Ministry To Change Land Laws

[jay-uk]

How real are these two latest articles on changes in law to stop farang wives owning land. Does anyone have the latest on this yet....

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/08/18...ss_30110017.php

AGRICULTURE

Foreigners 'own land through Thai nominees'

Published on August 18, 2009

The government has found that foreigners in Thailand are controlling vast areas of land - from 10 rai up to 10,000 rai - through rice-farming nominees, in breach of the Foreign Business Act (FBA).

By law, land for agriculture is restricted to Thais only.

Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot said the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Business Development Department had found foreigners owning tracts of land in the North and Central provinces.

"The government has found that some foreign companies have purchased, through brokers, vast territory for rice farming. Some small areas of land are also in foreigners' hands, mostly through marriages to Thai women," said Alongkorn.

The ministry has not named the companies or nationalities for fear of compromising the investigations.

To protect Thai rice-farming businesses and land ownership, Alongkorn said the government would continue to examine whether the Foreign Business Act had been violated.

The DSI will consider taking up the case if it finds foreign firms had intentionally violated the law, Alongkorn said.

The Business Development Department has been investigating documents and monitoring foreign companies' movements for action that might conceal their business objectives.

Alongkorn said he had also ordered related agencies to investigate land owned by Thai women, to see if they are acting as nominees for foreigners engaged in farming businesses.

There have been rumours that foreign investors, especially from Taiwan and the Middle East, have invested in rice farms in the Central and Northern provinces, raising concerns among Thai farmers and authorities.

Despite this stringent enforcement of the Foreign Business Act, Alongkorn said the Kingdom still welcomed foreign investors.

As a major world food crop producer, the Thai government has been prompt in signing trade contracts with any country wanting to ensure its food security, he said.

Ministry land bill takes aim at foreigners

Law to be first to 'fully protect' Thai farmland

-- Bangkok Post Wed 19 August 2009

The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry is drafting a bill to protect rice paddies from a feared massive land grab by foreigners.

The draft law will be the first to fully protect farmland, deputy permanent secretary for agriculture Thawatchai Samrongwattana said.

The bill will set out clear measures to prohibit foreigners from buying land through Thai nominees, he said yesterday.

Recently, rumours have spread that foreign businessmen have been snapping up rice-growing land, particularly in central Thailand, through proxy Thai companies to produce rice and other crops to ensure future food supplies for their own countries, or to fend off starvation at home.

Transnational business consortiums are said to be holding the land through Thai nominees, which is against the law.

Some Thai farmers are reportedly leasing land they previously owned but have since sold to the foreigners' proxy firms, observers said.

The bill will also address land ownership by foreigners who marry Thais.

Under the draft bill, each land purchase by Thais married to foreigners would be closely scrutinised by Land Department officials and a provincial farmland protection panel, Mr Thawatchai said.

He said the bill would allow the immediate revocation of the rights of plots found to be held by foreign businesses through Thai proxies. The committee would be authorised to arrange the resale of such land.

About 60 million rai of irrigation land, including areas where the Land Department will build reservoirs, and land belonging to the Agricultural Land Reform office, would be protected by the bill, he said.

The agriculture minister will table the draft bill for the cabinet's consideration next month before submitting it to parliament for approval, Mr Thawatchai said.

"The ministry intends the bill to become law within this year," he said.

The bill would allow for a fund to be set up to protect farmland. The government would be required to allocate a budget to manage the fund and buy back land from foreigners. Farmers could also take out loans from the fund to invest in developing the land for agricultural purposes, Mr Thawatchai said.

A central committee would be set up under the bill with the prime minister as chairman. It would comprise experts and representatives from the private and agricultural sectors.

The committee would regulate the use of farmland or revoke the ownership of farmland that had been purchased through nominees.

A provincial land protection committee would also be set up and chaired by a provincial governor.

Land owners could not appeal the central committee's decision, he said.

The deputy permanent secretary said the bill had been modelled on similar laws in foreign countries, such as Japan and the US, which heavily regulate land ownership.

[Gary A]

The deputy permanent secretary said the bill had been modelled on similar laws in foreign countries, such as Japan and the US, which heavily regulate land ownership.

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Bullshit! I know nothing about Japan but I am from the US and if you have the money, you can buy the land. If Thailand modeled after the US we would have the right to own land here in Thailand. As it is, we can own nothing other than a condo.

[slapout]

I was not aware that the US broadly regulates land ownership. It would be nice of these people making statements like this would do their homework first.

[dave_boo]

The government has found that foreigners in Thailand are controlling vast areas of land - from 10 rai up to 10,000 rai - through rice-farming nominees, in breach of the Foreign Business Act (FBA).

By law, land for agriculture is restricted to Thais only.

There was another thread where they claimed they found no evidence of this...

"The government has found that some foreign companies have purchased, through brokers, vast territory for rice farming. Some small areas of land are also in foreigners' hands, mostly through marriages to Thai women," said Alongkorn.

Are the foreigners actually farming this "small areas of land" or did they buy it for their families? I'm most interested in this comment due to our situation; is Somchai six-pack going to make a complaint and 'steal' the families land away?.....

The ministry has not named the companies or nationalities for fear of compromising the investigations.

They did not find any previously or they did and were trying to lull them into a false sense of security? And why the need to lull them unless they wanted those to pump more money into the economy before forfeiting the land? Mention of nationalities brings me back to my previous comment....

Alongkorn said he had also ordered related agencies to investigate land owned by Thai women, to see if they are acting as nominees for foreigners engaged in farming businesses.

Back to screw the people who are pumping money into some of the poorest regions of the nation....

Despite this stringent enforcement of the Foreign Business Act, Alongkorn said the Kingdom still welcomed foreign investors.

BOHICA; keep buying farmland for your families but know that there's a chance that it will be taken from them.

The bill will also address land ownership by foreigners who marry Thais.

So a return to the good old days when they discriminated against those married to foreigners?

Under the draft bill, each land purchase by Thais married to foreigners would be closely scrutinised by Land Department officials and a provincial farmland protection panel, Mr Thawatchai said.

He said the bill would allow the immediate revocation of the rights of plots found to be held by foreign businesses through Thai proxies. The committee would be authorised to arrange the resale of such land.

So you're presumed guilty going into the 'review' and there is no recourse for incorrect seizure of land? What type of kangaroo court is that? And who is going to be staffing those "provincial farmland protection panels"? The Chinese-Thai landowners who already control most of the farmland?....

The bill would allow for a fund to be set up to protect farmland. The government would be required to allocate a budget to manage the fund and buy back land from foreigners. Farmers could also take out loans from the fund to invest in developing the land for agricultural purposes, Mr Thawatchai said.

If the land is already being 'illegally' farmed by those dirty falangs, why would the Thai farmers need to be "developing the land for agricultural purposes"? Or is this just another chance for those previously mentioned people who own a significant chunk of the land to belly up to the slop bucket for yet more money on the rest of the country's dime? Furthermore; who decides the amount that will be paid to those foreigners? Will the government honour the amount that the foreigner paid and has been paying taxes on? Furthermore, are the rights "immediately revoked", or is this court going to be so magnamious to pay?....

I have many questions and I fear for what this will mean in practice.

[LaoPo]

The deputy permanent secretary said the bill had been modelled on similar laws in foreign countries, such as Japan and the US, which heavily regulate land ownership.

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Bullshit! I know nothing about Japan but I am from the US and if you have the money, you can buy the land. If Thailand modeled after the US we would have the right to own land here in Thailand. As it is, we can own nothing other than a condo.

I fully agree.

Thailand is still a 3rd world country when it comes to ownership (land in this case)

In the EU Union with it's 500 (!) million people it's allowed that one can buy land and/or real estate as much as you want in the other foreign EU Union countries.

It will be a long long time before Thailand reaches a developed status, the same as western countries. It's not in the interest of the Thai Elite....

However, they don't realize it's bouncing back on them, sooner or later.

LaoPo

[Gary A]

As we all know, this country is corrupt from top to bottom and it is getting worse. The police were always happy with a 200 baht bribe but they are much more greedy than in the past.