there is a vacant property (a house) in pattaya that has been empty for several years. anyone know how i might take ownership of it?

buy it,,

Ask the Land Registry on Pattata Tai Soi 17 who the owner is. For a small donation I'm sure they'll tell you. BTW there are houses that have been abandoned by ex-pats who have gone home. One such is just round the corner from my place. He was reputed to be an US lawyer. When it was clear that he wasn't returning any time son, a Thai family took possession by squatting. They've been there 8 years now.

Ask the Land Registry on Pattata Tai Soi 17 who the owner is. For a small donation I'm sure they'll tell you. BTW there are houses that have been abandoned by ex-pats who have gone home. One such is just round the corner from my place. He was reputed to be an US lawyer. When it was clear that he wasn't returning any time son, a Thai family took possession by squatting. They've been there 8 years now.

seen this happen a few times on semi finished houses. whats the Thai law on squatting and possession

Ask the Land Registry on Pattata Tai Soi 17 who the owner is. For a small donation I'm sure they'll tell you. BTW there are houses that have been abandoned by ex-pats who have gone home. One such is just round the corner from my place. He was reputed to be an US lawyer. When it was clear that he wasn't returning any time son, a Thai family took possession by squatting. They've been there 8 years now.

Try this with a house / property that belongs to a Thai... you will get some unexpected visits by a very extended family....

Ask the Land Registry on Pattata Tai Soi 17 who the owner is. For a small donation I'm sure they'll tell you. BTW there are houses that have been abandoned by ex-pats who have gone home. One such is just round the corner from my place. He was reputed to be an US lawyer. When it was clear that he wasn't returning any time son, a Thai family took possession by squatting. They've been there 8 years now.

Try this with a house / property that belongs to a Thai... you will get some unexpected visits by a very extended family....

If you actually thought about what you posted for one second you would realise that if there were any Thai extended family about then the house would already be occupied.

The fact it has been empty for years tells me it is more likely an abandoned Farang house.

Ask the Land Registry on Pattata Tai Soi 17 who the owner is. For a small donation I'm sure they'll tell you. BTW there are houses that have been abandoned by ex-pats who have gone home. One such is just round the corner from my place. He was reputed to be an US lawyer. When it was clear that he wasn't returning any time son, a Thai family took possession by squatting. They've been there 8 years now.

Try this with a house / property that belongs to a Thai... you will get some unexpected visits by a very extended family....

If you actually thought about what you posted for one second you would realise that if there were any Thai extended family about then the house would already be occupied.

The fact it has been empty for years tells me it is more likely an abandoned Farang house.

Maybe more likely, but there are lot of houses and condo that belong to Thai investors that are (and remain) empty, because the Thai owner can not sell it for the price he expects... and since it's about face loosing if you have to sell under price (maybe even under his initial investment), they rather let the house / condo stay empty... you will find some threads in TV that talk about that

Ask the Land Registry on Pattata Tai Soi 17 who the owner is. For a small donation I'm sure they'll tell you. BTW there are houses that have been abandoned by ex-pats who have gone home. One such is just round the corner from my place. He was reputed to be an US lawyer. When it was clear that he wasn't returning any time son, a Thai family took possession by squatting. They've been there 8 years now.

Try this with a house / property that belongs to a Thai... you will get some unexpected visits by a very extended family....

If you actually thought about what you posted for one second you would realise that if there were any Thai extended family about then the house would already be occupied.

The fact it has been empty for years tells me it is more likely an abandoned Farang house.

Maybe more likely, but there are lot of houses and condo that belong to Thai investors that are (and remain) empty, because the Thai owner can not sell it for the price he expects... and since it's about face loosing if you have to sell under price (maybe even under his initial investment), they rather let the house / condo stay empty... you will find some threads in TV that talk about that

You would be amazed if you knew how many of the empty houses are confiscated by the banks, who are not interested to put them op for sale.

I know condo buildings where almost entire floors are confiscated by the bank and stay just empty for years already.

I think Thailand has a law similar to the U.S. law generally referred to as "adverse possesion." This is where someone makes use of someone else's land for a period of time, and once that time is passed they have a legal claim on the land. It is more complicated than this, of course, but a quick google search should bring quite a few results with a more thorough explanation.