Very Dumb Farang

[cojones]

Heart to heart with Hillary

Pattaya Mail 26. November 2004

Dear Hillary,

This is a bit long, so you'll have to excuse me. I bought a house last

year in a nice village. The people I bought it off were very helpful

and even let me have enough time to get some more money over from

England, and let me stay in the place while I was waiting. They

arranged the transfer and all that sort of thing so I could save

money on legals and even said they would pay the government taxes. I

signed all the bits of paper they gave me and handed over the money

at the Lands Office and we shook hands. I have been living there now

for almost a year and along comes this person who wants to know what

I am doing there as he says it is his house. I told him I had bought

it, but he said no, he had bought it and was waving the deed which he

said shows that he is the owner. I cannot find the people who sold it

to me and it seems as though my name was never put on the deed. I

think I have been conned. Do you think I will get my money back?

House Hunter

Dear House Hunter,

Let me ask you one question, Petal. Would you buy a house in England

without getting legal advice to make sure the title was in the name of

the person you were buying it from? Would you not check after the

sale transfer to make sure your name was on the deed? So why do you

do the opposite in this country? If anything it is even more

important over here to get legal advice when you are an expat and

(most probably) cannot read Thai. Go and see a reputable Thai lawyer

(not one recommended by the previous house seller) and find out where

you stand. Sorry, right now I think you're homeless! Will you get

your money back? Ask the lawyer and also ask him how much it will

cost in legal fees to try. Best of luck.

---

Source: http://www.pattayamail.com

[Dickie]

The average IQ of the UK definitely rose once he left the country.

[Boon Mee]

Som Nam Naa...

[dr_Pat_Pong]

The average IQ of the UK definitely rose once he left the country.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If he has still got a quid, maybe we can combine to help him into the next house of happiness

[dugdig]

My wife and I built a house on a piece of land that has no title....none. There is no paper in existence which shows ownership of this piece of land.

Smart or dumb?

[Boon Mee]

My wife and I built a house on a piece of land that has no title....none.  There is no paper in existence which shows ownership of this piece of land.

Smart or dumb?

Well...it might depend on whether you're bigger than the other guy who might come around with the proper Chanote!

Best of luck!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

My wife and I built a house on a piece of land that has no title....none.  There is no paper in existence which shows ownership of this piece of land.

Smart or dumb?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well...it might depend on whether you're bigger than the other guy who might come around with the proper Chanote!

Best of luck!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And bigger than his whole family and the local friendly ( to the Thai's ) copper.

[Pink Mist]

I've got heaps of land for sale in and around KhonKaen, very cheap and ideal for first buyer in LOS, none have any deeds attached.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I've got heaps of land for sale in and around KhonKaen, very cheap and ideal for first buyer in LOS, none have any deeds attached.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have you still got that Sinnee 'arbour bridge for sale Bronco ?

[dugdig]

My wife and I built a house on a piece of land that has no title....none.  There is no paper in existence which shows ownership of this piece of land.

Smart or dumb?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well...it might depend on whether you're bigger than the other guy who might come around with the proper Chanote!

Best of luck!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is no chanote for this land and no saw paw kaw sam either...there is no paper for this land. I went down to the chrome tee din (land office) and they verified that there is no paper issued for the land. No one is going to show up with the chanote because there is none. Its the most beautiful piece of land in the village...nothing but open fields on two sides....beautiful, private, quiet(except for chickens and mating animals in season)....I tried to find a plot this nice with title but there wasn't one....so we built....

Smart or dumb?

[Boon Mee]

Get in good graces with the Village Headman etc. and hope for the best?

[Ajarn]

My wife and I built a house on a piece of land that has no title....none.  There is no paper in existence which shows ownership of this piece of land.

Smart or dumb?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well...it might depend on whether you're bigger than the other guy who might come around with the proper Chanote!

Best of luck!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is no chanote for this land and no saw paw kaw sam either...there is no paper for this land. I went down to the chrome tee din (land office) and they verified that there is no paper issued for the land. No one is going to show up with the chanote because there is none. Its the most beautiful piece of land in the village...nothing but open fields on two sides....beautiful, private, quiet(except for chickens and mating animals in season)....I tried to find a plot this nice with title but there wasn't one....so we built....

Smart or dumb?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Then it must be government land, right? Seems like a huge risk to build anything on land like that, but many many have been doing the same for a long time. And what if the government decides to build there? Think you'll get compensation for illegally squatting on government land? Well, thousands already have...

Good luck

[Thetyim]

Do not know if this is true or not but I have been told that if you fence in a parcel of unregistered land for a certain number of years then you cannot be evicted.

This is not as good as getting title to the land but you can at least sleep at night.

Anyone know if this is true.

I can then tell Dugdig if he is smart or dumb

[Ajarn]

I think that kind of 'homesteading' isn't allowed anymore for new residents, but there are programs for getting 'denuded' land for private use. I think that you must make use of the land within 10 years, or lose it... A lot of land is up for grabs this way, according to the papers.

Edited November 28, 2004 by Ajarn

[RamdomChances]

It's not nesseserly gov land, there is quite a bit of land around without any papers. If you go to the land office and can show the land has been used by you (I can't remember how many years), you can get a paper.

Sorry its a bit vauge, I know it can be done but cant remember all the details. We have about 5 rai here that there is no paper for, it think you have to go to the land office, state that you are using the land and have for x ammount of years (probably need the local head man as well). Once registered you have to wait a few years and then you can get a paper, nor sor ??

Todays vauge news brought to you by RC

[Pink Mist]

I think that kind of 'homesteading' isn't allowed anymore for new residents, but there are programs for getting 'denuded' land for private use. I think that you must make use of the land within 10 years, or lose it... A lot of land is up for grabs this way, according to the papers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I remember reading about that a couple of years ago and thought hmm, but I guess the question is make use of it, my bro-in-laws father could fall in that category but he plants rice and apart from that no improvement, that should be enough, I guess.

[Ajarn]

I believe there's also something about having paid taxes on the land for x amount of years... Maybe I'm confusing the various land ownership options. Having a chanod is not the only way to be the legal owner, that's for sure, but I'm not up on the details, just pieces of things...

[Pink Mist]

I have spoken to my father in law in law and he doesnt really care or even acknowledge it

[otherstuff1957]

The homestead title is a no so sam (น.ส.3), not a chanote (โฉนด). You can get - or rather you Thai wife can get - a no so sam after living on the land for 10 years. In theory, titleless land belongs to the King and can be reclaimed by him at any time, however, the current king has a policy of being very considerate towards squatters and homesteaders.

The no so sam is transferable - more or less, but you cannot get a mortgage against a no so sam title and the land value is considerably lower.

My wife gave me this info - she also said that she would not touch a no so sam with a ten foot pole!

[dugdig]

Mom bought this land from the daughter of the man who cleared off the jungle from a fairly large tract of land here a long time ago. At that time he paid the fees for some of the land so he could get the chanote but didn't pay the fees for the rest. If you look at the map at the land office you'll see this big piece of land with no papers surrounded by land with straight up chanotes. All the land with no paper is owned by someone...either the daughter or people who have bought from her. My brother-in-law roughly measured most of the lots (definitely not a surveyor but did a pretty good job) and gave them to the village authorities (headman). Everyone knows who owns which pieces. Ownership is not questioned in the village. The government land office people this year came and asked for anyone who owned land without paper to come to a meeting. They say they are going to issue papers for the land.....haven't heard anything since...patience is a virtue.

Buying land with no paper is not for everyone. You need to be willing to patiently (it took a long time to figure this one out since it was my first experience with the land office routines) go out and find out what the situation is at the neighborhood level and the land office level. I do admit that as well as I have researched this it is still possible that someone will grab it away from me....but not very likely. One advantage of doing it this way is that it helps me to fit in with my neighbors better since they all have the same arrangement. Also it meant that I'm living at the most beautiful place in the village.