May A Farang Buy Land In Thailand?

[Khun Jean]

Number 3 is not entirely correct.

First when there is a lease registered on the land it still can be sold. This also brings us to the renewal which is only valid against the same person who owned the land at the time the first lease was made. Think about how to pay for that renewal and if the owner in the mean time did not sell it, transfer it to a family member or died the renewal is not enforceable.

A lease deprecates so really be sure you get your worth out of it in 30 years because once those are finished you have nothing left.

And be sure you will like the area you leased the land, maybe after a few years it changes and then you are stuck with it.

Selling (actually sub lease) is possible but can be a lot less valued then one thinks.

Read other threads for other possibilities and the pros and cons.

[johnnyk]

Khun Jean is right, please read what he says here.

Remember, a lease is a piece of paper diminishing in value every day. It is a personal contract between two individual parties. Any heir or successor is bound to honour it to its conclusion - 30 years maximum. That's proper, BUT heirs or successors are simply not bound to renew it, its NOT THEIR contract. Thinking it is automatically renewable with a new landlord is delusion of a large magnitude.

[pkrv]

Please castrate me if I am wrong - because I am going to going to continue to repeat this Ad nauseam

If you have not grasped what is said on this forum and wish to buy then IMO you ONLY do the following:

1) Buy into a well run freehold condominium - there are good examples of how to determine this on this forum. (A condominium is almost like a hotel with all the facilities. You just actually own the room/flat/apartment/suite/penthouse.)

2) Make sure it is in YOUR name under the Farang (foreign ownership quota)

3) Do not even contemplate buying a house or land if you have not understood all that is said on this forum FULL STOP.

4) Do not buy a condominium off the plan if you have not understood all that is said on this forum FULL STOP.

If necessary/uncertain rent first.

[bendix]

The bottom line is that MOST people don't have 40 million baht to invest in Thailand and most people don't even have 40 million baht. Tell it like it is. You CANNOT own land in Thailand.

Your post is oxymoronic Gary. Let me tell it like it is - You CAN own land in Thailand if you meet the very clearly stated legal criteria of investing 40m in an approved investment and have ministerial approval.

To the poster who asked me how many cases I know of. I don't know. I spoke to a property lawyer at a large law firm here who told me he alone had processed 8-10 cases in the last year or so, mostly involving Japanese nationals. It might make sense for them, particularly given that they would only be earning 0.5% on government stock in their own country.

It is not common, but to say it cannot be done is palpably not true.

[Gary A]

I guess I should have written; You CANNOT own land in Thailand UNLESS you have 40 million baht to invest.

[WilliamJarvis]

The bottom line is that MOST people don't have 40 million baht to invest in Thailand and most people don't even have 40 million baht. Tell it like it is. You CANNOT own land in Thailand.

Your post is oxymoronic Gary. Let me tell it like it is - You CAN own land in Thailand if you meet the very clearly stated legal criteria of investing 40m in an approved investment and have ministerial approval.

To the poster who asked me how many cases I know of. I don't know. I spoke to a property lawyer at a large law firm here who told me he alone had processed 8-10 cases in the last year or so, mostly involving Japanese nationals. It might make sense for them, particularly given that they would only be earning 0.5% on government stock in their own country.

It is not common, but to say it cannot be done is palpably not true.

Agreed - I know of at least 3 cases in Phuket. I know because I did the work. But you need to keep in mind the 40M is only for a fixed period (if I recall correctly, 5 years) - and not forever. The property must be for your own residential purposes. And the purchase price of the residential property is not included in the 40M but is on top of this. Another problem with the 40M route is that you need to occupy the premises within a certain period (I think it used to be 3 years). When you're spending this kind of money, this can be an issue if your planning on buying land and developing the property yourself.

[tartempion]

40 million at a poor 5% interest gives you 2 million/year.

Thus I PAID 500k B for 5 rai (not a lousy 1 rai) NOT in my name and keep my money in the bank.

I do have nice place to live in and don't give a hoot for the idiots running this country.

Reading this board I might get thrown out of my little paradise, but then I don't think so, good reasons for that and I sleep well at night.

Cheers and do continue to find ways around what can not be achieved why bother anyway?