Koh Phangan Land Department Transfer

[lazyguy]

yesterdays my wife was at the land department to check the transfer of a land into her name which is owned

by a company with one farang shareholder.

she got told that ALL seven Thai shareholders have to appear with bank statement to answer questions

first before the land department will consider further steps.

has anyone heard of this procedure before?

to me it looks like a scam.

also my wife was asked if she is married with a farang. what has purchase of land of a Thai person to do with

the nationality of their husband?

my wifes question for a calculation of possible land transfer taxes has been bluntly rejected. the farang company

should present their shareholders first, before no thinking of transfer tax.

what are they up to?

[sbk]

the land issue regarding foreign spouses is well known and has been discussed in this forum extensively.

Issues For Nominees Buying Land For Foreign Owners

Buying A House In Thailand. Married to a Thai

Illegal For Thai Wives Of Foreigners To Own Land. Can we continue the discussion please???

[stevehaigh]

yesterdays my wife was at the land department to check the transfer of a land into her name which is owned

by a company with one farang shareholder.

she got told that ALL seven Thai shareholders have to appear with bank statement to answer questions

first before the land department will consider further steps.

has anyone heard of this procedure before?

to me it looks like a scam.

this is an interesting development and potentially a nightmare for any farangs trying to unload their land. what are the chances of rounding up the nominees? they've probably run for the hills.

i doubt its a scam, its not an unreasonable request for the shareholders of a real company to be asked about something major like selling a major company asset. obviously through the land dept is doing it to jerk farangs around which has been on the rise in KPN for quite some time. you would think they would welcome the chance to get land out of pseudo farang co.s and back to thai nationals but that doesn't seem to be the case.

please let us know what happens. if this becomes the norm, it will make farang co.s land basically worthless.

Edited October 1, 2009 by stevehaigh

[politeguy]

My perspective (for whats it worth) is that the land department is carrying out its task with due dilligence. I personally would be very annoyed if the land department transfered title without carrying out checks etc. We ll done the land dept on Koh Pha Ngan.

[stgrhe]

yesterdays my wife was at the land department to check the transfer of a land into her name which is owned

by a company with one farang shareholder.

she got told that ALL seven Thai shareholders have to appear with bank statement to answer questions

first before the land department will consider further steps.

has anyone heard of this procedure before?

to me it looks like a scam.

this is an interesting development and potentially a nightmare for any farangs trying to unload their land. what are the chances of rounding up the nominees? they've probably run for the hills.

i doubt its a scam, its not an unreasonable request for the shareholders of a real company to be asked about something major like selling a major company asset. obviously through the land dept is doing it to jerk farangs around which has been on the rise in KPN for quite some time. you would think they would welcome the chance to get land out of pseudo farang co.s and back to thai nationals but that doesn't seem to be the case.

please let us know what happens. if this becomes the norm, it will make farang co.s land basically worthless.

One cannot say that foreigners holding land through a 'nominee company' have not been warned. Actually, they were given a two years grace back in 2006 to transfer the land to leasehold right. Many have done so, but those ignoring the warnings should not blame anyone but themselves if the shit hits the fan.

[oracle]

yesterdays my wife was at the land department to check the transfer of a land into her name which is owned

by a company with one farang shareholder.

she got told that ALL seven Thai shareholders have to appear with bank statement to answer questions

first before the land department will consider further steps.

has anyone heard of this procedure before?

to me it looks like a scam.

also my wife was asked if she is married with a farang. what has purchase of land of a Thai person to do with

the nationality of their husband?

my wifes question for a calculation of possible land transfer taxes has been bluntly rejected. the farang company

should present their shareholders first, before no thinking of transfer tax.

what are they up to?

No it's not a scam, it's a new regulation issued by the land department in 2008. Nothing to do with married or not. Buying or selling land with a company with foreigners (on the shareholder list or memorandum of assocation) can lead to investigations. If you own land through a company you may under the current regulations never be able to sell it

[Bemused]

KPN Land Department have been doing this with all transactions for a while now. Any hint of foreign involvement and they won't deal with the transaction. Some foreigners owning land on KPN have gotten around the problem by putting wives, friends etc as directors and taking themselves off. You could of course just purchase the farang's 49% share in the company (later change ownership of the 51% to your wife) and by-pass the Land Department altogether.

This problem goes well beyond individuals wanting to buy and sell plots. The same things goes for the foreign developers on the Island who are trying sell plots. Bascially as thing stands if you have purchased one of these in the last two years, and you don't already have a land title or a registered lease, you can kiss your investment goodbye. Nearly all developers on KPN who purchased land to subdivide and sell did so with a company set up using nominees. These companies have problems upgrading their land titles, and if they manage it then as things stand they can't register the lease or transfer the title.

Some Lands Departments are stricter on this than others. The guy in charge of the KPN Lands Department is very strict. Some people might suggest he was an out and out 'farang hater' of the highest order. I wouldn't dare suggest such a thing.

Edited October 1, 2009 by Bemused

[oracle]

I believe SBK the second poster is involved in real estate in Koh Phangan and must be able to give an update on this subject

[stevehaigh]

I believe SBK the second poster is involved in real estate in Koh Phangan and must be able to give an update on this subject

she has a resort, not a real estate business i think. i think the OP needs to give an update if he finds something new but every posts here pretty much confirms the situation in the OP. i'm certainly glad i put my place in my wife's name a few years ago and advised all my friends to do the same.

[HighLife]

Out of interest, what happens to the foreigner if the land office finds that the thai partners are nominees?

[Benjie]

Surely they are just looking for some cash?

[Bemused]

Out of interest, what happens to the foreigner if the land office finds that the thai partners are nominees?

This is a good question.

At the stage the foreigner with the land holding company attempts to transfer a title or register a lease the Land Office asks for evidence that the Thai 'partners' of the foreigner have the financial means to invest in the company. This evidence, of course, cannot be presented. In such circumstances the foreigner will have failed to prove that the 'partners' have the necessary financial resources to allow them to be classified as genuine investor and the Land Office to register the transfer of title or lease.

To the best of my knowledge, the Land Office has no powers of arrest, or a remit to investigate a prior transfer of title or registration of lease. The Land Office investigations are intended to stop an illegal transfer or registration at the point of the application.

Unless a law enforcement agency acts on the suspicions caused by the failure to present evidence relating to the financial means of the 'partners', the foreigner will not lose their land on the basis of an unsuccessful attempt to sell their land. On a practical level, it would make very little sense for a Land Office to ask a law enforcement agency to investigate a current holding, as such a request would be an ommission on the part of the Land Office that they had incorrectly registered a title transfer or lease in the past.

The big worry for foreigners owning through companies is that politicians in Bangkok decide to go on a witch hunt. If foreign land ownership becomes a more important national political issue then there is a very realistic prospect of people losing land (this has happened recently in Goa, India). Local bureaucrats will only ever inconvenience foreign owners, by stopping them selling, leasing, or upgrading their land titles.

[lazyguy]

change of nominees to new Co. Ltd. regulations: two Thais, one wealthy Thai (60% full procura + 1%) and 1 Farang (39%).

bring Thai shareholders with bank statement and all required docs to land department.

transfer to Thai national with no problem

liquidate company

don't try again :-)