around 14,000USD and currently some town houses are being built on the land....

Now here is the question... Why on earth is land so expensive in Thailand?

I just don't get it.... A poor country with high land value? Seems to me, if farangs can't own land in Thailand.... who else is left? What I mean is the prices are so high, how could a native even own the land to begin with?!

Before you jump to the conclusion that I got the "farang" price I didn't... So lets try to be civil here.. and get some honest answers...

I feel it is expensive here, because Thais have figured out you can throw a seed in the ground and it will grow... thus land is a money making tool and all tools that make money are

expesive.... just my opinion

[lingling]

US land area: 9,161,923 sq km

TH land area: 511,770 sq km

US population: 293,027,571

TH population: 64,865,523

US: 32 people per sq km

TH: 127 people per sq km

Besides, not all Thais are poor...

[taxexile]

there is plenty of cheap land in thailand , where is the land you bought ??

if it is in an area where there is a high demand for land from foriegners then of course it will be expensive.

it is a common misconception that thailand is a poor country , there is a vast amount of wealth in thailand , its just that it isnt spread around too fairly.

land is a blue chip investment in most countries and thailand is no exception.

[Heng]

What was the total area that $14k bought you? And where?

560,000 Baht can buy you 11 rai or 11 square meters depending on where you're looking to buy here.

[Dakhar]

I thank you all for your input, but I still contend that land is high when you compare it to other purchases in Thailand.

You all had very valid points though....

Now, how big was the speck of land that I got....

To be honest I can't even remember, I would have to ask my wife. But I can tell you I would guess it to be 1/4 an acre, and I can also tell you we are having 7 town houses built on the land. I hear tell the progress has been very fast. My mother in law lives in the neighbor hood and has been keeping her eye on things.

The location... you will laugh, but this is about all I can tell you... the locating is about 20-30 min. away from the BKK airport, and it is nestled down along "Clong" 6 near a college. I hear tell there shall be a Lotus put there. Overall, it is not in an upper end neigbor hood. But what I have seen in Thailand, you can have a Million USD dollar home with a shack next door...

Any how, in the neighbor hood, there is a hopital, college, court house, elementry school, and the lotus soon to come... So we are betting it is an area that is growing. I also like the fact there is a building supply co. in the neighborhood, so easier access to building supplies.

[mango]

it is a common misconception that thailand is a poor country , there is a vast amount of wealth in thailand , its just that it isnt spread around too fairly.

HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD

[slappyharry]

second hand cars and electrical products are extremely expensive here..

[12call]

Pathumthanee

[amarka]

hi...

if you can build 7 houses on the land and its only 30 minutes away from BKK, then I think you got a good deal!

amarka

[Dakhar]

Amarka,

Thank you for your encouragement, my wife tells me she can get to the airport with no traffic in 15 minutes from that area.

She tells me the land is in "Rangsit." As you can tell there is a lot of trust in this relationship, or I am a total idiot... (please no replies on that)

They aren't seven houses, they are 7 town houses 2 floors high. So.... as you can tell it really is a speck of land.

But we hope this is one step towards the semi-retired life in Thailand.

[12call]

Amarka,

Thank you for your encouragement, my wife tells me she can get to the airport with no traffic in 15 minutes from that area.

She tells me the land is in "Rangsit." As you can tell there is a lot of trust in this relationship, or I am a total idiot... (please no replies on that)

They aren't seven houses, they are 7 town houses 2 floors high. So.... as you can tell it really is a speck of land.

But we hope this is one step towards the semi-retired life in Thailand.

Pathumthanee

[otherstuff1957]

It does sound like a good price! You would need to get more than one hour away from BKK or any other major city to see the land values really drop.

[lovecam]

hiya

rangsit is definately an up and coming area. myself and my wife looked to buy there. you can buy on a top class development and 3 bed house for around 3 million baht which is good.

the security is excellent. it really depends on what klong you brought on .

they are numbered up untill about 7 or 8 i think

the trouble is that the traffic leading back into the centre of bangkok is horrendous.

it takes my wife's brother who is a lecturer at rangsit university about 3 hours to get back to Pinklao.

To get to silom from rangsit on any day any time (and worse on a weekend) is 2 - 3 hours

how much did you pay for the land and how many square wah is it?

james

[lovecam]

klong 6 is next to the university and it is nearly the further away klong from the centre of bangkok. the most expensive klongs are obviously 1 and 2 and they have a terribly high amount of traffic just to get past them to the further klongs.

but i have ask my wife and family who are in the investment and land business and they say it is a reasonable price to pay

[Dakhar]

I figured it was a reasonable price to pay, becuase when my wife went to go pay for the tax on the land when we she/we purchased it, the city told her that although we bought it at x price, the city tax felt that the land value was greater than x so then we had to pay tax on the higher value...

I was not a participant, another reason why I don't think I gat the farang price...

The town house building cost came up to be around 50K which not knowing anything, I figured is a fair price... there are 7 units in the building 2 bedrooms each..

So if you consider the building as a "house" I got a 14 bdr 7 bath, 7 living room house for a total of 70K.... Figure, that is not bad. I know I couldn't do that in america.

[lingling]

I figured it was a reasonable price to pay, becuase when my wife went to go pay for the tax on the land when we she/we purchased it, the city told her that although we bought it at x price, the city tax felt that the land value was greater than x so then we had to pay tax on the higher value...

I was not a participant, another reason why I don't think I gat the farang price...

Huh? Your wife bought land and you didn't have to go to the land office with her...?

[Dakhar]

Oh I did go to the land office, I just sat way in the back out of the way...

Not sure if this is a huge offense, but our marriage is not registered in Thailand. Thailand figures she is a single woman. So I figured if I can't own the land in the first place, why get involved.

We do plan on "Incoporating" in the new future, thus giving me more stability in the matter. Currently we do not live in Thailand. But she goes home at least twice a year, and visits family and keeps on top of things...

I asked her this morning how big that piece of land was and she said 1/2 a rai.

Don't worry, I have had some input on all of this. I did see the land before we/she bought it, and I did see the blue prints of the building before it was approved etc.

I would like to build at least 3 more of thes town house buildings before we go over there on a permanent basis.

Truth is, I feel once I go there, I shall be handicapped. I don't speak Thai, and no offense to anyone.... But I do not want to teach English... Some people have that "calling" and love to do it... But it is not for me.

So I hope that these building projects can support our life in Thailand.

[Heng]

I figured it was a reasonable price to pay, becuase when my wife went to go pay for the tax on the land when we she/we purchased it, the city told her that although we bought it at x price, the city tax felt that the land value was greater than x so then we had to pay tax on the higher value...

Are you talking about the transfer tax or the business exception tax?

[Dakhar]

Heng,

I couldn't tell u for sure, but if I had to guess it woud be a transfer tax. Busuness tax? Not sure what that is to begin with, but at the time it was just a piece of land, wasn't even fit to park a car on... we had to have the land raised after the purchase.

[Heng]

Just about every piece of property, developed or not (that I know of anyway), the seller has to pay a 3.3% 'business exception' tax on the selling price of the property. The seller can negotiate for the buyer to pay for some or all of this expense.

Just asking because in my experience, I have yet to see a Dept. of Land appraisal (for transfer tax) higher than the selling price - which CAN happen, but typically only when land is transferred/sold between relatives (and the selling price is artificially kept low by agreement of both parties) - for example if a parent is "selling" land to one of their children (worth XX,, but only with an X,, Baht price tag, because yes, even within the family, you still get taxed).

Transfer, I assume it's the same for all provinces, as I am only familiar with Bangkok and Chonburi, is 2% of the Dept. of Land appraised value.

[Dakhar]

Heng,

I think I remember something like what you are talking about... (the claimed prices v/s actual price)

You nailed it when you spoke of the transaction between family members... the land was her distant uncle's.

Over all, it sounds as though land is expensive in Thailand... or at least anything around BKK, and I should not be so surprised.

I just thought it would be cheaper, I can't imagine how crazy expensive it would be in Downtown BKK.

I used to live in Taipei... and that place also has extremely high land values.