We Have Our First Home...

[camerata]

My wife can own land and house in Aust. but I cannot here, will I ever belong? will I always be set apart? Will I ever be considered a worth while member of the thai society? or perhaps am I farang Kii Nok?

What do you all say?

I think there are two aspects to this - whether you belong (i.e. feel accepted) and whether you feel secure. To be accepted by Thais it's really essential to be able to speak the language well and do all the things that Thais do, such as calling someone a few months older than yourself "phee," etc. Otherwise they will always treat you differently and you'll feel "set apart."

Achieving security is at least as difficult as being socially accepted. The laws on foreigners owning land/property go back to Cold War fears of Chinese and Vietnamese refugees/immigrants arriving in Thailand and becoming a communist "fifth column." The government didn't want possibly communist men marrying Thai women and getting a shortcut to citizenship or buying up land.

So the current system is that you have to commit to Thailand to the extent of becoming a citizen - a deliberately long process - before you can own land. But I wonder how many of us would be willing to take citizenship if we were able? It seems particularly unfair to me that a person can work in Thailand for umpteen years on one-year visa extensions but if he loses his job he's legally obliged to leave the country within 7 days, and forfeit all those years of continuous residence. Perhaps the idea is to make sure all foreigners are model employees, but the net effect is that it is difficult to feel truly secure in Thailand.

Anyway, simply marrying a Thai and buying a house isn't going to make you belong, but try and enjoy what you've got while you've got it!

[brubo1]

samran, cheers, well said. Thanks a lot.

It is a great time, our house is great and it the first time I have ever owned a house...or is it? My wife is sensative to the situation, snd she insists we buy a few apartments in my own name (god bless her soul, Where is the money?) to even things out.

If you were really worried about it being your house, take out a 30 year lease over it. That way you will the "rights" to the house (eg can't be sold without your consent) for that period of time. Kinda like a pre-nup agreement. Maybe not very palatable at the moment but can save a lot of potential problems later!

[penzman]

Beautiful place you have there mate!

I`d be depressed too, there`ll be way too much lawn to mow!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Beautiful place you have there mate!

I`d be depressed too, there`ll be way too much lawn to mow! 

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The option was green concrete which was altogether too much of an outlay to be faced on top of the 4.5 million