Illegal To Use Thai Spouse As Nominee In Land Ownership

[givenall]

I think he's talking out of his arse. Typical non-sensicle statement that you can always count on a high-level Thai civil servant to make on most occasions. I agree, it should do wonders to help slag-off all the million dollar "villas" for sale to silly foreigners who were thinking about buying in Phuket.

With unintellegent fools like this in high office, its no wonder that Thailand is slowly going downhill. And although its only my guess, i bet that he is of Chinese decent ?????

What is wrong with these politicians? They talk and everyone thing the sky is falling. Truthfully, they have not had their 15 min of fame. This will pass too

[Fun2Fun]

In this case i would hazard a guess that they are not going after simple home owners at all, but rather would be targeting multiple land owners and/or larger "development" style plots where a "wife" is conveniently put as the owner.

[marsteele]

This is way overboard. So, supposing my wife is a house wife (which she currently is as we have a little one), I receive my salary from the Thai government, does this mean she is not entitled to buy a house with our family income?

What I really want is the same rights as a foreign woman that marries a Thai man!

This is Thailand, fantasies are found in Disneyland where all your dreams can come true.

[loonodingle]

Lets Face it they dont want foreigners in Thailand.

They dont care a jot about us.

They would rather we didnt even come here because its their country..............BUT send the money T/T Ok i love you long time Mr Falang

[elektrified]

It will matter not as loan when translated into thai is gift, so, the wife is the rightful owner, no problem, next !

After we were married my father in law gave 1.75 acres in Phuket to my wife and I..of course I don't consider it my property at all,but its a great piece of land on a hill with lots of ocean breeze.

You have a very good attitude. Those farangs living in Thailand who foolishly purchased real estate in their wives or girlfriend's/boyfriend's names stand the chance of losing everything. I see posts all the time of farangs proclaiming to "own" property in Thailand. They don't own anything. They are dreamers.

[warfie]

Why buy land in Thailand anyway? Talk about your under-performing investment! Better to invest elsewhere and just rent here...

[ham]

.............Now, after the revolution, things will be much better, much more cut and dried. Very Burmese. Until then....

Thailand = Myanmar (Burma) with electricity

[theuy]

The guy is absolutely full of it and obviously a racist without the proper education for his position.

If people are caught, how does he intend to deal with the authorities who approved it?

If caught , the land deed will be revoked? Who is going to reimburse? (maybe it's money they will share amongst the people who came up with this)

Wonder if this guy has any property owned by his wife or kids which came from his corrupted position!

They better sort out their Thai marriage laws as Thai men can root around without being called upon when he makes someone pregnant and after dump them.

They better sort out their Thai political system which is in a mess and hard working isaan people are in financial trouble.

Suggest to form a government with educated unselfish people instead of the current uneducated egomaniacs.

1. Amazing Thailand ( it's bloody Amazing sometimes)

2. Land of Smiles ( if only could know what they smile about)

Amazing Land of Thai Smiles

[mooloolababoy]

what if your spouse does not use your last name?

[NanLaew]

This is Thailand, fantasies are found in Disneyland where all your dreams can come true.

Please, can someone be posting where this Disneyland Embassy is? Do farang need the visa? Where can I get the plane to there?

[millmill]

.............Now, after the revolution, things will be much better, much more cut and dried. Very Burmese. Until then....

Thailand = Myanmar (Burma) with electricity

Can some body check Abhisit property in UK.

[HakimKlunker]

to pick up this one:

So is it illegal for a husband to loan his wife money ?

Is it also illegal then for a Thai spouse to loan his/her foreigner partner?

Is a Thai spouse allowed to loan his/her Thai partner?

(Is it probably illegal to be married at all?)

Perhaps, Thailand has a different idea about marriage than other countries.

[bluesmith]

What about the banks that approved the loan to the Thai spouse how will they get there mony back.

[micky1965]

another nail in the coffin . good old Thailand know how to stop people coming here to invest .well my advise if your reading this somewhere abroad don't belive a word of it .it's all <deleted>

[chatchy]

It is my understanding that if you give your Thai wife a gift of money, she becomes obligated to pay income tax on that money.

Edited May 28, 2009 by chatchy

[SMEEERE]

Why buy land in Thailand anyway? Talk about your under-performing investment! Better to invest elsewhere and just rent here...

Its been said before, its the old parents quote to misguided kids " put your money into bricks and mortar ".unfortunatly in thailand its wood and tin, why bother, ,as you say rent, buy elsewhere where you are welcome AND likely to show a profit,.

[SMEEERE]

Isnt prostitution illegal in Thailand ? ,,,,,,,,,,,i dont see that enforced and its right "in your face "

[Pops]

If it would be the Thai spouse's funds used to initally buy the land she would have to proof where it came from, read, paid taxes on it when it was wired into her account.

According to Thai Marital law however, if a foreigner and Thai are married without any pre-nops they share all 50-50, so half of the foreigners cash is her cash .

If at the moment of purchasing the land (for that is what this is about, not the house which can legally be owned the foreigner) both had funds worth more then double the value of the land in their bank-account and were married there should be no issue.

Otherwise just get divorsed in which case Thai courts are very eager to apply the 50-50 rule, and the land-ownership is accounted for.

I can't see how this would be enforceable. Who's to say that the money wired into the wife's account isn't hers from an overseas partnership business with her foreign spouse? And what was the deal that is signed at the land office saying that the money used to buy the land was in fact from the Thai spouse, not the foreign person?

I find the below quite hilarious:

"The tour is aimed at improving public services by land officials in three areas: dress, conduct when dealing with the public and working harder to eliminate a backlog of work.

Many members of the public have complained that it takes up to a year to complete a transaction that should only take one day, he said.

"

Improving in dress? <deleted>? Conduct? Are they now not going to want some tea money to expedite things, nor a big envelope to say that such and such land is not encroaching on gov't land. Can't see this happening. Backlog taking a year? Why is that? All property transactions that I am familiar with took a day at the office and that was it.

[takiszante77]

Which country in Asia foreighners can own land, house...etc 100% in them names? It is start getting boring here either for holliday. I got married this year with Thai lady that she lives in Phuket the last 20 years, she is a high Goverment Official. We are planning to moved to Phayao (North Thailand). She has changed her surname and got mine. Her bank acount is empty because she pays everymonth for her car. That means we can not buy property and build our house in Phayao?

[trickyricky]

Hi There, I cannot believe what I am reading

Land Department Anuwat Meteewiboonwut sounds like a right nutter to me and should be moved to some department where he can do no harm he made comments during a recent stop in Phuket as part of a nationwide inspection tour of 30 provinces.

'The tour is aimed at improving public services by land officials in three areas: dress, conduct when dealing with the public and working harder to eliminate a backlog of work' seems to have taken the back burner to other issues like

'PHUKET CITY: The director general of the Land Department has reiterated that foreigners using Thai nominees to buy land anywhere in the country will have their land title deeds revoked if caught – even if the nominee in question is a lawfully wedded spouse'

IS THE MAN MAD, the Thai economy is in tatters already with foreign tourists staying away, does he also want to alienate the Foreign residents here???

Here it is again just in case you didn't get the message the first time around 'Foreigners cannot use a Thai spouse as a nominee to buy property in Thailand. If the Thai spouse has enough money to buy the house that is fine, but if the Thai has no money and uses money given to him or her by a foreigner to acquire property, that is against the law. If we check and find out later that a Thai person has been using money from a foreigner to buy land anywhere in Thailand, we will revoke title deeds," he said

Someone in Government wake up to the fact he is a nutter and move him to an inactive post

Richard

[marsteele]

Isnt prostitution illegal in Thailand ? ,,,,,,,,,,,i dont see that enforced and its right "in your face "

please keep your voice down, thais don't want people to know about this. There is no such thing. I think you mean the hospitality industry that is lawful.

[h90]

To be honest I wouldn't take this statement too seriously - He is probably correctly stating the law - but whether it is enforced is another thing and there seem to be ways of getting around laws if one seeks good advice - and the courts in Thailand are not know for quick resolutions of any case - So i think continue as before .

There maybe 1-2 very bad cases, building a million dollar resort on the thai wifes name, while still lives as home-maid, but for 99 % of all cases there won't be anything in my opinion.

[jfchandler]

I think you guys are missing the silver lining in this cloud...

Just print out and save a copy of this news article, and the guy's announcement.

And then, the next time any Thai lady asks you to give her money to buy land and build a house for her family, just whip out the article and say... NO CAN DO....

After all, it's against the law!!!

[hilly]

Maybe he had just had a liquid lunch and was feeling feisty when he made this statement. The word nominee is somewhat important IMHO.

IMHO also is was all hot air but one wonders if his seniors are going to be very thrilled with his outburst? Lets hope the Thai newspapers get stuck into this one and he is made to eat some humble pie.

Next might be the statement saying that he has been missinterpreted.

[Pops]

Only if it is Farang prostitutes selling themselves on the Thai market, there will be trouble, I guess.

There is only 1 constant factor in these enforcements and that is "Farang". At the moment of selling/buying the land, the landownerships documents were granted by the land office and not obtained under pressure or under gunpoint so what went wrong at the moment of selling the land, to the Thai wife with Farang husband ?? Yes, right, Nobody checked where the funds came from and did not care as long as money was being made by all involved. so the question is: if the land-ownership will be revoked afterwards, will the responsible landdepartment employee also be punished and the funds used to buy the land, will they be returned to the buyers, who bought without bad intentions ??

Isnt prostitution illegal in Thailand ? ,,,,,,,,,,,i dont see that enforced and its right "in your face "

[johnefallis]

So is it illegal for a husband to loan his wife money ?

"If the Thai spouse has enough money to buy the house that is fine, but if the Thai has no money and uses money given to him or her by a foreigner to acquire property, that is against the law. If we check and find out later that a Thai person has been using money from a foreigner to buy land anywhere in Thailand, we will revoke title deeds," he said."

You can't loan it, can't share it, can't give it. Maybe you can die and they can inherit it? That seems like the only "legal" path. A bullet here, motorbike accident there. What is the point of getting married in Thailand? Seems like nothing more than a headache all the way around. It seems we should not invest here or marry here, etc. etc.

I came here with full intentions to live here, study from here, invest here, and eventually retire here with a very significant amount of retirement at an early age, that I already have. All of which do nothing but contribute to the Thai economy, and dare I say, society. But in so many ways I have been convinced to the contrary, all the while they claim to want foreign investment, foreign education, diversity, technology, etc. etc.

Mai pen rai, after some reconsideration I think it is acually better to only rent here, that way you can bail out quickly if need be. Or buy only a condo, that way I can afford to have it here, while travelling and spending my money in other countries. Even if you do get married, keep everything only in your name or even better, outside the country. If need arises, it's an easy divorce. 1, 2, 3. Bye, passport, flight. It could even be as easy as 1,2...or even just 1...

I seem to be much more fortunate herer than many others with women, as I have so far had zero issue and near zero potential for issue.

After all I've observed, that would seem like the logical and prudent way to go. The more we invest here, the more we drive up our own prices anyway.

People here polite, maybe. Considerate and appreciative, not very.

As an afterthought, I doubt we will ever see the day Thailand comes to the aid of the U.S. in the face of a natual disaster. Katrina/Tsunami. Something just doesn't seem fair on so many levels.

Oh, I'm forgetting the cooperative torture prisons, they did help the "Allied" forces with that.

Some days I wake up and wonder what in the hel_l'o I am doing here.

[SoiGirlHunter]

This is a joke right?? april fools??

[dogleg]

To be honest I wouldn't take this statement too seriously - He is probably correctly stating the law - but whether it is enforced is another thing and there seem to be ways of getting around laws if one seeks good advice - and the courts in Thailand are not know for quick resolutions of any case - So i think continue as before .

There maybe 1-2 very bad cases, building a million dollar resort on the thai wifes name, while still lives as home-maid, but for 99 % of all cases there won't be anything in my opinion.

Correct, the fool didn't exactly say that all Spouses are nominees did he. He, or the Newspaper, should have defined a Nominee and the purpose/target of the statement.

Any of the sponsors have any comments?

[Ecchi]

I can see people lined up to sue the bejesus out of the lawyers who provided the advice and facilitated these sorts of transactions for professional negligence.

[featography]

what this says to me is, that the wife has little or no rights when it comes to what is considered property. Legally in developed countries, the 50/50 ownership comes into play only when there is a separation and division of assets. I would think otherwise everything is "in union" and considered one. The Thai culture must deem the woman not worthy of any ownership, and what the husband makes is his to spend on whatever or whoever he wishes. Money loaned is done with friends, colleagues, for business etc, but certainly not for a spouse, for that would demean the integrity of the relationship. Are they saying that all those women that marry foreigners that have the money to buy Thai products, and give the Thai people work building a new home cannot, because they didn't earn the right to a nicer home? This whole issue doesn't make sense,

it's like the Jerry Springer Thai government show, shock and awe, topped with <deleted>!

Jerry Springer Thai Govt. Show.... Thats too funny!!!