New Draconian Property Law To Deport Foreigners Who "Owns" Land Illegally

[mrdome]

Time to move. I hear Cambodia is nice.

Yes, I think it is nice - if you can get over the lack in development - and still at the top of my list for future retiring places. Of course, you cannot own land there either.

[kanderson]

there will be some asses twitching over this one,,,lol

Thanks for a good laugh - asses twitching. I gotta remember that one.

[silsburyhill]

When will these people ever grow the fck up/get their collective heads out of their collective <deleted> and try, really try, to understand that IF they want all their ridiculous 'Whip Up The Xenophobia' schemes to ever truly work (to the chagrin of the many Thai landowners/'lawyers' ad bloody infinitum), then ... 'BRING IT ON'! Orrrrr, punish these THAI landowners/THAI land officials/THAI lawyers/accountants also. See where you get. Choke bloody dee.

[Arkady]

Trouble is that the wealthy Thai elite that own the majority of land and hold most of the wealth are happy with the status quo. They are the ruling class and everything is designed to keep it that way. Emacipating the poor just isn't on anyones agenda. (especially the Thaksins mob ) Having foreign money passing into poor rural families hands through marriage just isn't on. Well maybe okay if they spend it on whiskey and gambling but not if they use it to educate their children and start businesses.. The land owning/ruling classes ran Europe this way for hundreds of years.

Are you saying that Thailand is still feudal but that the immigrant Chinese merchants have replaced the Siamese nobles?

[trogers]

Time to move. I hear Cambodia is nice.

Yes, I think it is nice - if you can get over the lack in development - and still at the top of my list for future retiring places. Of course, you cannot own land there either.

Oh but you can 'own' land in Cambodia presently...using similar methods as those being employed in Thailand...

[beachyman]

That's the best part about it.. It keeps all the chav's away. Actually compared to buying an 8 million baht house that you can't actually own. The piffling 180,000USD you need to qualify for the Malaysian scheme is a bargain.. Unless of course you don't have 180K..

Keeping the chavs away may indeed be desirable, but paying 180KUSD or whatever to live in Malaysia is only a bargain if you actually like it there and cant think of anywhere better to go.

Seriously... you would have to pay me that amount for me to consider living there. Now singapore is a different story.

Sent from my GT-P6200L using Thaivisa Connect App

[Arkady]

Changing the land laws here is a very lengthy and complicated business, and just because one guy says he is drafting new laws, there is absolutely no reason to assume that anything is going to change any time soon – if ever.

There are so many obstacles to overcome, including partisan ‘fights to the death’ by opposing political parties on anything that smacks of controversial legislation that in all probability, it will die a death like all previous land reform proposals.

This whole thing has nothing to do with the government at this stage. The ombudsman (not even the chief ombudsman) who claims to be drafting the legislation is not a legislator and has no right to submit anything before parliament. The Pheua Thai Party is gunning for him as he has criticized the party over the "unity" bills and criticized Yingluck personally for appointing ministers and other officials with even more sleazy backgrounds than is usual in Thailand. He is already accused by Pheua Thai of interfering in the parliamentary process over his remarks on the "unity" bills. So it seems unlikely that they would adopt any legislation proposed by him as their own. It is more likely that he is just trying to garner support on an issue that is irrationally emotional for Thais by putting it up as an example of legislation he things the government should be table instead of the "unity" bills which will likely esult in abolishing the Office of the Ombudsman and other checks and balances introduced by the 1997 constitution Thaksin professes to love so much. Blahhing on about foreigners owning land is a great way to get attention in the Thai media and garner support from Thais of all shirt colours.

Edited June 30, 2012 by Arkady

[Arkady]

Time to move. I hear Cambodia is nice.

Yes, I think it is nice - if you can get over the lack in development - and still at the top of my list for future retiring places. Of course, you cannot own land there either.

Oh but you can 'own' land in Cambodia presently...using similar methods as those being employed in Thailand...

You can also purchase Cambodian citizenship for less than US$50,000 paid into the right pockets.

[cheeryble]

SUBSTANTIVE POST

Thankyou Mobi and Naam for two of the rare substantive posts among a sea of opinion

I agree about your lukewarm fart Naam.

However last night I was rather shocked by something that has real meaning.

A friend who is pretty experienced about property here (CM) told me the Land Dept was now not registering usufructs.

I objected that a boss at a back desk at Mae Rim had himself suggested a usufruct (sit ti gep gin) just last year. My friend seemed confident this ban on usufructs had been so for about 6 months. His deals mostly with CM or Hang Dong office I guess not sure if this is a blanket ban or just confined to one office.

Can anyone substantiate?

Cheeryble

[SouthernMan3]

Why dont they just tattoo us all.....................oh hang on thats been done before, Im sure Mrs and Mrs "wev'e been married 20 yrs" will appreciate more crap like this whilst the real big business will just grease more palms

Why dont they just tattoo us all.....................oh hang on thats been done before, Im sure Mrs and Mrs "wev'e been married 20 yrs" will appreciate more crap like this whilst the real big business will just grease more palms

Great pun.

Grease-Palm-Oil

[SouthernMan3]

Time to move. I hear Cambodia is nice.

Yes, I think it is nice - if you can get over the lack in development - and still at the top of my list for future retiring places. Of course, you cannot own land there either.

Oh but you can 'own' land in Cambodia presently...using similar methods as those being employed in Thailand...

You can also purchase Cambodian citizenship for less than US$50,000 paid into the right pockets.

And not Thai ?

[SouthernMan3]

As far as I know any Thai person (or any other nationality) can go to the UK and buy land, the only clause as far as I know is the person must have enough money.

I don’t see why Thailand has to be so protective. Anyone know what psychological reason is behind the reasoning? or is it just a KHON THAI chest beating thing? "You falang you not KHON THAI you not understand... I Thai give me more whisky"... grunt grunt...

You don't see why.

Well, here's an example.

What percentage of California is owned by non-Americans ?

A <deleted>' hell of a lot !

More than is owned by U.S. citizens i do believe.....

[SouthernMan3]

Time to move. I hear Cambodia is nice.

Yes in Cambodia you dont need a work permit,Can stay 1 year .Start up a bussines. They welcome foriegn investment with no restictions. Get bussines visa without leaving the country. New start for many i know.

Bye bye and good luck.

[Fozfromoz]

That's the best part about it.. It keeps all the chav's away. Actually compared to buying an 8 million baht house that you can't actually own. The piffling 180,000USD you need to qualify for the Malaysian scheme is a bargain.. Unless of course you don't have 180K..

Keeping the chavs away may indeed be desirable, but paying 180KUSD or whatever to live in Malaysia is only a bargain if you actually like it there and cant think of anywhere better to go.

Seriously... you would have to pay me that amount for me to consider living there. Now singapore is a different story.

Sent from my GT-P6200L using Thaivisa Connect App

Mate..............Trust me, 180k in Singapore wouldn't buy a weatherboard shithouse in swampland in Singapore. That money would last a couple of Months just getting around

[elektrified]

"The new law includes a reward to anyone providing information about foreigners owning land through nominees. They will get 20% of the market price of that piece of land as a reward after the plot is sold,"

Are foreigners eligible for this reward... if so, I think I'll be dam_n rich pretty fast by providing infos :-)

I'm sure this will open up many new jobs for informers; both Thai and farang.

[samsiam]

"The new law includes a reward to anyone providing information about foreigners owning land through nominees. They will get 20% of the market price of that piece of land as a reward after the plot is sold,"

Are foreigners eligible for this reward... if so, I think I'll be dam_n rich pretty fast by providing infos :-)

I'm sure this will open up many new jobs for informers; both Thai and farang.

I imagine the 5k hit squads will also get a roarin trade not so long afterwards........so look out neighbours....won't be all woses.

[thaibeachlovers]

I've never understood why any farang buys property in LOS anyway.

If no one did, it would certainly cut down the number of posts from guys that bought their "wife" a house and then got kicked out.

I just don't get why anyone would want to "own" a place when renting is so cheap, and why take the chance of ending up next door to an all night karaoke, and not being able to move on!

[Unkomoncents]

Thailand is no longer a poor country so the laws should be reciprocal - if you can't own land as a foreigner in Thailand then a Thai shouldn't be able to own it in your country either.

The Thais have got it right,the west has got it wrong.

Which explains precisely why they are concerned about foreign ownership.

[Unkomoncents]

I've never understood why any farang buys property in LOS anyway.

If no one did, it would certainly cut down the number of posts from guys that bought their "wife" a house and then got kicked out.

I just don't get why anyone would want to "own" a place when renting is so cheap, and why take the chance of ending up next door to an all night karaoke, and not being able to move on!

In economic terms, it's funny to look at rental prices and buy prices in contrast. In many cases, it will take decades to pay off the loans required to purchase property in Thailand. Buy prices are far higher than they should be and Thailand showed that, during the 1997 financial crisis, supply does not effect pricing where demand occurs (prices staid the same). If you love the Kingdom, well, then, buy. For those who care about basic economics, Malaysia, and other SE Asian countries offer much better incentives. My wife was just told by a condo salesman to wait one or two years for the condo market to become so oversaturated that, despite the cultural factors, prices WILL fall.

[crazydrummerpauly]

I've never understood why any farang buys property in LOS anyway.

If no one did, it would certainly cut down the number of posts from guys that bought their "wife" a house and then got kicked out.

I just don't get why anyone would want to "own" a place when renting is so cheap, and why take the chance of ending up next door to an all night karaoke, and not being able to move on!

Yep - it's been said countless times and is still as wise as the first time - particularly the part about ending up with crap neighbours - the all-night karaoke could be the least of one's worries - ending up in a soi with a load of light-fingered thai neighbours can seriously damage your bank-balance! Thai lawyers i've spoken to over the years have said exactly the same thing : 'Don't Buy, Rent!'. As to WHY foreigners keep on buying - two main reasons : i) the relative cheapness of property compared to back home; ii), wanting to please the little lady and her family - 'If you leally loved me you buy me house...'. Recently, a greenhorn farang arrived in town, met a girl, got taken all over the place to see 'her' bits of land that they could build on....(no PROOF that she owned one square meter of anything!)...last thing i heard he was off back home about 1 Million baht poorer than when her arrived 6 months before. Whatever anyone writes here on TV about the risks, they still keep coming, leaving their brains at Swampy (assuming they had any to start with), and falling under the influence of - well, just take a quick look at the two ads for Thai girls on this page...pretty much irresistible eh ?

[thaibeachlovers]

I've never understood why any farang buys property in LOS anyway.

If no one did, it would certainly cut down the number of posts from guys that bought their "wife" a house and then got kicked out.

I just don't get why anyone would want to "own" a place when renting is so cheap, and why take the chance of ending up next door to an all night karaoke, and not being able to move on!

In economic terms, it's funny to look at rental prices and buy prices in contrast. In many cases, it will take decades to pay off the loans required to purchase property in Thailand. Buy prices are far higher than they should be and Thailand showed that, during the 1997 financial crisis, supply does not effect pricing where demand occurs (prices staid the same). If you love the Kingdom, well, then, buy. For those who care about basic economics, Malaysia, and other SE Asian countries offer much better incentives. My wife was just told by a condo salesman to wait one or two years for the condo market to become so oversaturated that, despite the cultural factors, prices WILL fall.

I "love" Thailand, but I'd never BUY anything property wise.

[thaibeachlovers]

I've never understood why any farang buys property in LOS anyway.

If no one did, it would certainly cut down the number of posts from guys that bought their "wife" a house and then got kicked out.

I just don't get why anyone would want to "own" a place when renting is so cheap, and why take the chance of ending up next door to an all night karaoke, and not being able to move on!

Yep - it's been said countless times and is still as wise as the first time - particularly the part about ending up with crap neighbours - the all-night karaoke could be the least of one's worries - ending up in a soi with a load of light-fingered thai neighbours can seriously damage your bank-balance! Thai lawyers i've spoken to over the years have said exactly the same thing : 'Don't Buy, Rent!'. As to WHY foreigners keep on buying - two main reasons : i) the relative cheapness of property compared to back home; ii), wanting to please the little lady and her family - 'If you leally loved me you buy me house...'. Recently, a greenhorn farang arrived in town, met a girl, got taken all over the place to see 'her' bits of land that they could build on....(no PROOF that she owned one square meter of anything!)...last thing i heard he was off back home about 1 Million baht poorer than when her arrived 6 months before. Whatever anyone writes here on TV about the risks, they still keep coming, leaving their brains at Swampy (assuming they had any to start with), and falling under the influence of - well, just take a quick look at the two ads for Thai girls on this page...pretty much irresistible eh ?

If a guy is so smitten that he willingly hands over his life savings to someone that he doesn't really, and probably never will, know, then the Romans had the right words- caveat emptor!

Ads for Thai ladies- yes indeedy. They are hot hot hot!

Just as well I never met one of them in the Gogo, I'd probably be penniless and living in a state house back home by now had I done so. There's something about those Thai girls that will part a man's money from their wallet in a heartbeat, LOL!

[Unkomoncents]

I've never understood why any farang buys property in LOS anyway.

If no one did, it would certainly cut down the number of posts from guys that bought their "wife" a house and then got kicked out.

I just don't get why anyone would want to "own" a place when renting is so cheap, and why take the chance of ending up next door to an all night karaoke, and not being able to move on!

In economic terms, it's funny to look at rental prices and buy prices in contrast. In many cases, it will take decades to pay off the loans required to purchase property in Thailand. Buy prices are far higher than they should be and Thailand showed that, during the 1997 financial crisis, supply does not effect pricing where demand occurs (prices staid the same). If you love the Kingdom, well, then, buy. For those who care about basic economics, Malaysia, and other SE Asian countries offer much better incentives. My wife was just told by a condo salesman to wait one or two years for the condo market to become so oversaturated that, despite the cultural factors, prices WILL fall.

I "love" Thailand, but I'd never BUY anything property wise.

There's a saying: if you want to make a small fortune in Thailand, bring a large one. I don't "love" Thailand. It's just is another country...another place to put up. Investment-wise, you are smart. No wealthy Thai invests in condos. You only see the middle-class/farang market satisfied by this phenomenon.

Edited June 30, 2012 by Unkomoncents

[crazydrummerpauly]

I've never understood why any farang buys property in LOS anyway.

If no one did, it would certainly cut down the number of posts from guys that bought their "wife" a house and then got kicked out.

I just don't get why anyone would want to "own" a place when renting is so cheap, and why take the chance of ending up next door to an all night karaoke, and not being able to move on!

In economic terms, it's funny to look at rental prices and buy prices in contrast. In many cases, it will take decades to pay off the loans required to purchase property in Thailand. Buy prices are far higher than they should be and Thailand showed that, during the 1997 financial crisis, supply does not effect pricing where demand occurs (prices staid the same). If you love the Kingdom, well, then, buy. For those who care about basic economics, Malaysia, and other SE Asian countries offer much better incentives. My wife was just told by a condo salesman to wait one or two years for the condo market to become so oversaturated that, despite the cultural factors, prices WILL fall.

I "love" Thailand, but I'd never BUY anything property wise.

There's a saying: if you want to make a small fortune in Thailand, bring a large one. I don't "love" Thailand. It's just is another country...another place to put up. Investment-wise, you are smart. No wealthy Thai invests in condos. You only see the middle-class/farang market satisfied by this phenomenon.

Love that : " if you want to make a small fortune in Thailand, bring a large one "... very witty, and a warning to all !

[samsiam]

Sometimes you just have to say...<Snip!> it.....good returns can be made on risky adventures.

Edited June 30, 2012 by metisdead
: Profanity removed.

[Darrel]

My wife was just told by a condo salesman to wait one or two years for the condo market to become so oversaturated that, despite the cultural factors, prices WILL fall.

Wow. A condo salesman talking sense. I'm impressed.

[harryfrompattaya]

"The new law includes a reward to anyone providing information about foreigners owning land through nominees. They will get 20% of the market price of that piece of land as a reward after the plot is sold,"

Are foreigners eligible for this reward... if so, I think I'll be dam_n rich pretty fast by providing infos :-)

I'm sure this will open up many new jobs for informers; both Thai and farang.

I bet a lot of lawyers will be turning in their clients that is for sure.

[Mavvy]

Move to Cambodia, you can set up a company 100% in your name for $200 (for 99 years) and tax set up $300 (per year) and away you go.

And then you can make your business, and work in it unlike Thailand, where only Thais can work in your bar or other business.

Business visa $285 for 12 months with no visa runs.

Cambodians have a great sence of humour and they are not just after your cash, alot cheaper in Cambodia as well.

If you want a Cambodian passport with honoraray citizenship, no problem if you have $39,500 and then buy land in your name.

I do hear you can buy new built apartments in your own name now as well.

[GreenSnapper]

if you had the money to meet the MM2H criteria you'd understand the difference.

My resources easily qualify me for the MM2H programme and my comprehension is excellent (and it is not dependent on my bank balance anyway).

What I am saying is that the total investment involved is a lot more than for the Thai retirement extension. Not just a little bit more but many, many times more.

If you are over 50, it basically comes down to 1.5 million Baht vs. 800K Baht. Plus monthly income, which you need anyway.

Too expensive for many, I agree. But you have a real visa and proper status. Unlike Thailand, where 'extension of stay' is nothing else than a better tourist visa.

[Jayman]

Double-pricing scheme is nothing new in Thailand. The government has had this in place since the beginning of time. Farangs pay 5-10 times more for entrance to all National Parks, Marine Parks and wildlife preservation areas. In Samui, restaurants have two menus - for farangs and Thais (not a single item is over 100 B in Thai menu and not a single item is under 100 B in farang menu). Even food court in Big C has two menus, with the same purpose. When I was a kid, there was an outcry over double-pricing schemes in Eastern-European countries and China. But here, in LOS, it's just, oh, so cute, to get shafted (no lube used)

When you start saying things like "In Samui, restaurants have two menus - for farangs and Thais (not a single item is over 100 B in Thai menu and not a single item is under 100 B in farang menu). Even food court in Big C has two menus, with the same purpose."

I have to doubt if you really have a clue what you are talking about.