Owning An Office

[nakhonjay]

Hi all, i'm brand new to this so please forgive me for being a greenhorn if this issue has already been raised, clarified, re-raised, re-clarified and buried in the graveyard of obvious requests for info.

I'm currently considering buying an office unit for my wife's ever expanding business. It will involve a mortgage and a long term payment scheme. I fully accept Thai law in these issues but have heard that a foreigners can actually own buildings (especially business). Is this true? What are the procedures? Where can i obtain trustworthy legal advice?

Finally, i glanced over the older thread about Thai wives buying land with foreign money and i understand its implications. Does this mean that if i support my wife's application for a mortgage i then need to relinquish all rights to the said property in order to not break this law? (again, i suppose this relates to the request for a reliable solicitor).

Feel free to pm me or simply reply here.

Thanks

[InterestedObserver]

First you must understand that as a foreigner you can't own land in Thailand. You can lease land and register (own) a building thereon in your name or you could set up a business to own the property. A mortgage in your wife's name with you as co-signer is a perfectly legal and acceptable way of doing things. You will have no 'rights' over the land, that is not possible in Thailand. If the mortgage is in your wife's name, then she alone has the 'rights' over the land, so you are not relinquishing anything.