Land Dept Claims 90% Of Prime Phuket Land Controlled By Foreigners

[saanya]

election posturing... after he wins the votes from Thais he'll be back to taking bribes from farangs who want land.

[Gonsalviz]

the day before the general election blame it all not on the local ruling class, but on those pesky foreigners - so confused voters would cast their vote on the status quo and "social order" parties.

nationalistic frenzy is the best way to divert an attention from the real (and not an imaginary) social issues, like poverty and lack of justice.

kun sriracha is a good lapdog of the army, that's why he was appointed a member of Constitution Drafting Committee back in 2007, why he got a cushy job in the one of the most corrupted governmental departments and why he has spoken now about the foreigners

What if it isn't big talk, but reallity?

All those companies with so called partners ?

I think only the poorest under the farangs gave it to their lady (so they have notting to begin with),

de rest is stuck with his company and ........is going to loose it and deported .

Airplanes will be full !

Economy in the costal sides will schrink to ........lets say 1%? Or are the cheap charlies worth more ?

The rest will be deported..........

Ones they have their land back .....the land is worth notting ,becouse the people with money are not longer here !

Back to stone age .......thats what the mighty people really want.......much easier to control the poor masses !

Why do you think the coastal economies.economies will shrink. If the land grubbers get the land at a bargain price,

things will go on. Just the money will be flowing into the hands of the ones that already have more than GOD.

But I really think this is an election diversion issue as was said before.

[Bkkorupcountry]

...and yet again, most of the commenting Westerners automatically assume that this is only directed at Westerners, even though the article clearly says foreigners without specifying any nationality or ethnicity.

foreigners/westerners? difference being....??

Is this question a joke or are you really that stupid?

[Gonsalviz]

I wonder how this will affect married couples. The authorities know that when a foreigner marries a poor Thai woman, and they buy a house together, which is put in her name, that the money came from the foreigner. I suppose we all have to find ways to make it look like the money came from her. The silly consequence is that if the land is confiscated, the Thai wife will lose both her home and husband. .....

If a Foreigner marries a Thai girl and they buy land/house in the Thai Wifes name, the foreigner has to sign a document at the Land Office (when the House / Land is transferred from 1 owner to another) that states, that the money to buy the house/land was from the Wife before they got married. So I don't see a problem there.

I did better than that. I built the house on land the wife already owned.

[TimTang]

You can legally marry rich Thai- Chinese woman as well.

I had a friend that did this. The family scrutinized his financial status to a degree that would even impress the IRS, it took about 2 years just to get into her pants, and the marriage lasted all of 1 year.

[maidu]

The 5 properties I've secured are all non-chanod, and all were rural, and so covered in prickly weeds 3 meters high, that a person could not take 3 steps on any one of them. Now, via years of lots of work by me and hired help (I pay twice minimum wage), all 3 parcels are like parks - landscaped and beautiful - with some wild wonderful birds & a few wild animals coming to take shelter.

How to get Thais to learn how to deal considerately with their rural land? I don't know. Maybe by showing them examples of how things could be?

How to get Thais to appreciate the bounty of nature that could be theirs, if they weren't so busy destroying or abandoning it? I don't know.

They certainly won't get any inspiration in that dept from the Shinawatres (or the slew of other politicians), who only think of how to amass power and get richer, and never make any mention of environmental husbandry.

[Bkkorupcountry]

and let all farang buy land and houses, same as they can do in our countries...

British / American / European visiting Thailand - visa free.

Thai visiting any of these countries? Visa required.

Not fair either, right?

[Gonsalviz]

A billion rai? Although one American born foreigner probably does own that much.

Never mind I am just slow.

[TimTang]

...and yet again, most of the commenting Westerners automatically assume that this is only directed at Westerners, even though the article clearly says foreigners without specifying any nationality or ethnicity.

foreigners/westerners? difference being....??

Is this question a joke or are you really that stupid?

He's not really being stupid. I think he's just pointing out that the law pertain to ALL foreigners, not just westerners. If you are not Thai you simply cannot legally own land.

[Gonsalviz]

A billion rai? Although one American born foreigner probably does own that much.

American born maybe but not a foreigner.

[TimTang]

...and yet again, most of the commenting Westerners automatically assume that this is only directed at Westerners, even though the article clearly says foreigners without specifying any nationality or ethnicity.

foreigners/westerners? difference being....??

Is this question a joke or are you really that stupid?

He's not really being stupid. I think he's just pointing out that the laws pertain to ALL foreigners, not just westerners. If you are not Thai you simply cannot legally own land.

[Bkkorupcountry]

I wonder how this will affect married couples. The authorities know that when a foreigner marries a poor Thai woman, and they buy a house together, which is put in her name, that the money came from the foreigner. I suppose we all have to find ways to make it look like the money came from her. The silly consequence is that if the land is confiscated, the Thai wife will lose both her home and husband. Then the rich can buy the land at a bargain basement price. Have the officials been on a study trip to Zimbabwe, by any chance?

I'm not clear about your line of thought on this one. They are talking about investors on larger scales, manipulating group managers who will own 50% of the land, and the foreigner owns 50% as a partnership. They are talking large scale land buy outs, not a little man with a Thai wife. A Thai wife will own 100% of the land and house bought by her husband, so there is no issue of risk. They would not confiscate land that is owned 100% outright by a Thai wether her husband was English or from Timbuktu. That is their argument. The larger groups, such as the German conglomerates who own half of Hua Hin, and the Russian conglomerates who own 60% of Pattaya are the ones they are scrutinising, and to add - I agree with this move. Cool down! :jap:

-m.

Most intelligent post I've read so far.

[bino]

...Anyone with a brain knows that the nominee's of the land in Phuket is controlled by very powerful rich Thai/Chinese family's...

Indeed.

That comes as a surprise to me!

Why?

When I looked into this "nominee" land purchase procedure, I got the impression that the nominee's were poor Thais that were paid a couple hundred baht to sign a piece of paper and had very little or no idea what they were signing. I could be wrong but that was the impression I got from the Lawyer I was talking to.

The Hiltons, Marriots and other major hotel players aren't going to be getting involved with the dirt-poor Thai people. They will be dealing with the above mentioned Chinese Thais who are wealthy enough to be actual "qualified investors" as nominees.

[tropo]

There is no way I will ever put money into Thai assets, because I think it's inevitable that a government will find an excuse one day to seize it in the name of nationalism.

Dodgy people, dodgy institutions, dodgy laws, dodgy governments and politicians = foreigner beware.

I find it incredible that people will invest in a country where the military always hold the trump card.

[TimTang]

I did better than that. I built the house on land the wife already owned.

I did something stupid'r than that, I bought land that my girlfriend's family already owned. Of coarse I didn't find out 'till after we broke up.

Your method is probably one of the safest ways to build a house. I believe a Thai woman looses her right to own property once she marries a falang (at least that used to be the case), but I'm not sure if that is proactive. Maybe some of our lawyer friends on the forum can clear that up.

Edited July 2, 2011 by TimTang

[arthurwait]

You can legally marry rich Thai- Chinese woman as well.

I had a friend that did this. The family scrutinized his financial status to a degree that would even impress the IRS, it took about 2 years just to get into her pants, and the marriage lasted all of 1 year.

So did I . None of that happened.

[thaiwanderer]

There is no way I will ever put money into Thai assets, because I think it's inevitable that a government will find an excuse one day to seize it in the name of nationalism.

Dodgy people, dodgy institutions, dodgy laws, dodgy governments and politicians = foreigner beware.

I find it incredible that people will invest in a country where the military always hold the trump card.

Precisely. Why add any more money than the vast sums the US has over the last 60 years?

I hope the TV massive will be similarily outraged at thai on thai land disputes, grabs and evictions.

Farang vanity purchases pale into significance against those real scandal.

[Imkah]

This is probably a case of hot air but there is a problem in that Thai officials and farangs have operated as if the nominee-system is legal, which it is not. And of course the small fry are the ones who will suffer if there is a clamp-down. Problem is: "O.K. i broke the law but what about the ones who broke it supersized?" Ref Dtac's problems now.

(I resent outbursts like the one of "phuketlen" describing people here as "these monkeys". Why was it not removed?)

The rules are clear and nobody has been abiding by them.

My advice:

1. The obvious: don't place all you're eggs in one basket (if you're lucky enough to have more than one egg). Thailand is one obvious basket-case - diversify.

2. When investing assets in Thailand the returns will depend only on 25% of your investment skills and 75% of your personal/cultural skills. Make that 20/80

3. Your loving wife, mother of the two shining stars in a life you never dared dream of, how do you quantify that return? Your loving wife, mother of the two shining stars in a life you never dared dream of leaves you, how do you quantify the losses? I.e. Invest with caution, but invest your life. It might very well be worth it.

4. Assets outside of family life should be kept that way. Which probably means out of Thailand.

[tropo]

I wonder how this will affect married couples. The authorities know that when a foreigner marries a poor Thai woman, and they buy a house together, which is put in her name, that the money came from the foreigner. I suppose we all have to find ways to make it look like the money came from her. The silly consequence is that if the land is confiscated, the Thai wife will lose both her home and husband. Then the rich can buy the land at a bargain basement price. Have the officials been on a study trip to Zimbabwe, by any chance?

I'm not clear about your line of thought on this one. They are talking about investors on larger scales, manipulating group managers who will own 50% of the land, and the foreigner owns 50% as a partnership. They are talking large scale land buy outs, not a little man with a Thai wife. A Thai wife will own 100% of the land and house bought by her husband, so there is no issue of risk. They would not confiscate land that is owned 100% outright by a Thai wether her husband was English or from Timbuktu. That is their argument. The larger groups, such as the German conglomerates who own half of Hua Hin, and the Russian conglomerates who own 60% of Pattaya are the ones they are scrutinising, and to add - I agree with this move. Cool down! :jap:

-m.

Most intelligent post I've read so far.

It seemed ok until the part where he stated that the "Russian conglomerates who own 60% of Pattaya".

[CaptHaddock]

The whining here is quite ridiculous. Everyone understood that the intent of Thai law was to prevent foreigner ownership of Thai land. So, some foreigners cleverly set up their fake companies to exploit a supposed loophole allowing them to violate the expressed intent of Thai law. And, lo and behold, eventually the Thais get around to fixing the loophole and punishing the foreigners. Seemed inevitable to me. Foreigners don't have a right to own Thai land. Period. If you want to own land buy it somewhere else. The same thing happened in Mexico where foreigners were not allowed to own oceanfront land. But the law wasn't enforced. Americans loved buying up oceanfront property in Mexico because it was so cheap! Then one day the Mexican government confiscated it all. There were a lot of weeping gringos in those days.

[arthurwait]

So let's put these figures together with others banded about by posters on here and other politicians when they want figures to suit their arguements.

Foreigners own a third of Thai land.

Thai Chinese own 75% of Thai land.

The crown owns 86% of Thai Land.

So Thai Thais own minus 94% of Thai land.

[TimTang]

...Anyone with a brain knows that the nominee's of the land in Phuket is controlled by very powerful rich Thai/Chinese family's...

Indeed.

That comes as a surprise to me!

Why?

When I looked into this "nominee" land purchase procedure, I got the impression that the nominee's were poor Thais that were paid a couple hundred baht to sign a piece of paper and had very little or no idea what they were signing. I could be wrong but that was the impression I got from the Lawyer I was talking to.

The Hiltons, Marriots and other major hotel players aren't going to be getting involved with the dirt-poor Thai people. They will be dealing with the above mentioned Chinese Thais who are wealthy enough to be actual "qualified investors" as nominees.

Yes that's true for large multinational conglomerates, but most of the posters on this forum are concerned about the regular "joe" that just wants to buy a house for his family. They don't have the luxury of a high paid law department looking out for their best interests. They're worried, should their property come under scrutiny, is there a possibility they could loose their investment. That's an legitimate concern.

Edited July 2, 2011 by TimTang

[Leggar]

Aw c'mon now.

Surely we've all seen the political wheel turn. Even if it is just a quick roll toward the finish line with such as an obvious easy target.

Give it fuel and you'll make a fire I would think.

If I was K..g! you'd be f...ed. :-}

[arthurwait]

It's election hot air as others have previously said. It would be financial suicide for the country if this affected large foreign companies.

Someone should really translate "The boy who cried wolf" into Thai.

[millwall_fan]

Foreigners only control 90% of Phuket is you include Thai-Chinese as foreigners -in which case 90% of all land in Thailand is owned by foreginers!

and guess who it whose got their beady little eyes on the 'confiscated' lands? See above.

[InterestedObserver]

It's election hot air as others have previously said. It would be financial suicide for the country if this affected large foreign companies.

Someone should really translate "The boy who cried wolf" into Thai.

Large foreign companies are here with Board of Investment (BOI) privileges.

[Gonsalviz]

It is still too early to tell and there is point in worrying about what's not even a law yet. More will surface (or not) in the coming months. But if the house is in your Thai Wifes / gf's name there is no reason to worry.

Quote: But if the house is in your Thai Wifes / gf's name there is no reason to worry.

.... no reason to worry. ??

This is a very good reason to worry. Because with no legal rights to anything, you are 100% at the mercy of a woman and her extended family, who have money as their mantra. There is no such this as to have and to hold, ... for richer or poorer etc. The cash flow falters and you are compost.

And that's a risk I'm already taking, but that's just me and I'm happy with it

I took that risk also 7 years ago and it is not only you and I am happy with it too :jap:

Ditto.

[Bkkorupcountry]

I wonder how this will affect married couples. The authorities know that when a foreigner marries a poor Thai woman, and they buy a house together, which is put in her name, that the money came from the foreigner. I suppose we all have to find ways to make it look like the money came from her. The silly consequence is that if the land is confiscated, the Thai wife will lose both her home and husband. .....

If a Foreigner marries a Thai girl and they buy land/house in the Thai Wifes name, the foreigner has to sign a document at the Land Office (when the House / Land is transferred from 1 owner to another) that states, that the money to buy the house/land was from the Wife before they got married. So I don't see a problem there.

I did better than that. I built the house on land the wife already owned.

If she kicks you out, you can't pack your house into your suitcase either

[Gonsalviz]

Is this legislation being introduced by the same politician who wants to stop old Farang from marrying "innocent" young Thai ladies?

I hope you know that was a April 1st Joke by the Thai Visa Team.

What calendar do you use?

[Gonsalviz]

The total worth of all farangs and all the money and help they have given Thailand over the years is the opinion that we smell. Thats it! Farangs smell. Thats the universal opinion of ALL Thais. School teachers tell it to the kids here. Look out for smelly farangs withtheir isan wives. Theyre no good.

Don't look much like they listen.