How Can American Family Stay In Thailand And Buy Property?

[ConfusedFarang]

Does anyone know if it is possible for an american family to just move to Thailand and purchase property(a house) and stay forever? I read that you have to have 3 non-immigrant visas consecutively for 3 years in order to apply for permanent residence, but is there any loopholes or any other ways anybody knows about how to do this?

[jumnien]

Come on over! No problems, no worries. Just buy a condo or rent a house, secure your one-year visas and your in! Welcome!

[lopburi3]

Foreigners can not own land. You can not obtain Permanent Residence by just being here three years.

What type of non immigrant visa would you qualify for? Are you over age 50? Will be need to work? Are you legally married? What is your nationality/passports?

[Prakanong]

Yeah - just like a Thai family can buy a house and move to the USA

[lopburi3]

You are now a family?

on 2007-08-09 you started as

The title pretty much says it all. Im 25 year old American who has been to Thailand before and would like to stay in Thailand (even if just for 3 months at a time) and sell things out of Thailand on ebay.com so that I can remain in Thailand (or nearby) and make a living still.

on 2008-01-16

ok well Im 26, single, American and I just want to stay in Thailand for 8 months to a year like this gentleman has. I too am also unemployed and I have money saved up to live on. I just want to vacation there for that long. How?

on 2008-01-19

I have a misdemeanor assault charge in USA and I was going to apply for a 1 year non immigrant O visa at the consulate in Los Angeles by mail. Has anyone heard of this affecting anything? Is this the kind of thing they look for when granting visas? I can't work normal jobs in USA that I used to be able to work because of this

on 2008-04-03

If you marry a thai does that make it any easier to stay for good in Thailand? What are the requirements etc?

I make money on the internet though...

on 2008-07-01

I want to open a coffee shop type business in Thailand. What do I need to know? Do I need to invest a certain amount in the bank? Whats the best course to do this (if its even possible)?

on 2008-07-02

Thanks for the replies everybody. Its not actually a coffee shop, that was just an example for what I really want to do

[ConfusedFarang]

No im not a family, Im asking on behalf of my friend and his family who I live with. I didnt realize I was going to be interrogated. I just need answers and I ask questions this way so that it doesnt make it difficult for people to answer me. Im not asking questions so that you can get to me know me and be my friend or marry me, so how I phrase the questions should not matter, the goal of my questions is to get answers for myself.

[ConfusedFarang]

I dont understand why they would be so strict about people buying houses if they just had a financial crisis not too long ago. Somebody foreign must be buying these houses because all the websites I see have the prices listed in usa currency and are in english

[beechguy]

No im not a family, Im asking on behalf of my friend and his family who I live with. I didnt realize I was going to be interrogated. I just need answers and I ask questions this way so that it doesnt make it difficult for people to answer me. Im not asking questions so that you can get to me know me and be my friend or marry me, so how I phrase the questions should not matter, the goal of my questions is to get answers for myself.

How are they supposed to provide accurate advice with without asking some questions? Different rules apply to different nationalities and obtaining visas can vary by location, etc.

[Lite Beer]

Most foreigners buy land here by putting it in their Thai Wife/ Girlfriends name.

Some do it by obtaining a 30 year lease.

Some do it by setting up a sham company and using that to buy.

Some have proper trading companies and do it that way.

The bottom line is foreigners cannot buy land in Thailand.

They can buy a condominium under certain circumstances.

As for Visas , unless they are over 50 or married to a Thai it is not easy to stay here indefinitely. Possible but not easy.

[palm]

Most foreigners buy land here by putting it in their Thai Wife/ Girlfriends name.

Some do it by obtaining a 30 year lease.

Some do it by setting up a sham company and using that to buy.

Some have proper trading companies and do it that way.

The bottom line is foreigners cannot buy land in Thailand.

They can buy a condominium under certain circumstances.

As for Visas , unless they are over 50 or married to a Thai it is not easy to stay here indefinitely. Possible but not easy.

It is very easy for under 50s to live in Thailand permanently. Just buy the Elite card. Current cost is around $45,000 per person - which gives you indefinite stay in Thailand for life.

So for just the cost of an average car, you can stay in a foreign country for life. http://www.thailandelite.com/

[ConfusedFarang]

Most foreigners buy land here by putting it in their Thai Wife/ Girlfriends name.

Some do it by obtaining a 30 year lease.

Some do it by setting up a sham company and using that to buy.

Some have proper trading companies and do it that way.

The bottom line is foreigners cannot buy land in Thailand.

They can buy a condominium under certain circumstances.

As for Visas , unless they are over 50 or married to a Thai it is not easy to stay here indefinitely. Possible but not easy.

thank you

[billaaa777]

No im not a family, Im asking on behalf of my friend and his family who I live with. I didnt realize I was going to be interrogated. I just need answers and I ask questions this way so that it doesnt make it difficult for people to answer me.

Dear ConfusedFarang,

It is very easy being an American and under 50 years of age to stay in Thailand as long as you like. Just PM and I will tell you how to do it. It takes me a whopping 10 minutes to get my Visa which is good for 15 months and then I just renew it over and over. So yes, you can stay forever!

As for buying houses, the discontented posters are correct when they post technically you can not own a house or land. But in the practical sense and in the real world it is very easy to own a house and land. They are bought through companies, which technically own the house and land and you own the company. And just to piss the angry posters even more, America is the only country that has a treaty with Thailand that does not require you to have any Thai partners in your company.

This process has been going on for over fifty years and hundreds of thousands, if not millions of houses bought and in NOT one instance has a foreigner ever been forced to sell that house or surrender it.

About two years ago the Thai government reexamined this law and scared quite a few home owners. Since that time NOT person has been forced to sell the home or surrender and the issue has pretty much died down to where it is no longer a problem and is not mentioned in the press anymore. In fact, if you talk to the real estate agents in the know they will tell they are experiencing a resurgence of home sales recently due to this issue quietly disappearing.

It is also possible for you to buy a condominium in your own name without utilizing a company providing less than 49% of the condos in that particular building are not owned by foreigners.

There, now you have the real world answers to your questions without having to go though all the others BS!

Edited July 3, 2008 by lopburi3
Flame content removed - lopburi3

[beechguy]

I really doubt that the guy being american had anything to do with the replies he received.

[Lite Beer]

I really doubt that the guy being american had anything to do with the replies he received.

True.

The guy who gave him most of the answers is an American

[uncletom]

QUOTE (Lite Beer @ 2008-07-02 10:18:42)

Most foreigners buy land here by putting it in their Thai Wife[/b]/ Girlfriends name.

As for this, I have personally seen two Farang aqcuaintances divorce the Thai woman, take it to the Thai courts, and have 1/2 of the equity in the house awarded to them. Sometimes the problem is being able to sell the house (depending on where the house is) to get that back out. It is ok though!

Some do it by obtaining a 30 year lease.

Not yours at all.

Some do it by setting up a sham company and using that to buy.

Still these sham companies will have to at some popint have some funds legally registered. With this Ghost taxes

will need to be paid for the non existent, existent Thai people on paper. Even shams have their hoops.

Some have proper trading companies and do it that way.

The bottom line is foreigners cannot buy land in Thailand.

If he is the managing director and major share holder of a company, then, he therefore is buying the property. The Amitty treaty is another story, but a good one for Americans at that.

They can buy a condominium under certain circumstances.

True.

As for Visas , unless they are over 50 or married to a Thai it is not easy to stay here indefinitely. Possible but not easy.

The bottom line is that in all cases is comes down to the amount of money or lengths someone is willing to put out or go to. it is all possible, just not to the closed minded.

[lopburi3]

Under current law a wife of a foreign national must buy home with her own money and the foreign spouse must sign that it is not marriage property and this is recorded at time of purchase.

[astral]

Some do it by setting up a sham company and using that to buy.

Still these sham companies will have to at some point have some funds legally registered. With this Ghost taxes

will need to be paid for the non existent, existent Thai people on paper. Even shams have their hoops.

Nothing SHAM about this approach.

If you go this route the company must be correctly created and registered, up front.

No employees are needed. (That is if you need a work permit from the company).

You will need have a rental agreement for the house with the company.

The company will pay tax on the rent.

The company will need to show audited accounts each year.

Total cost around 18K baht a year

[mahjongguy]

- The USA/Thailand Amity Treaty has expired, has it not?

- New regulations that went into effect on May 25 make the phony company method unworkable for new purchases.

[beechguy]

- The USA/Thailand Amity Treaty has expired, has it not?

- New regulations that went into effect on May 25 make the phony company method unworkable for new purchases.

Can't comment on the regulations regarding the company method. The "Amity Treaty" is still in place last I read about it, but I don't think that offers any advantange regarding home or land ownership.