Koh Samui Land Prices Take Off

[ClaudeFeller]

Roo,

there is no legal way except leasing for 30 years. After 30 years land is returning to the previous owner. Lucky the one who has the right to sublease the land.

A land on the name of a thai company belongs to the thai company, to the majority of the shareholders.

It does not belong to the farang who never can have a majority.

Proove that I am wrong but no hereasays from real estate agents or developpers.

Sorry Roo but ClaudeFeller is 150% correct, unless someone changed the Law last week.

And anyway what a load of crap about land prices going up, no one can sell nothing at the moment, how can prices go up when no one wants to buy, isnt it supply and demand that drives prices up, OR IS IT THAT PEOPLE PUT POSTS ON HERE, THEN EVERYONE BELIEVES THAT PRICES ARE GOING UP SO THEY DO GO UP.

I have 2 rai 50 meters from the beach I bought for a song 2 years ago, 3 Million per Rai, now if someone wants it for 3 mill you can have it now, hahahaha bet i dont get one offer, and this thread says maybe I should get what! 6 - 10 million / rai hahahaha "show me the money honey"

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP. as I sad no one wants to buy, rent maybe, as ClaudeFeller says who in their right mind would buy something that you can never own, ohh ok i did, but who else would????????

Maybe I am always wrong,just ask 3 people I know that have sold their land in the last 4 weeks.Maybe it's only a dream they are having lol.

To each their own,you believe what you want to believe about articles,the glass is half full or half empty so it goes.

Roo,

"butter to the fish":

Did they sell a piece of land owned by a company - "managing directors" holding less then 50 %?

Or did they sell a 30 years lease contract for a piece of land?

As far as you dont have a BOI company there is NO WAY TO OWN LAND FOR A FOREIGNER.

Go to IT Complex in Lamai and ask Lawyer Khun Charles why he has so many customers...

Edited May 8, 2008 by ClaudeFeller

[Samuian]

Regarding the "uproar"about TCC investing in Samui...

it is the producer of mekhong, saeng som and chang, crown, eagle, bottled water, soda, into packaging, etc.

tcc owns the imperial group... is investing, building, buying, renting, leasing and of course SELLING:

hotels, office buildings, retail, convention centers, serviced apartments, industrial estates, golf courses, sport complexes and spas, while at the same time undertaking the development of a number of prestigious real estate projects.

Currently they are building in Bophut a new brand of coming up service hotel, which will be some a rather new, or better expressed: "radical concept" on samui, others are following suit already and similar real estate development is either under construction or in the planning.

the new concept of this "new" group of investors will rather undercut the established market, or go into niches other then lift the "value" of any existing developments!

Just think about the "praised" soaring property prices.. it calls for...where are the gains for buyers moving in now?

But with a radical concept, what can be done?

O.K. enough for today...

prove me wrong!

[Boater]

1250 € for 1 m2 of Land on an Island with the most horrific infrastructure, customary tea money demands for almost anything?

Say I would wish to buy a quarter of one Rai = 400 m2 - it would cost me 500.000 € = 24.500.000 ThB NO House, NO Infrastructure, build yet on it!

If I would rent for, say 15.000 a month (which rents quite a decent place) this amount of money would rent a place for 1.633 months or 136 years! Double the rental and it would still be 68 years!

Someone is telling fairy tales here.

Anyone aware what 500.000 € buy, incl. proper ownership, in any place in the EU, or Australia, Canada or even in India?

Yep, Land is being "sold" for highly inflated prices, to whom on what purpose?

Pushing the price?

Speculation?

Why are so many "opportunities" still sitting there waiting for a buyer?

at least 35-50% of Commercial space is for rent/lease and just 'sitting' there.

Regarding "Company" Registrations to hold landownership, I remember that "Law Office" somewhere down in Lamai holding some thousand pre-registered Companies like "1234 Ltd.Part." gone bust, or better shut down by law enforcement.

Ah, well...

Say I would wish to buy a quarter of one Rai = 400 m2 - it would cost me 500.000 € = 24.500.000 ThB NO House, NO Infrastructure,

I think you may have your prices wrong here, averge cost of seaview land is about 5 Million THB a rai, with North Beachfront land at 20,000,000 THB Per Rai / South Beachfront 15 Million THB Per rai and Chewang beachfront around 40 Million THB a rai. Please note this AVERAGE price. 1 Rai = 1600 SQM....

So with this where did you find 400 SQM at 24,500,000 THB or 98,000,000 THB a rai?

[Samuian]

[/b]I think you may have your prices wrong here, averge cost of seaview land is about 5 Million THB a rai, with North Beachfront land at 20,000,000 THB Per Rai / South Beachfront 15 Million THB Per rai and Chewang beachfront around 40 Million THB a rai. Please note this AVERAGE price. 1 Rai = 1600 SQM....

So with this where did you find 400 SQM at 24,500,000 THB or 98,000,000 THB a rai?

In post #1 Sir!

"Given the strong demand for real estate in Koh Samui, Chaiyagarn estimates that land, especially stretches close to the beach and commercial areas, will touch Bt100 million per rai by 2011."

100 Mill. divided by 4 (1 Rai= 1600 m2 or 4x400m2) would make it even 25.000.000 per 400 m2! And its "only" 3 years to go!

And then they are just "average" estimates....!

I wonder how many floors must a building feature or how beautiful and perfect it got to be, to have some sort of ROI in a reasonable time frame...?

[tommyj4]

Yeah..................right...................ho ho ho...thats why the real estate agents have narrowed down their workforces because it is so busy????????????

[Rooo]

Yeah..................right...................ho ho ho...thats why the real estate agents have narrowed down their workforces because it is so busy????????????

Tommy,maybe it's a natural attrition of the would be if I could be real estate agents.Like everything else,everyone wants to get in on the act & cash in.A lot of unethical characters got into that business trying to make a quick buck.Sure you are going to have a lot of casualties in an over supplied field ( real estate agents).

[Boater]

[/b]I think you may have your prices wrong here, averge cost of seaview land is about 5 Million THB a rai, with North Beachfront land at 20,000,000 THB Per Rai / South Beachfront 15 Million THB Per rai and Chewang beachfront around 40 Million THB a rai. Please note this AVERAGE price. 1 Rai = 1600 SQM....

So with this where did you find 400 SQM at 24,500,000 THB or 98,000,000 THB a rai?

In post #1 Sir!

"Given the strong demand for real estate in Koh Samui, Chaiyagarn estimates that land, especially stretches close to the beach and commercial areas, will touch Bt100 million per rai by 2011."

100 Mill. divided by 4 (1 Rai= 1600 m2 or 4x400m2) would make it even 25.000.000 per 400 m2! And its "only" 3 years to go!

And then they are just "average" estimates....!

I wonder how many floors must a building feature or how beautiful and perfect it got to be, to have some sort of ROI in a reasonable time frame...?

I believe the poster was refering to present time prices and not future prices, as i hope the infurstructure will improve by 2011

[Dingojoe]

Roo,

there is no legal way except leasing for 30 years. After 30 years land is returning to the previous owner. Lucky the one who has the right to sublease the land.

A land on the name of a thai company belongs to the thai company, to the majority of the shareholders.

It does not belong to the farang who never can have a majority.

Proove that I am wrong but no hereasays from real estate agents or developpers.

Sorry Roo but ClaudeFeller is 150% correct, unless someone changed the Law last week.

And anyway what a load of crap about land prices going up, no one can sell nothing at the moment, how can prices go up when no one wants to buy, isnt it supply and demand that drives prices up, OR IS IT THAT PEOPLE PUT POSTS ON HERE, THEN EVERYONE BELIEVES THAT PRICES ARE GOING UP SO THEY DO GO UP.

I have 2 rai 50 meters from the beach I bought for a song 2 years ago, 3 Million per Rai, now if someone wants it for 3 mill you can have it now, hahahaha bet i dont get one offer, and this thread says maybe I should get what! 6 - 10 million / rai hahahaha "show me the money honey"

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP. as I sad no one wants to buy, rent maybe, as ClaudeFeller says who in their right mind would buy something that you can never own, ohh ok i did, but who else would????????

Maybe I am always wrong,just ask 3 people I know that have sold their land in the last 4 weeks.Maybe it's only a dream they are having lol.

To each their own,you believe what you want to believe about articles,the glass is half full or half empty so it goes.

Hate to break the news to everyone, but Roo is 100 percent correct. If a thai company is properly set up, with capitalized thai shareholders ( keyword capitalized), there is nothing in the law that prevents them from appointing a foreign director of a company that legitimately can hold property, sell property, etc. and pays taxes on said activities (key words pays taxes).

Well see there you go, "Thai share holders" "appointing a director"

So you can not own it, the shareholders do.

You can own less than 50% and if you have enough shareholders and they own less than you and you have the controlling interest yes you can be a director and make the big discissions, selling etc.

BUT you do not own the land you only own less than 50% and your Thai shareholders are illegal unless you trust 7 Thai people and they are legitimate and you can show that they paid money from their banks to be share holders otherwise its all illegal and you do not own nothing. Now if you want to sell this on to someone else who wants to be illegal then yes take the money and run.

I own land hahaha i mean i have land on paper and Roo and Billy if you can show me how i can owm my land 100% then i would be very grateful and would monitarily compensate you for your very valuable information.

please PM me if you can help me with this, or tell us all and others who wish to buy, if a person can own land here, THEN NO DOUBT THE MARKET WILL SKYROCKET AND I WANT A PIECE OF IT.

[Rooo]

Roo,

there is no legal way except leasing for 30 years. After 30 years land is returning to the previous owner. Lucky the one who has the right to sublease the land.

A land on the name of a thai company belongs to the thai company, to the majority of the shareholders.

It does not belong to the farang who never can have a majority.

Proove that I am wrong but no hereasays from real estate agents or developpers.

Sorry Roo but ClaudeFeller is 150% correct, unless someone changed the Law last week.

And anyway what a load of crap about land prices going up, no one can sell nothing at the moment, how can prices go up when no one wants to buy, isnt it supply and demand that drives prices up, OR IS IT THAT PEOPLE PUT POSTS ON HERE, THEN EVERYONE BELIEVES THAT PRICES ARE GOING UP SO THEY DO GO UP.

I have 2 rai 50 meters from the beach I bought for a song 2 years ago, 3 Million per Rai, now if someone wants it for 3 mill you can have it now, hahahaha bet i dont get one offer, and this thread says maybe I should get what! 6 - 10 million / rai hahahaha "show me the money honey"

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP. as I sad no one wants to buy, rent maybe, as ClaudeFeller says who in their right mind would buy something that you can never own, ohh ok i did, but who else would????????

Maybe I am always wrong,just ask 3 people I know that have sold their land in the last 4 weeks.Maybe it's only a dream they are having lol.

To each their own,you believe what you want to believe about articles,the glass is half full or half empty so it goes.

Hate to break the news to everyone, but Roo is 100 percent correct. If a thai company is properly set up, with capitalized thai shareholders ( keyword capitalized), there is nothing in the law that prevents them from appointing a foreign director of a company that legitimately can hold property, sell property, etc. and pays taxes on said activities (key words pays taxes).

Well see there you go, "Thai share holders" "appointing a director"

So you can not own it, the shareholders do.

You can own less than 50% and if you have enough shareholders and they own less than you and you have the controlling interest yes you can be a director and make the big discissions, selling etc.

BUT you do not own the land you only own less than 50% and your Thai shareholders are illegal unless you trust 7 Thai people and they are legitimate and you can show that they paid money from their banks to be share holders otherwise its all illegal and you do not own nothing. Now if you want to sell this on to someone else who wants to be illegal then yes take the money and run.

I own land hahaha i mean i have land on paper and Roo and Billy if you can show me how i can owm my land 100% then i would be very grateful and would monitarily compensate you for your very valuable information.

please PM me if you can help me with this, or tell us all and others who wish to buy, if a person can own land here, THEN NO DOUBT THE MARKET WILL SKYROCKET AND I WANT A PIECE OF IT.

Dingojoe,

The can of worms has been opned lol,you are even starting to use caps.Now can you please read the posts that Claude made& my response to them.It was stated that you can never own land.My response was that word yes you can through a propely set up Thai co.The word 100% never entered the equation, that would be very silly of me to even attempt a comment like that.

There is a thread running in the real estate about the pros & cons of all methods, I believe it is best left at that,or we can sit here & argue till the cows get home.

Now to go back to the original post with the article re prices.It does have some merit.Any large commercial entity will pay for prime locations , being on the main road eg, Macro,Big C......etc...These locations & the ones on traffic thoroughfares, middle road Chaweng, don't come cheap,just look at some of the key money & rent required in some locations that will give us all an idea of the value of the land or property.Big hotels again seeking prime seafront location do pay accordingly,developers constructing high end seafront villas the same, location location location.

In the private sector, the process repeats itself, you come here ,you want an idyllic property,you are going to pay to get your house on the beach.Seaview mountain plots with proper road acces at 5 Mil & over?Sure, they are selling for that now.Prices are not staying static, the bubble has burst in Samui over the last 18months,that is natural, after every high a low but that does not mean the market won't pick up again or isn't on the comeback trail.

Truth in the article? Well in my opinion & mine alone , after reading several articles, re the government's hopes & aspirations in kick starting & boosting foreign investment, there could some positive things this year,to what magnitude or to what level? We will just have to wait & see.

Now I am not a real estate agent ,I have simply stated my opinion.

[Dingojoe]

Dingojoe,

The can of worms has been opned lol,you are even starting to use caps.Now can you please read the posts that Claude made& my response to them.It was stated that you can never own land.My response was that word yes you can through a propely set up Thai co.The word 100% never entered the equation, that would be very silly of me to even attempt a comment like that.

There is a thread running in the real estate about the pros & cons of all methods, I believe it is best left at that,or we can sit here & argue till the cows get home.

Now to go back to the original post with the article re prices.It does have some merit.Any large commercial entity will pay for prime locations , being on the main road eg, Macro,Big C......etc...These locations & the ones on traffic thoroughfares, middle road Chaweng, don't come cheap,just look at some of the key money & rent required in some locations that will give us all an idea of the value of the land or property.Big hotels again seeking prime seafront location do pay accordingly,developers constructing high end seafront villas the same, location location location.

In the private sector, the process repeats itself, you come here ,you want an idyllic property,you are going to pay to get your house on the beach.Seaview mountain plots with proper road acces at 5 Mil & over?Sure, they are selling for that now.Prices are not staying static, the bubble has burst in Samui over the last 18months,that is natural, after every high a low but that does not mean the market won't pick up again or isn't on the comeback trail.

Truth in the article? Well in my opinion & mine alone , after reading several articles, re the government's hopes & aspirations in kick starting & boosting foreign investment, there could some positive things this year,to what magnitude or to what level? We will just have to wait & see.

Now I am not a real estate agent ,I have simply stated my opinion.

Sorry for the caps Roo, dont mean to be angry, its just my way of highlighting a phase.

Well now I am very dissapointed, thought someone had a way whereby i could actualy own some land.

Agree with the developers etc etc, but with small private plots or Ria i cant see how they can go up when the smart person would not want to buy, cause ya cant buy / own, but i can see people renting for vacations yes.

anyway as you say there are many ways to get around the fact that a foreigner can not buy land, but in the end bottom line is, if your a Farang you can not own land legaly in Thailand, ohh yeah you can own a percentage of the land you bought for the full ammount.

Dont you think its a bit silly to buy a car for $30,000 but after you buy it you only own $12,000 of that car and 7 other people own it too, bit silly isnt it.

I spent 6,000,000 baht on land that if i legaly sold i can only get 2.8 millon back, because i only own 2.8 millon according to my sharehold. 7 other pricks own it that paid nothing.

Wonder if one day those 7 people will get together and as a group with controlling interest sell my land from underneath me.

anyway as you say it can go on and on.

and i am off subject

[maccaroni man]

Its all a big fantacy to me......

spot on.

[billymitchell]

Roo,

there is no legal way except leasing for 30 years. After 30 years land is returning to the previous owner. Lucky the one who has the right to sublease the land.

A land on the name of a thai company belongs to the thai company, to the majority of the shareholders.

It does not belong to the farang who never can have a majority.

Proove that I am wrong but no hereasays from real estate agents or developpers.

Sorry Roo but ClaudeFeller is 150% correct, unless someone changed the Law last week.

And anyway what a load of crap about land prices going up, no one can sell nothing at the moment, how can prices go up when no one wants to buy, isnt it supply and demand that drives prices up, OR IS IT THAT PEOPLE PUT POSTS ON HERE, THEN EVERYONE BELIEVES THAT PRICES ARE GOING UP SO THEY DO GO UP.

I have 2 rai 50 meters from the beach I bought for a song 2 years ago, 3 Million per Rai, now if someone wants it for 3 mill you can have it now, hahahaha bet i dont get one offer, and this thread says maybe I should get what! 6 - 10 million / rai hahahaha "show me the money honey"

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP. as I sad no one wants to buy, rent maybe, as ClaudeFeller says who in their right mind would buy something that you can never own, ohh ok i did, but who else would????????

Maybe I am always wrong,just ask 3 people I know that have sold their land in the last 4 weeks.Maybe it's only a dream they are having lol.

To each their own,you believe what you want to believe about articles,the glass is half full or half empty so it goes.

Hate to break the news to everyone, but Roo is 100 percent correct. If a thai company is properly set up, with capitalized thai shareholders ( keyword capitalized), there is nothing in the law that prevents them from appointing a foreign director of a company that legitimately can hold property, sell property, etc. and pays taxes on said activities (key words pays taxes).

Well see there you go, "Thai share holders" "appointing a director"

So you can not own it, the shareholders do.

You can own less than 50% and if you have enough shareholders and they own less than you and you have the controlling interest yes you can be a director and make the big discissions, selling etc.

BUT you do not own the land you only own less than 50% and your Thai shareholders are illegal unless you trust 7 Thai people and they are legitimate and you can show that they paid money from their banks to be share holders otherwise its all illegal and you do not own nothing. Now if you want to sell this on to someone else who wants to be illegal then yes take the money and run.

I own land hahaha i mean i have land on paper and Roo and Billy if you can show me how i can owm my land 100% then i would be very grateful and would monitarily compensate you for your very valuable information.

please PM me if you can help me with this, or tell us all and others who wish to buy, if a person can own land here, THEN NO DOUBT THE MARKET WILL SKYROCKET AND I WANT A PIECE OF IT.

It's pretty simple really, it's called preferential voting shares (a director of said company would have those), it's done all over the civilized world, certainly it's not germaine to Thailand. As a director of said company, with preferential voting shares, you control the decisions, financial, etc. of said company. As Roo stated, a properly set up company is perfectly legal in Thailand. The main thing is that it has to show proper capitalization, show a profit and pay taxes on said profit. How your company achieves that is, of course, your own business. There is no current law in Thailand that prevents any of what I have said and I seriously doubt there will be in the future.

[Prakanong]

"The main thing is that it has to show proper capitalization, show a profit and pay taxes on said profit. How your company achieves that is, of course, your own business. "

Do the Thai Directors also have to show the mone is truly theirs and they are not somchai the tuk tuk driver paid 3000THB as well?

As for the company showing a profit how doesthat help the ordinary houseowner who will not be running any other kind of biz in Thailand?

How much profit exactly - so you may be paying taxes on "Fake" profits just to show you are really a going concern.

Not exactly the bst ay to own property is it.

Yes they may keep the conditions but they may also apply the letter of the law regarding the above too then where would most be?

[billymitchell]

"The main thing is that it has to show proper capitalization, show a profit and pay taxes on said profit. How your company achieves that is, of course, your own business. "

Do the Thai Directors also have to show the mone is truly theirs and they are not somchai the tuk tuk driver paid 3000THB as well?

As for the company showing a profit how doesthat help the ordinary houseowner who will not be running any other kind of biz in Thailand?

How much profit exactly - so you may be paying taxes on "Fake" profits just to show you are really a going concern.

Not exactly the bst ay to own property is it.

Yes they may keep the conditions but they may also apply the letter of the law regarding the above too then where would most be?

As I stated, it's your own business how you achieve that. As to "fake" profits, there's nothing fake about real money earned and real money paid in taxes. My only position is to establish that a proper company can legally do business in Thailand with a foreign director who has preferential voting shares and yes, that business can hold land and property, period.

[Sir Burr]

with small private plots or Ria i cant see how they can go up when the smart person would not want to buy, cause ya cant buy / own,

If this statement were true, there would be no land booms in Ko Samui, Phuket, or, Hua Hin.

But, of course, there is. All the land booms in these locations are foreigner driven and these aren't dumb people doing the buying.

[mattias33]

If this statement were true, there would be no land booms in Ko Samui, Phuket, or, Hua Hin.

But, of course, there is. All the land booms in these locations are foreigner driven and these aren't dumb people doing the buying.[/quote]

The dumbness or not remains to see when the selling begins.

I beleive the selling-part would actually put the word "land-boom" in bold aswell.........

Edited May 9, 2008 by mattias33

[highdiver]

It's pretty simple really, it's called preferential voting shares (a director of said company would have those), it's done all over the civilized world, certainly it's not germaine to Thailand. As a director of said company, with preferential voting shares, you control the decisions, financial, etc. of said company. As Roo stated, a properly set up company is perfectly legal in Thailand. The main thing is that it has to show proper capitalization, show a profit and pay taxes on said profit. How your company achieves that is, of course, your own business. There is no current law in Thailand that prevents any of what I have said and I seriously doubt there will be in the future.

that is not realy 100% true...

under thai law a thai company must be at least 51% controled. and not just owned.

the preferential isa hoax devised by some lawyers to give Farrangs a false sens of security. however it does not according to the law and if a forigner is in total controll of a company, under las it is deemd as alien.

for a Thai company to be legit the thai share holders must have voting rights according to the share ownership in the company.

[highdiver]

some coment to the above posts.

land prices are so high that buyers actually check all the leagal aspects before buying as opposed to a few years ago.

7 years ago a Rai on the beach was 2.5 million per Rai and as the Bht was then 50 baht to the USD it was a real bargin and many buyers did not realy check the small letters of the law as it was not realy an investment but more of a life style acuisition for around 50K USD.

if the same Rai to day is valued at 20 million the potential buyers are more sensitive to a proper business plan and expectations on return on investments.

same goes for hill top lnads that 7 years ago were on the market for 500,000 per Rai and people got them with out thinking. now they are marketed for 5 million the buyers do examine the small letters.

company set up.

if for the same reason above a forigner wanted to buy land for those very good prices he "" belived"" the story that his greedy lawyer and agent told him about the legality of ownership through a Thai company. the price was so cheap it was worth playing along...

however today becuase of the very expensive prices potential buyers are not "buying" into those stories anymore. and they use proper lawyers that explain the validity of buying through a company.

company ownership.

when you buy through a compan you are not .... I repeat NOT!!! the owner of the land. the company is.

as the company is limited it is a seperate entity from its share holders.

basicly the only thing you own are shares of the company. and in many cases as they registered as 2 million regitered capital you are the happy of 900,000 baht worth of shares.

the company is the owner of the land...

this is something that the lawyers and agents try to downgrade when so eager to make a sell.

having the company own the land and house requires the company to serve income reports and pay taxes. and if the catch you "faking it" you are in for a realy bad time..

lease

there are 2 ways to make a lease. private and comercial.

private is limited to 30 yers

comercial is limited to 50 years. so if you are planing a opening a buisness then 50 yers wll be a better choice.

ownership

there are 2 ways a forigner can own land

1. through BOI and not just in investing in a hotel. if you invest in any BOI investment plans an amount over 40 million you are given a special permit to register land in your name for upto 1 rai and fro ressidential purposes.

2. if you are legaly married to a thai and your wife dies you can under inharritence laws be granted a permit by the interior minister to own the land that was your wifes.

apart from that the only way to be in posession is through a lease. it is leagal it is safe and your rights are fully protected.

[Samuian]

Not too long and there will be max. pressure on the market.

The Erawan Group Plc. for example is investing some 580 mill. building across the sector, budget acco. (250 rooms), luxury acco and residential acco.

It isn't "foreign" but holding foreign franchises of brand names in this field.

Besides most of these "News" are from Property Development Advertising Brochures and other Publications!

Does anybody have some genuine figures how the "high flyers", like Four Seasons etc. are performing?

[billymitchell]

It's pretty simple really, it's called preferential voting shares (a director of said company would have those), it's done all over the civilized world, certainly it's not germaine to Thailand. As a director of said company, with preferential voting shares, you control the decisions, financial, etc. of said company. As Roo stated, a properly set up company is perfectly legal in Thailand. The main thing is that it has to show proper capitalization, show a profit and pay taxes on said profit. How your company achieves that is, of course, your own business. There is no current law in Thailand that prevents any of what I have said and I seriously doubt there will be in the future.

that is not realy 100% true...

under thai law a thai company must be at least 51% controled. and not just owned.

the preferential isa hoax devised by some lawyers to give Farrangs a false sens of security. however it does not according to the law and if a forigner is in total controll of a company, under las it is deemd as alien.

for a Thai company to be legit the thai share holders must have voting rights according to the share ownership in the company.

You may want to revisit that statement and really check the finer points of a properly set-up company as to voting rights, as well as properly structured meetings, etc. The concept of preferential voting shares is not something created in Thailand by lawyers as "hoax" to fool foreigners, it follows internationally accepted precepts of corporate law.

[highdiver]

It's pretty simple really, it's called preferential voting shares (a director of said company would have those), it's done all over the civilized world, certainly it's not germaine to Thailand. As a director of said company, with preferential voting shares, you control the decisions, financial, etc. of said company. As Roo stated, a properly set up company is perfectly legal in Thailand. The main thing is that it has to show proper capitalization, show a profit and pay taxes on said profit. How your company achieves that is, of course, your own business. There is no current law in Thailand that prevents any of what I have said and I seriously doubt there will be in the future.

that is not realy 100% true...

under thai law a thai company must be at least 51% controled. and not just owned.

the preferential isa hoax devised by some lawyers to give Farrangs a false sens of security. however it does not according to the law and if a forigner is in total controll of a company, under las it is deemd as alien.

for a Thai company to be legit the thai share holders must have voting rights according to the share ownership in the company.

You may want to revisit that statement and really check the finer points of a properly set-up company as to voting rights, as well as properly structured meetings, etc. The concept of preferential voting shares is not something created in Thailand by lawyers as "hoax" to fool foreigners, it follows internationally accepted precepts of corporate law.

every company properly set up is allowed to have ordinary shares and prefered shares. or as some lawyers define it as class A class Bshares. this as you said is internationally accepted precepts of corporate law. it is accepted in thailand as well.

however in Thailand for a company to be Thai the majority "voting rights have to be Thai.. if they are forigen then under law it will be registered as an "alien" or a forign company.. and is only allowed to practice business under the FBa restriction allowed to forigenrs.

if a company is controleed by forigners through nominee structure or preferd share structure or through the latest cross ownership structure is ccontrolled by forigners then it is an alien company and as such forbiden to own land.

this is the point that most of the lawyers try to sell of is that a preferd share company set up allowes you total controll. however under the law it is deemd a forign company and forbiden to own land.

the fact that little or no enforcment has been made does not make this more legal then driving with out a helmet.

[highdiver]

for all those interested the DSI has been in the land office for the past 6 months in the land office examining every land deal over 4 million baht made over the past 5 years. some well known figures on the island have been summoned to give explenations on those deals.

[mattias33]

Have not been here in 3 months but not much changed. The first thread on the page is as usual highdiver having an off topic "piss-contest" with somebody else showing off his real-estate knowledge in Thailand. Very interesting, but boys and girls, stay on topic. Yes highdiver, you are nr one in realestate, know all the rules and we are all impressed. Now please go back on topic!

Land prices in samui:

Yeah right! My perpesctive is this. Im from Sweden. Everything in Thailand is 5 to 10 times cheaper here than in my country. Also land and houses. Exept for the "house/land for sale" signs by foreigners all over the island wich is twice the price at home! I would like to beleive their fantasy-dreams if i once pass something that have not been for sale for 2 years and still is not sold! Get real people. Land in samui has not increased that much. Sure, a little. But most of it is only expectations from crazy farangs. And as long as most of them are still for sale i can not for the heart of me beleive they increased in price. After all, what its worth is what you sold it for, not what somebody else claim its worth.

[ClaudeFeller]

This time I agree with Highdiver,

there is no legal way to own land by controlling a Thai company as a farang.

About the lease concept: There is no way to have a lease registered in the land paper for more than 30 years.

Every follow up lease has to be renegotiated with the legal Thai owner.

Nor a samui based lawyer nor a real estate agent would explain this clearly to customer because they would risk their commission.

If problems occur later on - with DSI investigating - the customer will have to face them alone. The result can be confiscating of land (and house).

[Rooo]

Have not been here in 3 months but not much changed. The first thread on the page is as usual highdiver having an off topic "piss-contest" with somebody else showing off his real-estate knowledge in Thailand. Very interesting, but boys and girls, stay on topic. Yes highdiver, you are nr one in realestate, know all the rules and we are all impressed. Now please go back on topic!

Land prices in samui:

Yeah right! My perpesctive is this. Im from Sweden. Everything in Thailand is 5 to 10 times cheaper here than in my country. Also land and houses. Exept for the "house/land for sale" signs by foreigners all over the island wich is twice the price at home! I would like to beleive their fantasy-dreams if i once pass something that have not been for sale for 2 years and still is not sold! Get real people. Land in samui has not increased that much. Sure, a little. But most of it is only expectations from crazy farangs. And as long as most of them are still for sale i can not for the heart of me beleive they increased in price. After all, what its worth is what you sold it for, not what somebody else claim its worth.

Mattias,

Just to be fair , go to Bangkok & compare some of the houses for sale there & the prices they are asking.For that matter check Hua Hin,Phuket or any popular area.Sure some on offer are way over priced but in general they are on par if not cheaper.You have on offer a varied combination of homes here,from 2 Mil up to $$$$$$$,quality of build & finishes & locations vary accordingly.But then have you ever stopped to think that your home country on the other end of the spectrum is way over priced?This is why you come here?Houses for sale are on the market & they increase in price?How many times have you seen that?

At the end of the day,it's up to the individual who is paying to make that call & weigh up if he is happy to pay for what he wants,no one is twisting no ones arm to buy anything.Your comments just sound like sour grapes to me.

[billymitchell]

It's pretty simple really, it's called preferential voting shares (a director of said company would have those), it's done all over the civilized world, certainly it's not germaine to Thailand. As a director of said company, with preferential voting shares, you control the decisions, financial, etc. of said company. As Roo stated, a properly set up company is perfectly legal in Thailand. The main thing is that it has to show proper capitalization, show a profit and pay taxes on said profit. How your company achieves that is, of course, your own business. There is no current law in Thailand that prevents any of what I have said and I seriously doubt there will be in the future.

that is not realy 100% true...

under thai law a thai company must be at least 51% controled. and not just owned.

the preferential isa hoax devised by some lawyers to give Farrangs a false sens of security. however it does not according to the law and if a forigner is in total controll of a company, under las it is deemd as alien.

for a Thai company to be legit the thai share holders must have voting rights according to the share ownership in the company.

You may want to revisit that statement and really check the finer points of a properly set-up company as to voting rights, as well as properly structured meetings, etc. The concept of preferential voting shares is not something created in Thailand by lawyers as "hoax" to fool foreigners, it follows internationally accepted precepts of corporate law.

every company properly set up is allowed to have ordinary shares and prefered shares. or as some lawyers define it as class A class Bshares. this as you said is internationally accepted precepts of corporate law. it is accepted in thailand as well.

however in Thailand for a company to be Thai the majority "voting rights have to be Thai.. if they are forigen then under law it will be registered as an "alien" or a forign company.. and is only allowed to practice business under the FBa restriction allowed to forigenrs.

if a company is controleed by forigners through nominee structure or preferd share structure or through the latest cross ownership structure is ccontrolled by forigners then it is an alien company and as such forbiden to own land.

this is the point that most of the lawyers try to sell of is that a preferd share company set up allowes you total controll. however under the law it is deemd a forign company and forbiden to own land.

the fact that little or no enforcment has been made does not make this more legal then driving with out a helmet.

There is absolutely nothing in the Thai law that discounts preferential voting rights or says anything to that effect , only that majority shareholding has to be Thai. The Thai government, like all civilized governments, reviews company structures before registering said company and would not register said company if this arrangement were illegal.

[jingjaijing]

It's pretty simple really, it's called preferential voting shares (a director of said company would have those), it's done all over the civilized world, certainly it's not germaine to Thailand. As a director of said company, with preferential voting shares, you control the decisions, financial, etc. of said company. As Roo stated, a properly set up company is perfectly legal in Thailand. The main thing is that it has to show proper capitalization, show a profit and pay taxes on said profit. How your company achieves that is, of course, your own business. There is no current law in Thailand that prevents any of what I have said and I seriously doubt there will be in the future.

that is not realy 100% true...

under thai law a thai company must be at least 51% controled. and not just owned.

the preferential isa hoax devised by some lawyers to give Farrangs a false sens of security. however it does not according to the law and if a forigner is in total controll of a company, under las it is deemd as alien.

for a Thai company to be legit the thai share holders must have voting rights according to the share ownership in the company.

Sorry Highdiver, usually you are pretty good with your facts and analysis, but this time you are 100% incorrect. The FBA still only defines a foreign company by capital ownership (i.e. 50% or more of its share capital owned by foreigners). Perhaps you are under the mistaken impression that the much talked about draft amendments that contemplated this (primarily broadening the definition of "foreign" to include companies in which 50% or more of gthe votes were controlled by foreigners) actually became law? Well, they did not and they are no longer before the Parliment for consideration.

[ClaudeFeller]

More and more blabla..

Who is running a Thai company with class A and class B shares together with land registered on the name of th company? And can sb link the legal background (original thai)?

[Prakanong]

More and more blabla..

Who is running a Thai company with class A and class B shares together with land registered on the name of th company? And can sb link the legal background (original thai)?

And still how does the ordinary bloke run a company and show its trading plus pay tax on the trading profit do it if he does not want to run a biz in Thailand or lie about doing so and pay tax on non-existent trading profits?

Whatever the law says we al know its actually against the "Spirit of the law", - its a getaround. One day someone might just start applying the law properly and then we will say - OK for the agents as they are long gone but some owners are going to be left owning a sick puppy or worse. It just needs a natinalist govt or for popularist policies after a few Thai's criy foul.

[jingjaijing]

This time I agree with Highdiver,

there is no legal way to own land by controlling a Thai company as a farang.

Every follow up lease has to be renegotiated with the legal Thai owner.

Nor a samui based lawyer nor a real estate agent would explain this clearly to customer because they would risk their commission.

If problems occur later on - with DSI investigating - the customer will have to face them alone. The result can be confiscating of land (and house).

Your all confused and incorrect here to Claude, as you say more blabla.