Just bought some land in Hang Dong

[Dogmatix]

To help understand some of the bitter, unpleasant and downright rude posts in this thread we need to remember that men only ever lose property after a divorce in Thailand. In other countries couples generally live together forever - or if they do part - the wife walks away with nothing more than her make-up bag and the wedding photo album.

It works out as a good system to protect the property rights of Thai women who divorce or separate from Thai partners. No acrimonious disputes about who gets what. The ex-wife automatically gets the house.

[Anthony5]

Hope this helps clear any confusion (or maybe make it worse)

An amphoe (sometimes also amphur, Thai: อำเภอ, is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Usually translated as district, amphoe make up the provinces, and are analogous to a county. The chief district officer is the Nai Amphoe (นายอำเภอ). Amphoe are further subdivided into tambon.

District office

The administration of the district is housed in an office building called Thi wa kan Amphoe (ที่ว่าการอำเภอ), which also marks the center of each district. Distances on road signs are always calculated to this office building. The office is usually located in the largest settlement of the district, to make it easily reachable for the majority of the population – one of the tasks of the Amphoe is the civil registry, which makes the district the most important of the administrative levels for the general Thai people.

I think that should answer Bangmai's questions, unless the above only applies to Pattaya of course and not to Thailand.

Now let me complete with some more info.

http://www.pricesanond.com/knowledge/what-is-the-land-department.php

What is the Land Department?

The Land Department (in Thai: กรมที่ดิน) is the government agency responsible for issuance of land title deeds, registration of real estate transactions in Thailand and land topography and cartography matters. As a matter of legal formality and for the legal effect, Thais and foreigners entering into transactions concerning real estate (including transactions involving land, buildings and condominium units) in Thailand generally must (with an exception for short term leases) register the transactions with this agency.

The origin of the Land Department can be traced back to 1902 when, by royal command of King Rama V, the Ministry of Agriculture was ordered to issue the first land title deed and the Department of Land Registrations (in Thai: กรมทะเบียนที่ดิน) was subsequently established under the Ministry of Agriculture by a royal proclamation. Interestingly, the first Director-General of the Department of Land Registrations was a westerner who is referred to by the name of “W. A. Graham”. Today, the Land Department is under the supervision of (but at the same time is a separate legal entity from) the Thai Ministry of Interior, which oversees six other department-level agencies .

Land offices are the main point of contact for most business people. Each land office is responsible for, among others, the registration of rights and transactions relating to real estate (such as land or building transfer, lease, mortgage, etc.), issuance and amendment of real estate documents (such as land title deeds, land possession deeds, condominium unit title deeds, etc.), conducting official land surveys and maintenance of land records and map archives in relation to the land in their respective jurisdiction. - See more at: http://www.pricesanond.com/knowledge/what-is-the-land-department.php#sthash.FR6x3Rdn.dpuf

Edited January 14, 2015 by Anthony5

[BB1955]

Like I have always said never invest here what you are not willing to walk away from . I bought lamd and a house no I dont own it , do I care no , am I worried ome day I ll come home and find my clothes in the street , no . Ome thing to note if land and house is purchased during the marrage , in a divorce its split 50 50 . If she dies you get 50% if no will and her famly which you are included in gets the other 50 % .

[laislica]

I actually wonder how the local Amphur was able to do a land transfer .

It's done every (week)day at every Amphur ('cept Holidays).....The Blue book stuff is at the Tesabon. Lots of people wearing suits, lots of bags of money, lots of well dressed lawyer chicks (at the Amphurs).

Strange, because here in Pattaya it's done at the land department. Completely different office from the Amphur.

Isn't there a land department in Chiang mai?

Just a bit of confusion probably.

Blue book stuff at Amphor.

Chanote at the land registry office as you said.

Well it is here in Samut Sakhon.

Where I bought a plot of land and had it filled in as a retirement project for she who must be obeyed.

No strings.

The original thought was to build a housing block of about 16 rentable units to give her income after I pass.

I am 20 years older than her and statistics suggest that the ladies outlive their men generally.

However, the costs to build were much more than she thought, project cancelled and the land will be sold in a few years at hopefully a better price.

So I just bought another 3 bed semi-detached house across the street from our house.

Building a nice kitchen as we speak and it will be ready to rent out furnished in a week or two.

Got to take care of our ladies and if she decides to dump me - so what (I'm not easy to live with - I would dump myself LOL)

I will remember the fabulous times I have had since we have been together - Priceless!

(and I didn't use my Master Card LOL)

Well done OP, nice to see there are others of a similar mind to me.

You are living in the only time where you can do something and you did it! Great.

Yesterday has gone, never to return.

Tomorrow will never come, it is always just out of reach.

Remember the old joke about free meals at the restaurant Tomorrow?

(But I was here yesterday and it said free meals tomorrow....)

Enjoy your land and subsequent project what ever that might turn out to be.....

My Missus wanted a patio in the garden so I bought paving stones, sand and cement and got stuck in.

Half way through the job and she saw what I was doing and said in alarm.

You are doing much too good a job, you don't need to work so hard.

I may want to change my mind next year and want something different.

LOL

That is Thainess!!!

[recom273]

And what about the 50,000b finders fee for the neighbor ?

It's not just westerners who are exposed to these surprises, happened to the sister-in-law once.

[cornishcarlos]

Amazed how a nice OP about a land purchase becomes a thread about who gets what in a divorce !

Might go read the motorbike forum, wonder if any bought a new bike threads can degenerate into "why did you bother when you will only crash it and die"..

Some of you really need to get out more, metaphorically speaking

[Tywais]

I had to submit three photos to get the Blue Book for my condo, and I am a farang. Procedures aren't exactly identical at every land office, which they generally call the "Amphur."

A land office is not generally called Amphur.

Amphur is the district office. District office doesn't get involved in land transfers

No. Amphur (Amphoe) means district and covers a wide area which could have the Amphur Administrative office and have the Land Office in the same district. The OP only said "The day comes to meet with the owner at the local amphur". He didn't specific what office in what Amphur.

[WorkingTourist]

Not allowing foreigners to buy land seems to make sense to me, as a lot of land is attractive to foreign investors who have more money than most entrepreneurial thais, so they would have bought up majority of the tourist destinations and probably via a setup that would transfer all profit (and thus taxes) to the Cayman Islands.

I don’t think this is directly comparable with many western countries, as they do not have the same problem of attractive land which on a global market is seen as cheap (because Thailand’s lower GDP per capita).

That said, there certainly are examples of other countries putting restrictions on foreigners who want to buy a house or land.

For the comments about OP buying for his wife: I believe that in most western countries, everything obtained after marriage will be divided equally incase of a divorce, yet I hear no-one object to a married man saying he bought a car, bike, house, boat, or similar, even though he technically only bought half a car, bike, house, or boat.

[ICECOOL]

That did sound a painful process and I applaud the OP for putting up with that. 2 years ago we decided to look for land around Hua Hin after I had been going their for 2 years. I decided to cut out agents and got in my truck with sat nav and drove around the areas I liked noting down telephone numbers and having my Thai gf call them. After a few frustrating calls she quickly learned what questions to ask. We found a 5 rai block with great potential just outside of town and just off a road they had just started upgrading (Soi 112). Gf rang the owner who lived in BKK and got a price which we said we would consider along with others. We actually found at least 5 or more options but eventually decided we would buy this one as it offered good location, concrete road, power and electricity. We rang the owner who said she had been advised by her family the price should be higher but she would honor her price to my gf. It was a very reasonable price compared to many we had looked at. Thais then went to a local solicitor and got a simple contract to secure our deposit. We arranged a survey through contacts as the land had not been surveyed for 40 years. 5k baht got the team there inside 2 weeks. Once that was done we arranged to meet at the land office and the Thais did the exchange. Land office did increase the value of the "agreed price" we quoted. Trip to the bank to transfer the remainder finalized it.

That road is now upgraded and with the improvements I have made to the banks along the stream its sits next to (for peanuts) and a subdivision of the blocks (another story) we have a 3 rai block for a house (with a 3/4 rai dam) and 2 one rai blocks. One block being sold for a decent profit. It can be a straight forward process but you need to talk to some Thais who know the processes. We have got to know the neighbors and now GF is being approached by neighbors to help sell their land.

[onthedarkside]

A number of not CM related posts have been removed.

[Mudcrab]

Like I have always said never invest here what you are not willing to walk away from . I bought lamd and a house no I dont own it , do I care no , am I worried ome day I ll come home and find my clothes in the street , no . Ome thing to note if land and house is purchased during the marrage , in a divorce its split 50 50 . If she dies you get 50% if no will and her famly which you are included in gets the other 50 % .

Why do we always get the "never invest more than you will walk away from" gems of posts?

Is this unique to Thailand?

You will happily spend more than you are prepared to lose in the the US? The UK? Anywhere else?

A casino perhaps?

To the OP - enjoy you life, wife and land mate, and ignore the jealous old buggers who have never done anything, been anywhere or loved anyone or if they have they have stuffed it up.

Don't forget that many are here by necessity, not choice, regardless of what they claim. Many are on pensions and couldn't leave if they wanted to.

They had a crap life before they came here and continue to have a crap life while they are here (all the while saying how great life is) and get a great deal of pleasure trying to denigrate anyone who is actually doing better than they have ever done.

Particularly someone who is much younger.

[ChangMaiSausage]

Nice plot of land, hope you both live to a ripe old age in your newly to be built house.

All the very best for the future.

Can you also buy a bottle of Samsong for me and I'll join you on the decking.

The END.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

In the words of fellow-member Philw in another topic:

"I know it's off topic, but has this entire forum been totally taken over by minutiae obsessed nutters ?"

Edited January 14, 2015 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Kunjay]

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Not allowing foreigners to buy land seems to make sense to me, as a lot of land is attractive to foreign investors who have more money than most entrepreneurial thais, so they would have bought up majority of the tourist destinations and probably via a setup that would transfer all profit (and thus taxes) to the Cayman Islands.

I don’t think this is directly comparable with many western countries, as they do not have the same problem of attractive land which on a global market is seen as cheap (because Thailand’s lower GDP per capita).

That said, there certainly are examples of other countries putting restrictions on foreigners who want to buy a house or land.

For the comments about OP buying for his wife: I believe that in most western countries, everything obtained after marriage will be divided equally incase of a divorce, yet I hear no-one object to a married man saying he bought a car, bike, house, boat, or similar, even though he technically only bought half a car, bike, house, or boat.

Actually bought this land for myself, ok we all know you can't buy land subsequently need to buy it in your wifes name (not sure why posters persist with this). Living in Khon Kaen is like living in a morgue so I said we're moving to CM. Wife seemed cool with it as she also knows KK is as boring as bat shit and also has family in CH.

Best place to live in Thailand (my opinion only).

Look forward to meeting young at heart Farang with a good story to tell in the near future.

Khunjay

[Beetlejuice]

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That was painful.

"...the Shanot (land ownership papers) in our name..." I think not. You have Zero interest in the property. If you believe otherwise, you've been had.

What do you mean its not in my name? I signed the papers!

haha of course i know its in the mrs name i really couldnt give a sh%t it will go to the kids when we kick the bucket, 1.6 M pffft

Fresh water running around the property, views of Doi Sutep, no mubans near, hydro farms all around and wildlife everywhere and not far from the Hwy but still far enough.

When i eventually build and move there I'll look forward to meeting and hanging with cool farang on my balcony as the sun goes down, I'll even invite old cranky world haters over for a beer!

Unless the said land was purchased solely with with Thai wife`s money, than both you and your wife have committed an illegal act.

Under Thai law if there are any disputes regarding ownership of the land, the authorities can confiscate it. You have bo diddley rights over that land and the worse part of this is that you flaunt the fact.

I would not stand too often on your future balcony in your illusion of being the King of your castle if I were you, the more discrete the better in your case.

[daveAustin]

Too much tripe on here. Op, FYI, there is an 'ignore' feature on this site for your benefit to hide the trolls.

Anyway, well done. I'd love a plot like that out of town for the future. Bung a knockdown off to one side and building a real house smack bang in the middle.

[daveAustin]

Unless the said land was purchased solely with with Thai wife`s money, than both you and your wife have committed an illegal act.

Under Thai law ...............................

I'm off!

[wowfactor10]

Yes i will be curious too about who will be sitting in the Op his house overlooking the lovely rice fields in about 5 years from now !!

[Beetlejuice]

Some may not consider the laws of Thailand as worthy of consideration, or as the OP says; he doesn`t give a &lt;deleted&gt;, and believe that contravening the laws is a trivial matter and should not be taken seriously.

As regards the foreign illegal and behind the scenes ownerships of land, real estate and businesses, all may be fine providing no one will notice in the hope that the authorities will turn a blind eye. But as I have said on Thai visa many times in the past, all may seem honky dorey until problems arise and these non-legit ownerships are challenged and come under dispute, which can happen for a multitude of reasons.

Breaking the laws is not a trivial matter, those who abuse the systems have the affect of placing more scrutiny on the ex-pats living here and tightening the rules up for all of us.

[Anthony5]

I had to submit three photos to get the Blue Book for my condo, and I am a farang. Procedures aren't exactly identical at every land office, which they generally call the "Amphur."

A land office is not generally called Amphur.

Amphur is the district office. District office doesn't get involved in land transfers

No. Amphur (Amphoe) means district and covers a wide area which could have the Amphur Administrative office and have the Land Office in the same district. The OP only said "The day comes to meet with the owner at the local amphur". He didn't specific what office in what Amphur.

I know it doesn't make much sense to argue with an administrator or moderator, but everyone in Thailand knows that if someone says I go to the Amphur, he means the District office as that is called the Thi wa kan Amphoe in full. Nobody goes to the local Amphur, because they are in the Local Amphur ( district) all the time.

The land department is called the Krom Thidium in Thai, and no Thai person will call it the Amphoe.

[sappersrest]

The prats I spoke about earlier are now out in full force, kunjay maybe you should ask the mods to close this thread before they make even bigger idiots of themselves than they already have.

Good luck and enjoy your land and I hope you can build a wonderful house on it for you and your family to enjoy.

[Anthony5]

Too much tripe on here. Op, FYI, there is an 'ignore' feature on this site for your benefit to hide the trolls.

Anyway, well done. I'd love a plot like that out of town for the future. Bung a knockdown off to one side and building a real house smack bang in the middle.

I think there are thousands of plots like that available for sale, so what stops you if you love it so much?

[zeichen]

"Unless the said land was purchased solely with with Thai wife`s money, than both you and your wife have committed an illegal act."

Absolute rubbish.

that is not even close to how the law reads.

Buying land under a Thai name is but one's wife can own as much land as she wants and can get the money wherever she wants to.

You often peddle this garbage and its getting old.

[Beetlejuice]

I had to submit three photos to get the Blue Book for my condo, and I am a farang. Procedures aren't exactly identical at every land office, which they generally call the "Amphur."

A land office is not generally called Amphur.

Amphur is the district office. District office doesn't get involved in land transfers

No. Amphur (Amphoe) means district and covers a wide area which could have the Amphur Administrative office and have the Land Office in the same district. The OP only said "The day comes to meet with the owner at the local amphur". He didn't specific what office in what Amphur.

I know it doesn't make much sense to argue with an administrator or moderator, but everyone in Thailand knows that if someone says I go to the Amphur, he means the District office as that is called the Thi wa kan Amphoe in full. Nobody goes to the local Amphur, because they are in the Local Amphur ( district) all the time.

The land department is called the Krom Thidium in Thai, and no Thai person will call it the Amphoe.

Forgive me if I`m wrong, but is this not exactly what our Tywais has explained? That the OP did not specify which local authority office he had visited in the district. Otherwise how else would you like this explained?

[zeichen]

"The land department is called the Krom Thidium in Thai, and no Thai person will call it the Amphoe."

That is not a true statement. Many Thai people say amphur when they are doing anything at any of the offices in that vacinity. Labor department, land department, taxes, getting married. All different buildings but often in the same compound.

You are debating minutia.

"Breaking the laws is not a trivial matter, those who abuse the systems have the affect of placing more scrutiny on the ex-pats living here and tightening the rules up for all of us."

Sorry but you really don't know crap. If I have Thai person buy land for me, then yes that is illegal. Or if I buy land under a company that isn't for the company, ie a vacation home in another province, or building a company for the sole purpose to own land in my name, These all fall under what you are claiming.

Two people married and living together buying land is not. My wife can own as much land as she wants regardless of where the money comes from. That is not illegal. What would be is if I buying it under her name but it wasn't hers. That isn't what the OP is doing.

He is buying a piece of land for his wife and him so that they have another place to live. Nothing wrong with that.

I also get sick of these 5 years down the road warnings. This guy is in love, has a stable marriage.

Get off your barstool and pay your barfine and leave the OP alone.

[Anthony5]

I know it doesn't make much sense to argue with an administrator or moderator, but everyone in Thailand knows that if someone says I go to the Amphur, he means the District office as that is called the Thi wa kan Amphoe in full. Nobody goes to the local Amphur, because they are in the Local Amphur ( district) all the time.

The land department is called the Krom Thidium in Thai, and no Thai person will call it the Amphoe.

Forgive me if I`m wrong, but is this not exactly what our Tywais has explained? That the OP did not specify which local authority office he had visited in the district. Otherwise how else would you like this explained?

There is only one office in Thailand that is commonly known as " the local Amphur" and that is the districts office.

The OP says clearly

The day comes to meet with the owner at the local amphur and complete the transfer,

and then again

Also at the Amphur was an elderly male who we believed was the owners husband as his photos were on all the documents

But hey, no problem for me, I'm out of here since the apologists are all over the thread, I've said already that I consider the whole OP just a wind up.

Have you ever seen pictures attached to a Chanote?

[skiller]

Too much tripe on here. Op, FYI, there is an 'ignore' feature on this site for your benefit to hide the trolls.

Anyway, well done. I'd love a plot like that out of town for the future. Bung a knockdown off to one side and building a real house smack bang in the middle.

I think there are thousands of plots like that available for sale, so what stops you if you love it so much?

The answer is simple and easy:

He is happy with it and got a good value for his money. Others like you are frustraded, envious - nothing to do and looking only for bad things in each story. I am pretty sure 90% of your posts are useless. You should think about it before you reply.

[maanoi]

Enjoy your property. Nothing is more painful and difficult than owning and maintaing property. Good luck to the misery of the next 30 years of constant neighbor disputes. LOL

Are you building a house on it right away?

It is a nice feeling to have your own place for your family with a nice yard. Don't build a pool. Every foreigner from colder climates wants to build a pool. They are a constant chore to keep filtered, unless you swim every single day they just aren't worth it. Next time just have your father in law do the business by himself. Prices for dealing with mechanics and purchasing land, Male Thai best price, Thai female alone 20% more, Foreign male speaking in Thai for his family 30% more, Thai female speaking for a foreign male 40% more.

1.6 million for less than 1 rai seems expensive to me unless it is on the river or actually in the city central. About 10km outside of Hangdong there are plots of 1 rai for about 250k baht with chanote. I remember 3 years back there was a ton of land for sale for 10k baht a rai but it only had the SPK title.

People here like to piss on others pleasure, some is in good fun and others are just down right mean spirited.

Pools are a constant chore to keep filtered? Huh? I take care of my pool and its a breeze. Add some chemicals once a week, a vacuum every now and then. Backwash the filter once a month. Its nothing really.

Also clearly you havn't seen land prices in CM recently. You think you can get 1 rai anywhere near the city for 1.6m HAHAHAHAA.

Edited January 14, 2015 by maanoi

[Anthony5]

Too much tripe on here. Op, FYI, there is an 'ignore' feature on this site for your benefit to hide the trolls.

Anyway, well done. I'd love a plot like that out of town for the future. Bung a knockdown off to one side and building a real house smack bang in the middle.

I think there are thousands of plots like that available for sale, so what stops you if you love it so much?

The answer is simple and easy:

He is happy with it and got a good value for his money. Others like you are frustraded, envious - nothing to do and looking only for bad things in each story. I am pretty sure 90% of your posts are useless. You should think about it before you reply.

You should learn to read to who I replied. Dave Austin isn't the OP so he doesn't have the land.

By the way, I don't need to be envious, I have a large house on a 1Rai plot, and it is in my personal foreign name.

Try to figure that out.

Edited January 14, 2015 by Anthony5

[zeichen]

"Also clearly you havn't seen land prices in CM recently. You think you can get 1 rai anywhere near the city for 1.6m HAHAHAHAA."

First of all CM isn't a city it is a province. Hangdong is 15 minutes outside of Muang CM, and I said 10 minutes outside of amphur hang dong, you can find land for 250k a rai.

Where I live in CM province in Saraphi about 15 minute drive from the holiday inn, you can get 1 rai for less than 1 million but it would need to be filled. Land is more if it has electricity and water.

The owner wanted 2.8 million for my house we offered 2.2 and got it. That is a 4 bedroom 2 story house on 1/2 rai. House only 5 years old. so yes deals are to be found.

There are many places to get reasonably priced land, there are a lot more places to get overpriced land.

"Pools are a constant chore to keep filtered? Huh? I take care of my pool and its a breeze. Add some chemicals once a week, a vacuum every now and then. Backwash the filter once a month. Its nothing really."

Yeah, I am glad that you like it. Do you want a cookie?

The cost of running a pool and yes it is a constant chore. Take off for a month and it is a mess. Keep it running all the time even when it is cold and don't feel like swimming. Unless you are swimming every single day it isn't worth it for many. The OP seemed to agree with me, so why are you butting your head in.

For those that have owned pools before and don't mind the work, that is fine, my warning was for someone who has never owned one, there are hidden costs and issues and sometimes it is more hassle than it is worth.