Land titles history: Sor Kor 1 is missing is stil chanote valid title

[jivana]

Hi all hoping you can offer some insight and advice on this situation I find myself in,

I and a friend have recently put down a reservation fee for a plot of land on Koh Phangan with the intention of building a small holiday home. It is one plot in a group of ten that is being developed, with a 30 year lease in place. The development company seem quite reputable and will supply all basic infrastructure road access/water/electricity etc.

We have engaged the services of some good lawyers and have just received the land title check and due diligence report.

The land in question holds a Chanote title but they were not able to trace the title history back to original SorKor 1. They were however able to trace the title history back to Nor Sor 3 Kor, issued September 2001.

In summary “There are missing documents and missing information, preventing us from providing you with a full title history. The documents could be missing through simple administrative error, which is a common occurrence at the land offices in Thailand, given the lack of computerization; or the documents could be missing as a result of fraudulent activity at the land office. In the case of the target Land at hand, the absence of documents does create uncertainty regarding the title history/quality of title. Consequently, we are unable to provide a definitive opinion regarding the title history/quality of title.”

I am well aware that in the past there has been much corruption and fraudulent activity in land offices in Thailand and understand the current government is in the process of trying to clean this up.

Everything else in regards to encumbrances and litigation etc. seems above board and 3 other plots on the land have already been leased.

The question I have is should we go forward with the leasing of the land without full documented title history?

Your advice is much appreciated.

[jivana]

Any insights or advice?

[donx]

As you are aware there is a risk that the land title was obtained illegally. Have you presented these findings to the land owner? How long has the land owner been in possession of the property?

My advise would be to find out what the current landowner knows such as who did they buy from and when.

[bangkoklawyer24]

>>> We have engaged the services of some good lawyers

Are you kidding? The core opinion you got from these good lawyers is "we are not sure". Do you really think that it is the legal industry standard to tell the client what they did not find out and, as a result, give you a "up to you!" advice? What you should do is to fire these good lawyers immediately and looking for better counsel. Don't expect to get that for free in this forum. But surely you should get a carefully prepared risk-weighted legal analysis. The findings you mention are just the very first part of this.

[cornishcarlos]

How much is the lease?

Can you afford to take the hit, should it ever go pear shaped?

It's never black n white, especially on the islands...

[KittenKong]

Are you kidding? The core opinion you got from these good lawyers is "we are not sure". Do you really think that it is the legal industry standard to tell the client what they did not find out and, as a result, give you a "up to you!" advice? What you should do is to fire these good lawyers immediately and looking for better counsel.

And how exactly would paying more for "better" counsel enable the OP to get more information about documents that are missing? Will the documents magically reappear?

The existing counsel have described what they could find, and have described what they couldn't find, and based on that have said that they are unable to confirm anything. Which all sounds perfectly sensible to me.

As for the OP's question: personally I am happy enough about buying an existing condo with a chanote that can be put in my own name in a big tourist destination like Pattaya, but I doubt I would ever consider buying any sort of house or leased property on a Thai 30-year lease, or anything on an island, or anything off-plan. I would just rent.

Edited November 5, 2014 by KittenKong

[jivana]

Thank you for your reply's and advice concerning the land on KP. Our lawyers are contacting developers and land owners to find out more information. We shall be investigating further....

[simon43]

but I doubt I would ever consider buying any sort of house or leased property on a Thai 30-year lease, or anything on an island, or anything off-plan. I would just rent

Well the OP intends to do just that - rent the land, not buy....