Crackdown On Land Owned By Foreign Residents

[Thai at Heart]

He said if this situation was "unsolved", it could lead to later generations of Thais having no land to live on.

Oh contrare....they will have land, just rent it from the farang...

I can't help feeling that part of the problem, is that 100s of thousands of Thai's who would never have been able to afford land, have been able to do so with money from foreign spouses.

But that is 99% women,

and this is the 99% of MEN who will never own land bitching about it.

Oh indeed, however, quite why this becomes a potential crack down on perfectly legal style of ownership, I really don't understand.

The proof of ownership is the chanote, there is virtually NO WAY to prove that someone is genuinely acting as a nominee, so what type of crackdown, other than an arbitrary one can there possibly be? For every 100,000 suspected infringements, they are going to find a THAI company name or a THAI person's name on the chanote ever time.

So crackdown on exactly whom? Their own citizens and Thai companies?

"Are you acting as a nominee?"

"No"

"Yes you are"

"No, I'm not"

"Yes you are"

Very practical from a legal perspective.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Thai at Heart

[Time Traveller]

He said if this situation was "unsolved", it could lead to later generations of Thais having no land to live on.

Oh contrare....they will have land, just rent it from the farang...

I can't help feeling that part of the problem, is that 100s of thousands of Thai's who would never have been able to afford land, have been able to do so with money from foreign spouses.

Those smart foreigners with money and who need to make a profit are preventing the super rich Thais with money and who need to make a profit from buying up all the land. Whether these foreign buyers owned 30% or 0% it is difficult to imagine that low income landless Thais would have any better chance of owning the land. More likely Mitr Phol (who incidentally are acquiring land in Laos) or some other wealthy group needs more land to expand.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Time Traveller

[Reasonableman]

AT no point did I say a foreigner could become a citizen or permanent resident by sitting on their a*se, it is a long and involved process.

And having gone through all that, and been granted permanent residency, you should have the right to buy and own enough land to live on, and build a home to live in. Especially those with Thai families and dependants!

If you are a citizen you can buy land. If you are not a citizen then nothing is preventing a foreigner, legally in the country, with a Thai family from building and living in a home with their Thai family. The property just needs to be in one of their Thai family's name.

It may be a dismissive "just" to you, but then it's not you doing it. Perhaps if you have experienced relationship break-ups you could begin to get some idea of what happens and how devastating it can be psychologically and financially. Many men don't want to run that risk, and why should they be forced to, by being required to give all their life-time accumulated assets to someone else on trust alone, with no safeguards whatsoever?

[hansnl]

I can believe the sentiments of this person are indeed right.

However.....

Much land is sold to companies, through Thai intermediaries who get a hefty slice of the money needed to buy the land and the profits.

The Russian invasion, also through Thai intermediaries, taking over Pattaya, Bangkok, and other places?

Oh dear, many Thai people get very much better out of this also.

The farang, through his wife, does not own any land, even if his money was used to buy the land.

Just get divorced and try to get your money back......

The farang through a company?

Most of them will be swindled out of their "property" some time in the future.

[Nisa]

Sometimes it seems people go out of there way to try to believe BS from some person clearing either speaking out of their a@@, being misquoted, having the translation their words being incorrect or all of the above. I really have to believe there are few posters who are unaware of the gist of the laws in terms of land ownership but I guess it is preferably to pretend something has changed because of some news story that makes no sense and appears to based on what would seem to be a very obvious falsehood of 31% of land being foreign owned.

Ummm - to address a point made by many posters - I think the article said that 30% of land in Hua Hin and Pattaya was owned by foreigners - not 30% of all Thailand.

To quote from the article ...

Some 100 million rai of Thai land is owned by foreigners, mostly through their Thai spouses or nominees, Auditor-General Sriracha Charoenpanit revealed yesterday.

100 Million rai would equal about 31% of Thailand. As mentioned by another poster ...

(100 million rai = 160,000 km2; Thailand has an area of 513,120 km2) or 31% of 513,120 = 159,000

My mistake but, he specifically mentioned Hua Hin and Pattaya so its probably reasonable to assume that he made a mistake with the 100m rai?

I have no idea but it would seem the story is BS from top to bottom. I did a search for this guys name on the internet and this is not the first time he has made what appears to be paranoid false claims about foreign land ownership. Check out these Google Search Results that include claims of 90% foreign ownership of Phucket's shores to claims of deportation of foreign land owners. The guy simply appears to be a nutter attached to one cause .. don't we have some of these in all our home countries?

[rayw]

What utter crap 1/3rd of all Thailand foreign owned. Why all the paranoia anyway??

Seriously what would make life much easier for Thailand is if they allowed qualifying retirees with retirement visas the right to own say even up to half a rai of land (surely enough for genuine retirement home use) for a retirement home. Come on now why do they not use their brains and realise that this would hardly impact probably no more than 0.0001% at most of Thai land ownership and save them a lot of time for chasing up the foreign (and Thai) land sharks that are indeed doing Thailand no good at all. Like most Thais and foreigners too I really hate these land sharks who spend their lives ripping other folk off to make more and more millions of dollars off of the backs of decent folk and anyway more than they could hardly spend in a lifetime. Greedy bastards IMHO and leeches on decent society. Sure I must add that there are also decent and non shark honest land dealers but they seem to be getting a smaller and smaller percentage these days. Either way it is time that the Thai authorities got their priorities right and legally separated these big commercial land operators from the huge majority of foreign retirees and work permit holders who just want to honestly own their own residence with a small practical bit of land (say up to half a Rai).

One thing that I fail to understand if a Thai wife owns the land for her and her foreigner husband where is the law being broken there as the land is then fully Thai owned surely ????????????? It is a method I would never use as with most retirees their home is probably their only asset left in life so why risk it as ANY wife whatever you may think today could just decide to kick you out and divorce you and then legally just keep all the land and home you paid for, a bit silly to let this happen IMHO. I trusted two UK wives before and one ripped me off the the other was decent and split it all 50/50 (and indeed she put in 50% in the first place) but why do so many falangs still risk losing everything here ???? If the Thai law allowed I would happily make the ownership of my home here 50/50 with my Thai wife who I have been with for 8 years and although she put in none of the original money she has put a lot of work and effort into our home and brought with her owned earned income many things for it too and for sure when I die it all rightly goes to her.

A Thai law allowing small land ownership by foreign retirees for a retirement home was I understand proposed by the pre Thaksin Democrat Government but never had time to get passed and not ratified by Thaksin of course who only loves foreigners when he needs them to help keep him away from jail !!! Visa qualifying retirees are good for Thailand as we all know bringing in good hard cash every month and generally helping the Thai people and economy. Retirement home ownership is highly encouraged in almost all other countries that are capable of sensible thought and planning. There are of course other foreigners who should also be allowed to own a small area of land for their personal residence like under 50s who have retired early or those on work permits but that is another subject, but the foreign retirement land ownership issue is easy and safe to implement in law and in Thailand's interests too.

I disagree as one of the things I disliked about the UK was the way so much of the 'wealthy' part of London was owned by foreigners.

Those of us who retire here have the option of renting or leasing. This helps the Thai economy without pushing up land prices to ridiculous levels whereby the average local can no longer afford to buy any land.

Come on now I am talking of a ridiculously tiny percentage of land if say retirees were allowed to own only up to half a Rai of land for a single retirement home subject to their meeting the normal Thai Retirement visa requirements and thus being a fully legal long stay retiree here. This would OBVIOUSLY have NO real impact on Thai land prices (maybe in a few small localised popular retirement areas but not overall land prices in Thailand) at all as far too small area of land involved. I am NOT talking about the huge amounts of land involved with foreign land dealing sharks. I also still say if land is brought fully in the name of a Thai wife then NO law is being broken surely as it is still 100% Thai owned and not even exploiting any loophole either.

[Nisa]

AT no point did I say a foreigner could become a citizen or permanent resident by sitting on their a*se, it is a long and involved process.

And having gone through all that, and been granted permanent residency, you should have the right to buy and own enough land to live on, and build a home to live in. Especially those with Thai families and dependants!

If you are a citizen you can buy land. If you are not a citizen then nothing is preventing a foreigner, legally in the country, with a Thai family from building and living in a home with their Thai family. The property just needs to be in one of their Thai family's name.

It may be a dismissive "just" to you, but then it's not you doing it. Perhaps if you have experienced relationship break-ups you could begin to get some idea of what happens and how devastating it can be psychologically and financially. Many men don't want to run that risk, and why should they be forced to, by being required to give all their life-time accumulated assets to someone else on trust alone, with no safeguards whatsoever?

Be it my ex in the US or my wife in Thailand ... I expect to loose at least 50% of what I/we have acquired in the marriage. In the US when I had kids and a house, I certainly didn't expect to get the house and expected my wife to remain in the house with the kids. So, lets no be so over dramatic.

But if you are that worried about your finances upon a possible break-up then don't marry a Thai girl and live in Thailand. No different than if you have strong Christian values you want to pass on to your kids then don't marry a Jew or a Muslim. If your big concern is having a skinny wife then stay away from one with fat parents or that eats a lot and sits on their a@@ all day.

If you don't want to buy a house for the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and aren't willing to allow her to keep that house if you break-up then don't buy the house. If you want to buy a house and commit to a wife you can kick out anytime then don't live in Thailand or many other places.

Why is this so complicated? It is no like they changed the laws here all of a sudden. Anyone planning a life here should know these things. Nobody is forcing you to have a Thai wife and family and/or live in Thailand let alone buy a home. By the way, you can buy a condo or rent/lease a house.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Nisa

[Thai at Heart]

I have no idea but it would seem the story is BS from top to bottom. I did a search for this guys name on the internet and this is not the first time he has made what appears to be paranoid false claims about foreign land ownership. Check out these Google Search Results that include claims of 90% foreign ownership of Phucket's shores to claims of deportation of foreign land owners. The guy simply appears to be a nutter attached to one cause .. don't we have some of these in all our home countries?

Maybe his missus took half the marital assets and married a foreigner..........

[Nisa]

I have no idea but it would seem the story is BS from top to bottom. I did a search for this guys name on the internet and this is not the first time he has made what appears to be paranoid false claims about foreign land ownership. Check out these Google Search Results that include claims of 90% foreign ownership of Phucket's shores to claims of deportation of foreign land owners. The guy simply appears to be a nutter attached to one cause .. don't we have some of these in all our home countries?

Maybe his missus took half the marital assets and married a foreigner..........

I though maybe he was trying to appease the anti-immigrant/foreigner crowd but have a feeling you are probably much closer to the truth.

[gosompoi]

General Paton said one word that sums it up, "Nuts!"

[takatukaland]

What utter crap 1/3rd of all Thailand foreign owned. Why all the paranoia anyway??

Seriously what would make life much easier for Thailand is if they allowed qualifying retirees with retirement visas the right to own say even up to half a rai of land (surely enough for genuine retirement home use) for a retirement home. Come on now why do they not use their brains and realise that this would hardly impact probably no more than 0.0001% at most of Thai land ownership and save them a lot of time for chasing up the foreign (and Thai) land sharks that are indeed doing Thailand no good at all. Like most Thais and foreigners too I really hate these land sharks who spend their lives ripping other folk off to make more and more millions of dollars off of the backs of decent folk and anyway more than they could hardly spend in a lifetime. Greedy bastards IMHO and leeches on decent society. Sure I must add that there are also decent and non shark honest land dealers but they seem to be getting a smaller and smaller percentage these days. Either way it is time that the Thai authorities got their priorities right and legally separated these big commercial land operators from the huge majority of foreign retirees and work permit holders who just want to honestly own their own residence with a small practical bit of land (say up to half a Rai).

One thing that I fail to understand if a Thai wife owns the land for her and her foreigner husband where is the law being broken there as the land is then fully Thai owned surely ????????????? It is a method I would never use as with most retirees their home is probably their only asset left in life so why risk it as ANY wife whatever you may think today could just decide to kick you out and divorce you and then legally just keep all the land and home you paid for, a bit silly to let this happen IMHO. I trusted two UK wives before and one ripped me off the the other was decent and split it all 50/50 (and indeed she put in 50% in the first place) but why do so many falangs still risk losing everything here ???? If the Thai law allowed I would happily make the ownership of my home here 50/50 with my Thai wife who I have been with for 8 years and although she put in none of the original money she has put a lot of work and effort into our home and brought with her owned earned income many things for it too and for sure when I die it all rightly goes to her.

A Thai law allowing small land ownership by foreign retirees for a retirement home was I understand proposed by the pre Thaksin Democrat Government but never had time to get passed and not ratified by Thaksin of course who only loves foreigners when he needs them to help keep him away from jail !!! Visa qualifying retirees are good for Thailand as we all know bringing in good hard cash every month and generally helping the Thai people and economy. Retirement home ownership is highly encouraged in almost all other countries that are capable of sensible thought and planning. There are of course other foreigners who should also be allowed to own a small area of land for their personal residence like under 50s who have retired early or those on work permits but that is another subject, but the foreign retirement land ownership issue is easy and safe to implement in law and in Thailand's interests too.

I disagree as one of the things I disliked about the UK was the way so much of the 'wealthy' part of London was owned by foreigners.

Those of us who retire here have the option of renting or leasing. This helps the Thai economy without pushing up land prices to ridiculous levels whereby the average local can no longer afford to buy any land.

Come on now I am talking of a ridiculously tiny percentage of land if say retirees were allowed to own only up to half a Rai of land for a single retirement home subject to their meeting the normal Thai Retirement visa requirements and thus being a fully legal long stay retiree here. This would OBVIOUSLY have NO real impact on Thai land prices (maybe in a few small localised popular retirement areas but not overall land prices in Thailand) at all as far too small area of land involved. I am NOT talking about the huge amounts of land involved with foreign land dealing sharks. I also still say if land is brought fully in the name of a Thai wife then NO law is being broken surely as it is still 100% Thai owned and not even exploiting any loophole either.

Not that sure,i think a while ago Thai lady who married farang,lost the right to own land,

[Thai at Heart]

I have no idea but it would seem the story is BS from top to bottom. I did a search for this guys name on the internet and this is not the first time he has made what appears to be paranoid false claims about foreign land ownership. Check out these Google Search Results that include claims of 90% foreign ownership of Phucket's shores to claims of deportation of foreign land owners. The guy simply appears to be a nutter attached to one cause .. don't we have some of these in all our home countries?

Maybe his missus took half the marital assets and married a foreigner..........

I though maybe he was trying to appease the anti-immigrant/foreigner crowd but have a feeling you are probably much closer to the truth.

Well, when he makes a statement, he definitely doesn't hold back, so there is some other motive hidden in there somewhere

[Brewsta]

OMG

Time to move to Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, or Cambodia, who all encourage foreign devils to invest in land.

It reminds me of Switzerland in the 1960's when the German hordes were stealing our beautiful Alps.

Fortunately, that huge injection of capital made our poor little country, with fewer inhabitants than Bangkok, so rich that we can now buy it back at a discount.

That off course will never happen in Thailand, because the money from land sales will go straight to Switzerland.

The big difference is that we invested our windfall gains in a world class education system and lean, efficient bureaucracy, while Thailand invests it in Mercedes-Benz's, Swiss watches and smart London apartments.

Please keep up the good work..

'Bought' my ChiangMai house quite legally several years ago with my Thai wife signing usufrucht

(allowing foreigner rez for life; no changes to property or sale of same without Falang written approval)..

.......sticky wicket 4 the zealous Thai EnfArcement Brigade, methinks.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Brewsta

[ralphlsasser]

OMG

Time to move to Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, or Cambodia, who all encourage foreign devils to invest in land.

It reminds me of Switzerland in the 1960's when the German hordes were stealing our beautiful Alps.

Fortunately, that huge injection of capital made our poor little country, with fewer inhabitants than Bangkok, so rich that we can now buy it back at a discount.

That off course will never happen in Thailand, because the money from land sales will go straight to Switzerland.

The big difference is that we invested our windfall gains in a world class education system and lean, efficient bureaucracy, while Thailand invests it in Mercedes-Benz's, Swiss watches and smart London apartments.

Please keep up the good work..

Don't forget motorcycles and gambling. One of my neighbors told me that the neighbor on the other side of my house was "rery wich" because he owned 4 motorcycles and only two had payments left on them. He said he "got it all from gambling."

[Reasonableman]

AT no point did I say a foreigner could become a citizen or permanent resident by sitting on their a*se, it is a long and involved process.

And having gone through all that, and been granted permanent residency, you should have the right to buy and own enough land to live on, and build a home to live in. Especially those with Thai families and dependants!

If you are a citizen you can buy land. If you are not a citizen then nothing is preventing a foreigner, legally in the country, with a Thai family from building and living in a home with their Thai family. The property just needs to be in one of their Thai family's name.

It may be a dismissive "just" to you, but then it's not you doing it. Perhaps if you have experienced relationship break-ups you could begin to get some idea of what happens and how devastating it can be psychologically and financially. Many men don't want to run that risk, and why should they be forced to, by being required to give all their life-time accumulated assets to someone else on trust alone, with no safeguards whatsoever?

Be it my ex in the US or my wife in Thailand ... I expect to loose at least 50% of what I/we have acquired in the marriage. In the US when I had kids and a house, I certainly didn't expect to get the house and expected my wife to remain in the house with the kids. So, lets no be so over dramatic.

But if you are that worried about your finances upon a possible break-up then don't marry a Thai girl and live in Thailand. No different than if you have strong Christian values you want to pass on to your kids then don't marry a Jew or a Muslim. If your big concern is having a skinny wife then stay away from one with fat parents or that eats a lot and sits on their a@@ all day.

If you don't want to buy a house for the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and aren't willing to allow her to keep that house if you break-up then don't buy the house. If you want to buy a house and commit to a wife you can kick out anytime then don't live in Thailand or many other places.

Why is this so complicated? It is no like they changed the laws here all of a sudden. Anyone planning a life here should know these things. Nobody is forcing you to have a Thai wife and family and/or live in Thailand let alone buy a home. By the way, you can buy a condo or rent/lease a house.

I guess that's the difference... if some people feel strongly that something is wrong and needs changing, they try to change it, while others are content to accept the status quo. I wonder how many foreigners know about, or even think about, the real estate law when they fall in love with a Thai and marry one. It should be compulsory reading for all.

BTW, the "wife you can kick out anytime" slur was beneath contempt. You should be truly ashamed of that remark. You must be mixing in the wrong circles.

[ericthai]

As a rule, I try to keep out of politics in my host country of 20 years, but here is an issue that requires action.

I believe it is time for us Thaivisa readers/contributors to lobby political representatives in our various homelands for a cause about which many of us feel passionate.

The cause is reciprocal rights for property ownership. If a Thai may own property, to a reasonable extent, in our homeland, then we expect the same right in Thailand.

Write to your political representatives in your various homelands to address this huge injustice. Ambassadors, Bundestag delegates, MP's, etc, but really.... this is quite unacceptable.

I am not talking about the right to buy 1000 rai of prime farmland, but at least the right to own a personal residential property in one's own name, especially if a Thai family is involved

I am quite certain that this cause will gain traction if enough TV readers spend 20 minutes doing what NEEDS to be done.

So you think the Thai's are going to bow down if a foreign govt ask them to rework the rules. Don't think so. Don't you know by now that Thai's don't like foreigners telling them what to do? After 20 years you should know better. I have been here a little more than 1/2 that time and know Thai's wont listen to foreigners. Don't worry about this, it's comes up every few years or so, they might act on one or two properties and then all will go quite again. As long as you don't own i would say 50 or 100+ rai i wouldn't worry, if you did everything the correct and legal way then you have nothing to worry about.

[IAMSOBAD]

They love our money while they smile in our faces. The minute the deal is done and the ink is not yet dry...their mouth opens and their smile turns to true hatred.

No place on earth treats the Golden Goose so shittty.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[Reasonableman]

As a rule, I try to keep out of politics in my host country of 20 years, but here is an issue that requires action.

I believe it is time for us Thaivisa readers/contributors to lobby political representatives in our various homelands for a cause about which many of us feel passionate.

The cause is reciprocal rights for property ownership. If a Thai may own property, to a reasonable extent, in our homeland, then we expect the same right in Thailand.

Write to your political representatives in your various homelands to address this huge injustice. Ambassadors, Bundestag delegates, MP's, etc, but really.... this is quite unacceptable.

I am not talking about the right to buy 1000 rai of prime farmland, but at least the right to own a personal residential property in one's own name, especially if a Thai family is involved

I am quite certain that this cause will gain traction if enough TV readers spend 20 minutes doing what NEEDS to be done.

So you think the Thai's are going to bow down if a foreign govt ask them to rework the rules. Don't think so. Don't you know by now that Thai's don't like foreigners telling them what to do? After 20 years you should know better. I have been here a little more than 1/2 that time and know Thai's wont listen to foreigners. Don't worry about this, it's comes up every few years or so, they might act on one or two properties and then all will go quite again. As long as you don't own i would say 50 or 100+ rai i wouldn't worry, if you did everything the correct and legal way then you have nothing to worry about.

You may well be quite right, but rolling over and playing dead isn't advancing the issue much, is it?

[Theoutsider]

Go luck with that land tax, that might affect the hi-so so it will be a no go.

The wifes has her own land and she will pay for the new house build is that ok?

[23962323]

OMG

Time to move to Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, or Cambodia, who all encourage foreign devils to invest in land.

It reminds me of Switzerland in the 1960's when the German hordes were stealing our beautiful Alps.

Fortunately, that huge injection of capital made our poor little country, with fewer inhabitants than Bangkok, so rich that we can now buy it back at a discount.

That off course will never happen in Thailand, because the money from land sales will go straight to Switzerland.

The big difference is that we invested our windfall gains in a world class education system and lean, efficient bureaucracy, while Thailand invests it in Mercedes-Benz's, Swiss watches and smart London apartments.

Please keep up the good work..

'Bought' my ChiangMai house quite legally several years ago with my Thai wife signing usufrucht

(allowing foreigner rez for life; no changes to property or sale of same without Falang written approval)..

.......sticky wicket 4 the zealous Thai EnfArcement Brigade, methinks.

Thailand's government was going to do something eventually on the land ownership issue,it was just when,I think this time things will happen,it has happened before in other places and surely will happen here Unfortunately Thailand is not held high in any regard,it is high of up there in levels of corruption,money laundering,basically a rogue state,so to expect any sympathy in basically a no-no

Think you will go for your 12 month renewal and bye bye,anything or anybody giving difficulty they will get of shut pronto

[swerver]

Owned OR in the name of …

Let’s get this straight; there is a difference in OWNING and IN THE NAME OF…

What has been going on since the end of WW II is that foreigners - beginning as always with the Yanks - marry a Thai demimondaine (Thai Style or Legal at the Amphon, more recent has to be the Amphon because the now computerized Thai Land Office asks for Thai Marriage Certificate), the foreigner put up the money, the Thai demimondaine put up the name?

Let’s stay close to home, after the end of WW II an US military boob-man picked up a big boob Thai demimondaine whose parent farmed a plot of land in Rayong Province - didn’t own the land, just settled on it and did self-sustaining farming - never paid a copper 25-satang tax because rightfully so they never had any monetary income.

The Yank spotted a hunk of land along Sukhumvit Road in the vicinity of Pattaya, got the money from the US which he gave to the demimondaine - he did stay out of the way, after all Thai women know everything better - the demimondaine bought the land and all Thai Land Office paperwork was registered in HER name.

With the Vietnam War rolling, making money the Yank got some more money from home in the US, gave it to the demimondaine and she built the … Court (sort of an American Motel). When North Vietnam defeated the Americans and all the high rollers went back home to the US the … Court nearly went bankrupt. When the high rolling days in Thailand returned in the seventies the … Court was dozed down and shop-houses in a blind end street was build in its place. When the money really started to roll in the eighties and money was easy to get in Europe some Skandehovian came along with a sack full of it and bought the shopping street.

That was the end of the Yank and his demimondaine in Thailand; they left for the Land of Milk and Honey US of A.

Really it wasn’t the end of the Yank and his Thai demimondaine - good old GREED and Thai demimondaines know best reared its ugly head - he had taken all the loot, changed it in US$ then when Thailand opened up the banking system (as it wants to do again now 2012) with 10 – 15% interest they brought everything back to Thailand and converted it in Thai Baht. When he was told that things could not go on like this in Thailand his demimondaine knew better, so he transferred more US$ for converting to Thai Baht. Then Thailand got monkey face to drive the government bus straight over the cliff into the financial ravine, including the Yank and his money.

But luck was with him, America had made the Shah of Iran the policeman of the Middle East, so he got himself a job in Iran working on the Shah’s projects. And after America had no use for the Shah as a friend any longer, the Yank transferred to Saudi Arabia trying to recover what monkey face had lost for him.

What this all comes down to is that the Thai Internal Revenue Dept. never in all these years and multiple transactions in the Thai Gov. Land Office the demimondaine and her parents who some of the property was in their name ever got questioned; how can people that never before owned a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out off make all these High Stake money transactions? Particularly in the case of her parents who most of their life lived in a “flattened out American GI Coors Beer Can Hut” as squatters in the Rayong Province.

As for Auditor-General Srirachai Charoenpanit, he is barking up the wrong stump. There are very few foreigners who own Thai land in their name by them self. There are a good number of foreigners who own land in condominium so what can the foreigner do with that land. I.e. own a couple properties, each with two other people in condominium, so there is no way in the world 1/3 of that land can be pulled out from under that property. Even one better, a piece of property owned 279 in condominium. Ever tried to get 278 people to agree on something? Again the foreigner cannot do anything with Thai land. As for Thai farm land, there isn’t a foreigner one that owns Thai farm land OUTRIGHT.

You want to learn about Thai shenanigans with Thai farm land go to Rangsit and you will find the biggest shenanigan in Thailand in farm land going all the way back to the nineteenth century days, all you need to start with is the name: Thewetwongsawiwat and The Borisat Co. The foreigner who brought the shenanigans out in the open was thrown out of Thailand persona non grata. His name: Homan van der Heide.

[Theoutsider]

I don't think foreigners should be able to own land, have you see how cheap it is. Ok the exchange rate had gone down a bit but the country will be bought up pretty quick.

[mrdome]

Have any arrests actually happened, ever? Seems to be targeted at fellow Asian nationals, mostly.

[webfact]

Phuket Gazette: Foreigners own 100 million rai

Phuket Gazette

Aerial shot of Patong beach, Phuket. Photo: Nicky Vermeulen

PHUKET MEDIA WATCH

– Thailand news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket's international community

Foreigners own 100 million rai

PHUKET (The Nation): -- Some 100 million rai of Thailand is owned by foreigners, mostly through their Thai spouses or nominees, Auditor-General Sriracha Charoenpanit revealed yesterday.

He said if this situation was "unresolved", it could lead to later generations of Thais having no land to live on.

Sriracha told a seminar on concealed juristic acts yesterday that threats to national security came from: firstly, drug problems ruining people's lives, and secondly, the lack of land for future generations, as foreigners now owned a third of Thailand - about 100 million rai.

It was a long-standing issue that resulted from a policy in 1997 to stimulate the economy by giving a special right of land ownership to foreigners with one million US dollars, he said. Some 90 per cent of coastal land at Ban Phe Beach in Rayong was foreign-owned, and foreigners owned about 30 per cent of Hua Hin and Pattaya.

Land deals were done in ways such as via marriage with Thais or setting up a Thai-based company which allows foreigners to hold up to 49 per cent of the shares. Indeed, he said, many companies let them hold the other 51 per cent through nominees.

Sriracha called for a limit on land owned by foreign residents and said the land tax should be hiked to promote the use of land, although doing this might be difficult, as the rich would object.

As a long-term solution, he urged the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to look into foreign land ownership and give rewards to people who help police arrest those who break the law.

National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) lecturer Piyanuch Potawanich warned that the launch of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 would lead to more foreigners using nominees to own Thai land, especially Singaporeans, who were smart, had money and needed to invest for profit. Among many solutions, she also urged laws to punish nominees and deport any foreigners who do wrong.

Land Department executive Sujit Jongprasert admitted that finding nominees for foreigners who buy land wasn't easy. Meanwhile AMLO chief Pol Colonel Sihanat Prayoonrat said his agency only checked land transactions that involved over 2 million baht in cash, so many buyers reduced the payment to avoid having to report such deals.

This follows the news reported in July 2011 where the Land Dept claimed 90% of prime Phuket land was controlled by foreigners.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12574.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-03-13

[arrowsdawdle]

OMG

Time to move to Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, or Cambodia, who all encourage foreign devils to invest in land.

It reminds me of Switzerland in the 1960's when the German hordes were stealing our beautiful Alps.

Fortunately, that huge injection of capital made our poor little country, with fewer inhabitants than Bangkok, so rich that we can now buy it back at a discount.

That off course will never happen in Thailand, because the money from land sales will go straight to Switzerland.

The big difference is that we invested our windfall gains in a world class education system and lean, efficient bureaucracy, while Thailand invests it in Mercedes-Benz's, Swiss watches and smart London apartments.

Please keep up the good work..

'Bought' my ChiangMai house quite legally several years ago with my Thai wife signing usufrucht

(allowing foreigner rez for life; no changes to property or sale of same without Falang written approval)..

.......sticky wicket 4 the zealous Thai EnfArcement Brigade, methinks.

Sticky wicket or accident waiting to happen?

[Roj]

Maybe one day with a Red Thailand they`ll carry out Zimbabwe style land grabs. There are a number of PTP/Red politicians who have had business dealings in Zimbabwe and continue to do so including the Big Boss. Morals and principles don`t even register on their radar.

[Tatsujin]

Most interesting part of the Phuket Gazette article:

she also urged laws to punish nominees and deport any foreigners who do wrong

Whether they follow through on any of this remains to be seen, but I for one would not want to have bought any land, houses or other property here through the dodgy company route.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Tatsujin

[bigbamboo]

Crackdown of the week time. Party on.

Yep, Asean's crackdown hub.

[Reasonableman]

http://www.thaivisa....d-human-rights/

Sayamol Krayurawong, director of the Project for the Fostering of Ecological Consciousness... said she's worried about how small farmers who rent land will be affected when Asean moves toward a single market in 2015. She said 59 per cent of farmers have to rent land for farming, and multi-national corporations could exploit the situation, leading to many farmers being pushed into becoming factory workers.

• According to the report, 59% of farmers already do not own their land. So who does? Is it the foreign devils, who are depriving Thais of their land? or others, perhaps?
  

Edited March 13, 2012 by Reasonableman

[bigbamboo]

Owned OR in the name of …

Let’s get this straight; there is a difference in OWNING and IN THE NAME OF…

What has been going on since the end of WW II is that foreigners - beginning as always with the Yanks - marry a Thai demimondaine (Thai Style or Legal at the Amphon, more recent has to be the Amphon because the now computerized Thai Land Office asks for Thai Marriage Certificate), the foreigner put up the money, the Thai demimondaine put up the name?

Let’s stay close to home, after the end of WW II an US military boob-man picked up a big boob Thai demimondaine whose parent farmed a plot of land in Rayong Province - didn’t own the land, just settled on it and did self-sustaining farming - never paid a copper 25-satang tax because rightfully so they never had any monetary income.

The Yank spotted a hunk of land along Sukhumvit Road in the vicinity of Pattaya, got the money from the US which he gave to the demimondaine - he did stay out of the way, after all Thai women know everything better - the demimondaine bought the land and all Thai Land Office paperwork was registered in HER name.

With the Vietnam War rolling, making money the Yank got some more money from home in the US, gave it to the demimondaine and she built the … Court (sort of an American Motel). When North Vietnam defeated the Americans and all the high rollers went back home to the US the … Court nearly went bankrupt. When the high rolling days in Thailand returned in the seventies the … Court was dozed down and shop-houses in a blind end street was build in its place. When the money really started to roll in the eighties and money was easy to get in Europe some Skandehovian came along with a sack full of it and bought the shopping street.

That was the end of the Yank and his demimondaine in Thailand; they left for the Land of Milk and Honey US of A.

Really it wasn’t the end of the Yank and his Thai demimondaine - good old GREED and Thai demimondaines know best reared its ugly head - he had taken all the loot, changed it in US$ then when Thailand opened up the banking system (as it wants to do again now 2012) with 10 – 15% interest they brought everything back to Thailand and converted it in Thai Baht. When he was told that things could not go on like this in Thailand his demimondaine knew better, so he transferred more US$ for converting to Thai Baht. Then Thailand got monkey face to drive the government bus straight over the cliff into the financial ravine, including the Yank and his money.

But luck was with him, America had made the Shah of Iran the policeman of the Middle East, so he got himself a job in Iran working on the Shah’s projects. And after America had no use for the Shah as a friend any longer, the Yank transferred to Saudi Arabia trying to recover what monkey face had lost for him.

What this all comes down to is that the Thai Internal Revenue Dept. never in all these years and multiple transactions in the Thai Gov. Land Office the demimondaine and her parents who some of the property was in their name ever got questioned; how can people that never before owned a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out off make all these High Stake money transactions? Particularly in the case of her parents who most of their life lived in a “flattened out American GI Coors Beer Can Hut” as squatters in the Rayong Province.

As for Auditor-General Srirachai Charoenpanit, he is barking up the wrong stump. There are very few foreigners who own Thai land in their name by them self. There are a good number of foreigners who own land in condominium so what can the foreigner do with that land. I.e. own a couple properties, each with two other people in condominium, so there is no way in the world 1/3 of that land can be pulled out from under that property. Even one better, a piece of property owned 279 in condominium. Ever tried to get 278 people to agree on something? Again the foreigner cannot do anything with Thai land. As for Thai farm land, there isn’t a foreigner one that owns Thai farm land OUTRIGHT.

You want to learn about Thai shenanigans with Thai farm land go to Rangsit and you will find the biggest shenanigan in Thailand in farm land going all the way back to the nineteenth century days, all you need to start with is the name: Thewetwongsawiwat and The Borisat Co. The foreigner who brought the shenanigans out in the open was thrown out of Thailand persona non grata. His name: Homan van der Heide.

Demimondaine!......Congratulations, you win the TV award for 'Word of the Week'!