Funding the purchase of land by a Thai national, and then getting a 30 year lease...

[charliebadenhop]

Is it fully legal to provide a Thai national with the money to buy a piece of land, and then receiving a 30 year lease in return?

Also, how does one extend the 30 year lease?

I am guessing these questions have been asked numerous times before, but I looked around and could not find a clearly related topic.

[RKASA]

No - you cannot proxy the purchase of land if your not Thai even for your own spouse. legally that is, I am sure it has been done before in some way or another.

[maswov]

Just make sure it is someone you can trust, once the land is purchased they may decide to keep it for themselves.

[stgrhe]

As the user RKASA states it is illegal. The law allows for ONE extension of a 30 year land-lease is possible provided the condition has been entered onto the title deed, AND the land hasn't changed ownership during the first 30 years.

[maxisrael]

No problem at all my wife 'bought' land with house on it and leased it for 30 years to a friend of us, after the 30 years it is hers unless the lease is renewed.

[charliebadenhop]

Seems that two people say it is illegal to give the money to a Thai national to purchase land that they then rent to you.

And then, am I understanding that maxisrael says it can be done legally?

Thanks for all help!

[RKASA]

Seems that two people say it is illegal to give the money to a Thai national to purchase land that they then rent to you.

And then, am I understanding that maxisrael says it can be done legally?

Thanks for all help!

No he said his wife bought it - no mention that she had a proxy - my wife bought our land too, but with money from her account which is sourced from her prior work and business. She is Thai and can do that. I have no need to lease a property that my wife owns.

[SiggiCM]

dont make a lease, make a usefruct of lifetime with your name and the name of your kids on it, so it costs you only 300 or 600 baht for register in landoffice, no tax on it, the cheapest way to be safe! and if you have your kids on it, it can be for 100 years if they become so old

[Roelf]

No - you cannot proxy the purchase of land if your not Thai even for your own spouse. legally that is, I am sure it has been done before in some way or another.

In fact, both the buyer and the receiver might go to jail. It is illegal. However.....

Since I was looking at the subject some time ago, I found there is a ruling of the Supreme Court, that over rules the Land Court.

Look into a "Special Reciprocal Contract" - the farang provides the money for the land, and makes a contract with the donee, (the pretty young Thai lady), wherein he commits himself to improve the land in an agreed upon way. Like build a house, plant coffee trees,........

However, when the farang dies, the young lady (hopefully then old) owns it all.

I followed this when I got free information from our friends at Siam Legal in their blog.

Better read up on it, I am not a lawyer and my memory is not infallible.

R.

[Equalizer]

Answer is yes you can lease the land for 30 years and she can own the house. This method was pushed a few years ago when they made it more difficult do do it via a new company. In general theory she can not sell the home because you lease the land and no one will buy it. Potential problems occur when you want her off your land and out of the house that is on your land. Police will do nothing to help you without a court order, this can take up to 3 years to get. You can force her out but we are few, they are many!!! Nothing stops you from throwing stones and smashing the windows as it is your land. Problem is we are few they are many!!!

[tigermoth]

SiggiSM has the best solution provided you are going to build and live on the land. You pay her the cost of purchase and then obtain Ufustruct for the house with a 30 year lease and any other conditions pertaining to the house you both agree upon.

[hotsoup]

Quite simple really DO NOT DO IT!!

My mate, married in UK to Thai in 2001. Marriage registered at Amphoe...Imported 2m Baht into his SCB Bank account to buy land and build a house. Transferred money to his wife's account. Land purchased and house built in 2007. 2010 wife runs away goes to bank asks for 1 million loan. Are you married?. Yes but the land house belong to me from before. She had the Chanoot. Marriage 2001 Chanoot 2007 !!!. Bank gave her the money. Mate goes to the SCB bank. to complain Go away, Thai business,,,,but..bbut..but..Go away. Gets worse....You have a problem? Get a lawyer. Lawyer 50K. Produces marriage certificate, translated and notarised. Bank: Oh well if you were married and money came from UK everything is illegal. Also you are liable for 500.000!!!!

Edited September 11, 2014 by hotsoup

[steve73]

Answer is yes you can lease the land for 30 years and she can own the house. This method was pushed a few years ago when they made it more difficult do do it via a new company. In general theory she can not sell the home because you lease the land and no one will buy it. Potential problems occur when you want her off your land and out of the house that is on your land. Police will do nothing to help you without a court order, this can take up to 3 years to get. You can force her out but we are few, they are many!!! Nothing stops you from throwing stones and smashing the windows as it is your land. Problem is we are few they are many!!!

Remember - you have to ensure the property is in the same state as when you first leased it - so you'll need to fix all the windows...

But to answer the OP (at least my understanding...)

Of course you can give anyone (your g/f) anything (eg. the cash to buy the land/house) as a gift or loan.

She can then lease it to you for upto 30 years (and include a provision to make a further lease of 30 years), which must then be registered on the chanote at the land office. The lease payment may be either a one-off upfront payment, or periodically throughout. (I know of a few farangs who have "loaned" their g/f the cash to buy a place, and then shortly after, registered a 30 year lease with the lease fee offsetting the gift/loan..)

This gives you the right of use/abode for the 30 years - and if the lease is drawn up correctly, your heirs if you die (although they cannot extend it for the 2nd term). At the conclusion of the lease (30 or 60years) the owner retains full possesion, and you must return it to its original state (which may involve removing any structures you have built, and/or rebuilding any original structure you have removed, if the owner so requires).

If you want to terminate the lease prior to the 30 years, you may be able to get the owner to refund part of the payment (a friend of mine who'd since split up with his g/f managed to get her to agree to return most of the sales proceed to him - lucky guy!!)... If the owner wants to sell the chanote, they will need to buy-out any remaining lease... (or if agreed, a new lease can be set up with the new owner as part of the sale agreement..)

Best advice is to use a good independant lawyer (to set up the initial lease), and some one else to translate it to ensure it's exactly what you want....The only real risk is that "she" does a bunk between "the gift" and the "registering the lease".

Also, it's my undertanding that a wife cannot "lease" to her husband.. so you need to set this up before you get married - (at which point of course, the land/lease becomes marital assets..)

Good-luck - and remember rule 2 of living in Thailand - "Trust no-one and believe nothing without checking for yourself."

[charliebadenhop]

Thanks for all the advice.

I will look into "usefruct" as I don't know what this means.

And what I am thinking about has nothing to do with a girlfriend, potential or otherwise.

I have seen a beautiful piece of land at an excellent price compared to anything else close to the same area, and I thought I would love to "buy" the land and do something with it.