Real Estate

[oldsailor35]

I recently read a newspaper article entitled "Rich Thais buying up London real estate"

These are the very people who will not allow a foreigner to buy property here in Thailand to provide a home for his Thai wife and children. Its about time that other countries put a stop to this.

[CHRISTIANa9]

I recently read a newspaper article entitled "Rich Thais buying up London real estate"

These are the very people who will not allow a foreigner to buy property here in Thailand to provide a home for his Thai wife and children. Its about time that other countries put a stop to this.

How many Thais' are retiring in uk?

[kannot]

I recently read a newspaper article entitled "Rich Thais buying up London real estate"

These are the very people who will not allow a foreigner to buy property here in Thailand to provide a home for his Thai wife and children. Its about time that other countries put a stop to this.

How many Thais' are retiring in uk?

Thaksin tried didnt he??

[x0r1987]

I recently read a newspaper article entitled "Rich Thais buying up London real estate"

These are the very people who will not allow a foreigner to buy property here in Thailand to provide a home for his Thai wife and children. Its about time that other countries put a stop to this.

How many Thais' are retiring in uk?

I could easily take this comment as support towards the OP....

Farangs retiring in Thailand looking to buy property, chances are, would be looking to live in Thailand, or treat it as a base, which would indicate they would have a large spend with in Thailand... Chances are, for a lot of farangs at least - a family with kid will come about and this will also ensure the land and house stays in a Thai Centric setting...

Thai's buying in the UK (or other countries) are for the most part probably looking at the property as an investment... ie: rent it out, make money from it to help pay it off, then sell at a profit down the track or earn rent money.. I take this opinion simply because Thailand right now has a huge lower class, quite a small middle class, and a very small upper (rich) class... It is the uppper (rich) class that could afford this, and from this forum mostly, I take it they will mostly keep Thailand as a base, if leaving at all (often).

All speculation. Done no research. Dont take any of this as fact. But curious on thoughts

[oldsailor35]

I am not interested in all the negative "why's and wherefore's"..............Just cut to the principle.

By the way, this does not effect me, but i know many who do have this frustrating problem especially when the "rich" Thai government threaten to take any property purchased in name of wife by foreigner.

[sirineou]

it is not true that foreigners can not buy property in Thailand , foreigners can not buy land, you are welcome to buy a condominium.

And there are arguably, good reasons for that,. Thailand is much different than the UK, the fear of the Thai government and people is that if foreigners were allowed to buy land , the country would be overrun by foreigners buying land and pricing the locals out, not a fear present in the UK, thus the different policy toward land purchase between the two countries.

[x0r1987]

it is not true that foreigners can not buy property in Thailand , foreigners can not buy land, you are welcome to buy a condominium.

And there are arguably, good reasons for that,. Thailand is much different than the UK, the fear of the Thai government and people is that if foreigners were allowed to buy land , the country would be overrun by foreigners buying land and pricing the locals out, not a fear present in the UK, thus the different policy toward land purchase between the two countries.

I thought people could only lease condo's long term? (99 years, ect)

or is it the land they lease?

[Jasun]

I think these kind of arrangements should be reciprocal.

[steveromagnino]

you can buy a freehold condo here. No idea what you are moaning about.

English can come here without a VISA. Thai people need to apply for a VISA to visit UK. OMG not reciprocal the sky is falling.

[oldsailor35]

it is not true that foreigners can not buy property in Thailand , foreigners can not buy land, you are welcome to buy a condominium.

And there are arguably, good reasons for that,. Thailand is much different than the UK, the fear of the Thai government and people is that if foreigners were allowed to buy land , the country would be overrun by foreigners buying land and pricing the locals out, not a fear present in the UK, thus the different policy toward land purchase between the two countries.

Don't think that there a lot of Condo's in rural Isaan. Where there might be a fear of foreigners buying land in Thailand there certainly is no fear amongst the rich Thai who run the country of owning millions of rai of choice land, it works in the same way, as they are pricing the poorer thais out of the land market..................suits them does'nt it !

[oldsailor35]

you can buy a freehold condo here. No idea what you are moaning about.

English can come here without a VISA. Thai people need to apply for a VISA to visit UK. OMG not reciprocal the sky is falling.

No way i would buy a condo, so where is the freedom of choice?

Anyhow, a condo is not land, try growing veggies and flowers on a condo sillySteve.

[Beetlejuice]

There are many, probably thousands of Thais now living, working or retiring permanently in the UK on full State pensions, mostly women, since they first began moving there on mass in the early 1980s, when the British government was handing out British passports like candy. During those days it was easy for them to enter and stay in the UK. Most just paid a fee to a corrupt Thai agent with farang backing in Thailand and for a fee of approx £3000 covered a student visa, a one-way air ticket, an accommodation address and a one-year English language course at a specially chosen English language school. Of course they never actually attended any English language courses, they worked instead, only listed as attending on the paperwork by the corrupt English language schools.

After about 6 months another corrupt Thai agency with farang backing based in the UK arranged marriages for them for a fee of between £1000 to £2000 and then that was it, they were in permanently. After that, the ones that were in would then assist their family members and friends to enter and who wanted to live in the UK.

Many obtained duel British and Thai nationalities, meaning they could work, own properties, own businesses both in Thailand and the UK without restrictions, be entitled to government benefits in both countries, which is an option I don`t have, as in Thailand I am and will always be classified as a foreigner with no statutory rights here.

Some rent but there is many who bought and own properties in the upper market brackets of the UK, especially in the Notting hill Gate, Kennsington, Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Ealing areas of London. But these days they have spread their wings and now there are some substantial Thai communities in Cheltenham, Norwich, Liverpool and in Northern parts of England.

It`s a grand life for the chosen few who can still have their cake and eat it.

I am not in anyways Thai bashing, but this is one subject that hits a sour note with me.

[geezer2]

I am not in anyways Thai bashing, but this is one subject that hits a sour note with me.

sorry matey so you still miss her then..

[Beetlejuice]

I am not in anyways Thai bashing, but this is one subject that hits a sour note with me.

sorry matey so you still miss her then..

Only during the mating season.

[johnnyk]

The rich have always been able to pull strings, open the wallet, call it what you will. Anywhere, even in Thailand where even not-so-rich falangs have been slipping and sliding with the help of connected people and corrupt officials. Marry a Thai and keep 400K baht on deposit and stay with a few reporting and visa inconveniences.

Every country makes it's own rules to suit itself. Of course the rules are different in different countries. Stop whinging, it's life.

[PattayaPhom]

And they get to buy after they have been through all the hoops of getting a visa for the UK. They cant just visit with their family on a VOA as Brits do here. You also need to understand, the government are not worried about you and others buying half a Rai of in Pattaya or Phuket, its the vast agriculture land in the North they fear being taken over.

[PattayaPhom]

There are many, probably thousands of Thais now living, working or retiring permanently in the UK on full State pensions, mostly women, since they first began moving there on mass in the early 1980s, when the British government was handing out British passports like candy. During those days it was easy for them to enter and stay in the UK. Most just paid a fee to a corrupt Thai agent with farang backing in Thailand and for a fee of approx £3000 covered a student visa, a one-way air ticket, an accommodation address and a one-year English language course at a specially chosen English language school. Of course they never actually attended any English language courses, they worked instead, only listed as attending on the paperwork by the corrupt English language schools.

After about 6 months another corrupt Thai agency with farang backing based in the UK arranged marriages for them for a fee of between £1000 to £2000 and then that was it, they were in permanently. After that, the ones that were in would then assist their family members and friends to enter and who wanted to live in the UK.

Many obtained duel British and Thai nationalities, meaning they could work, own properties, own businesses both in Thailand and the UK without restrictions, be entitled to government benefits in both countries, which is an option I don`t have, as in Thailand I am and will always be classified as a foreigner with no statutory rights here.

Some rent but there is many who bought and own properties in the upper market brackets of the UK, especially in the Notting hill Gate, Kennsington, Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Ealing areas of London. But these days they have spread their wings and now there are some substantial Thai communities in Cheltenham, Norwich, Liverpool and in Northern parts of England.

It`s a grand life for the chosen few who can still have their cake and eat it.

I am not in anyways Thai bashing, but this is one subject that hits a sour note with me.

You can work here and pay taxes, three consecutive extensions allows you the option to apply for citezenship. Thats a lot easier than for a Thai to apply in the UK,

[stoli]

And they get to buy after they have been through all the hoops of getting a visa for the UK. They cant just visit with their family on a VOA as Brits do here. You also need to understand, the government are not worried about you and others buying half a Rai of in Pattaya or Phuket, its the vast agriculture land in the North they fear being taken over.

I agree with this. Thailand is an agricultural country, and you can not allow the land to be owned by foreigners and keep producing food that the country needs to survive. Never let another country take over your food supply. As far as Pattaya or Phuket, and I am not trying to pick out certain countries, but if you allowed ownership of land to foreigners in these towns, they would all be flying the Russian flag.

[Teddy1]

What commission will real estate agents charge if I buy a property in Thailand?

[davejones]

To the OP. Foreigners are buying condos in Thailand, and Thais are buying condos in UK. So what's the problem?

[davejones]

it is not true that foreigners can not buy property in Thailand , foreigners can not buy land, you are welcome to buy a condominium.

And there are arguably, good reasons for that,. Thailand is much different than the UK, the fear of the Thai government and people is that if foreigners were allowed to buy land , the country would be overrun by foreigners buying land and pricing the locals out, not a fear present in the UK, thus the different policy toward land purchase between the two countries.

This isn't quite true. Prime central London is being taken over by rich foreigners and locals are being priced out of the market.

The other side of the coin is that many locals sell to these rich foreigners and make more money than they would otherwise.

Same in Thailand. Price of land would go up, so foreigners would be paying extra to locals. Why should a local be banned from getting more money for their property by selling to a foreigner?

I think it would generally be good for the Thai economy, as more money would come into the country.

I don't see it as a real problem though, as foreigners married to locals can buy in the Thai partner's name. It would be the family home so doesn't really matter who's name it's in.

[NBD]

I don't see why reciprocity is necessary or desirable here. A feature of property is the ability to buy or sell to whoever you please and the Thai restrictions on this undermine that principle. One of the reasons property ia so cheap here.

Play to the advantages - rent or lease dirt cheap here and invest in the UK (or any where else you can actually own it). And it is cheap - I couldn't rent a room in ny house for what I'm paying for the whole house, if it was in London.