People think that foreigners are not allowed to own houses here. Why?

[chilli42]

There is no confusion, foreigners can't own land in Thailand. Woukd have thought that clear to anyone who has been her for a time. You can lease, but that is not ownership. - and the lease is at risk You can set up a company but you don't own the land even if you control it through nominees - might your nominees turn on you, might the law change unfavorably? Land ownership in Bangkok is highly lucrative is you buy well or develop smartly. Lease does not allow you to participate in this. Setting up a company is the best way to go but you better have your partners (who collectively actually own the company and therefore the land) by the short and curlys before you venture down this path.

[wow64]

If you want to own just buy a condo.

If you want a house rent it.

Sent from my c64

[slipperylobster]

Nonsense post.

How many flatbeds have you seen, driving down the road with farang knockdown houses...being carted away, after a serious breakup (or decision to leave Thailand)? I drive from CM to Udon 6 times a year....and travel south once or twice a year. Never saw that happening.

In most of the villages I have been to ...Farang houses are permanent dwellings. I had that idea of a knockdown. In theory, it would work....but....lets face it....you paid for property you cannot own. The house is in addition to that 150,000 or 200,000 baht piece of land, that does not have any trail going back to you. You put up a driveway, walls, landscaping, plumbing, well, electrical lines....and your heart...into that parcel. Not to mention, the abnormal act of moving on land that the in laws see as theirs.

Sure...rent that land for 30 or 40 years. Put up a container box house. Watch your future wife's family laugh at you.

Silly sticky farang ...building a chicken coop on my land....

Precious few farangs are going to enter "good, solid marriages" where they will not have to worry about the fact that their young bride, and her brother/father...are running the show. Next time you are in the gym (or pub), start chatting with other farangs. I cannot count how many had previous marriages, and had to walk away from "their house/property". Not many winners...where the wife was booted out...and the farang stayed with her parents.

good luck,

Edited May 19, 2015 by slipperylobster

[slipperylobster]

My wife owns all our property. Still trust her more than 51% biatch

I never seen that go wrong here in Thailand..So enjoy YOUR real estate while it last !

That 1 percent can fall out of favor quicker than you can pick up a stick, when the neighbors dog starts nipping.

Edited May 19, 2015 by slipperylobster

[micmichd]

OP, if a group of Thais come by in the middle of the night and tell you that you are leaving, you'll leave. I know a guy that happened to.

There's a legal procedure for expropriation in real estate, including compensation.

[alex88]

When you buy property it's the land that is valuable not the house. Houses depreciate but land increases in value. So putting a house on leased land would be a very bad investment

[micmichd]

I hear a new law is coming in that any foreigner can import or own a car,but not the wheels,is this true?

You must bring your own fuel before you can get the car registrated.

[micmichd]

When you buy property it's the land that is valuable not the house. Houses depreciate but land increases in value. So putting a house on leased land would be a very bad investment

Land increases in value if the demand gets higher than the supply.

Your house gets depreciated because you messed it up by living in it.

[steve73]

Not even the land is sacred..

There's loads of land around my way that gets bought up, dug up for "fill" elsewhere, and all that remains is a large pond....

eg, buy a 4 rai plot for 1million, 2 million to dig & transport the dirt (i.e. some nice wages for the contractors), and sell the dirt for around 4 million. A nice 1 million baht profit and you're left with a 12m deep pond.

Or, by leaving around 1 rai unexcavated, you can get a nice plot with a large fishing lake at zero cost...

Maybe of topic a bit, but I just wanna know, who buys the dirt?

Someone who want's to raise their land a little to stop it flooding..

...and then their neighbours, to stop their land floding.... and so on, until the road needs raising..!!!!!

[Happy Grumpy]

There is no confusion, foreigners can't own land in Thailand. Woukd have thought that clear to anyone who has been her for a time.

Foreigners can own land in Thailand.

Up to one rai.

40m baht invested within Thailand required.

Do get your facts straight, boy.

[Happy Grumpy]

Nonsense post.

How many flatbeds have you seen, driving down the road with farang knockdown houses...being carted away, after a serious breakup (or decision to leave Thailand)? I drive from CM to Udon 6 times a year....and travel south once or twice a year. Never saw that happening.

In most of the villages I have been to ...Farang houses are permanent dwellings. I had that idea of a knockdown. In theory, it would work....but....lets face it....you paid for property you cannot own. The house is in addition to that 150,000 or 200,000 baht piece of land, that does not have any trail going back to you. You put up a driveway, walls, landscaping, plumbing, well, electrical lines....and your heart...into that parcel. Not to mention, the abnormal act of moving on land that the in laws see as theirs.

Sure...rent that land for 30 or 40 years. Put up a container box house. Watch your future wife's family laugh at you.

Silly sticky farang ...building a chicken coop on my land....

Precious few farangs are going to enter "good, solid marriages" where they will not have to worry about the fact that their young bride, and her brother/father...are running the show. Next time you are in the gym (or pub), start chatting with other farangs. I cannot count how many had previous marriages, and had to walk away from "their house/property". Not many winners...where the wife was booted out...and the farang stayed with her parents.

good luck,

That's the most subjective post I've ever seen.

Not everybody marries a Thai, not everybody has (or even wants) a Thai GF, not everybody marries into gutter-class families.

I'm very sorry for those that have, but please don't generalize about it as if everybody else does.

Edited May 19, 2015 by Happy Grumpy

[Happy Grumpy]

Thailand should allow foreigners to buy max 1-2 rai in their own names.

Foreigners are allowed to own one rai in their own name, requirements permitting.

[SEEDGER]

You don't own the Land in America either! You're just lead to believe you do!

[Anthony5]

Just bought a house in Samui. No problems at all. Set up a Thai company and register it all in that name. Easy.

A company that you can only own 49% of.....

Unless you're from the US and you set up an Amity treaty company...

But a company set up under the Amity can not own land.

[Anthony5]

I think we all know the theory, thank you.

The fact remains, you can't float a house in the air; and few would fully trust the 30 year rollover lease option.

Thais owning, let's say, for clarity, a property in the UK, own it without restrictions. It therefore stands to reason that the same privilege should be extended to British residents in Thailand. It isn't!

Tell your government to negotiate a treaty of Amity. What is good for the Thai is good for the Brit.

What has the Amity to do with land ownership?

A company limited of which a foreigner can own 49% is allowed to buy land, a company under the Amity rule is not allowed to buy land.

While the Thailand Treaty of Amity provides the above-mentioned advantages, the US citizen is also subjected to several restrictions stipulated in the treaty. The Thailand Treaty of Amity prohibits American investors from engaging in the following reserved activities:

• Communications
• Transportation;
• Fiduciary functions
• Banking involving depository functions;
• Land Ownership, Exploitation of land or
• Other natural resources; and
• Domestic trade in indigenous agricultural products.

[micmichd]

Thailand should allow foreigners to buy max 1-2 rai in their own names.

Foreigners are allowed to own one rai in their own name, requirements permitting.

No. Farangs don't even own 1 square inch of Thai land.

[khunPer]

»People think that foreigners are not allowed to own houses here. Why?«

Yes, as said many times in above posts, you can own the house, but not the land. If you buy a “second hand” house you can (to my knowledge) have it registered at Land Office, if you build a house you need architect drawing, building permission and constructor contracts etc. by be with your name, as that is your only proof of ownership.

However, apart from the various going tricks, like limited company method, usufruct etc., I saw another quite interesting post from “SamuiRes” in a local Samui-tread, which I take the liberty to quote:

If you lease land make sure that the lease states quite clearly what happens to the buildings on the land, which you have paid for, at the end of the lease whether that ends by the passage of time or death.

Civil and Commercial Code Part 3

Section 1310. If a person has, in good faith, constructed a building upon another person's land, the owner of the land becomes the owner of the building, but he must pay the constructor for any increase of value accruing to the land by reason of the building.

Basically this means that the buildings revert to the land owner at the end of the lease but he must pay for them.

Many leases I have seen are silent on this point but I have also seen some which actually state that value must be paid. The issue of course will be determining the value at that time so the procedure for doing that must also be clear.

(sic.)

Source:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/825514-land-in-samui/#entry9423075

[Anthony5]

Thailand should allow foreigners to buy max 1-2 rai in their own names.

Foreigners are allowed to own one rai in their own name, requirements permitting.

No. Farangs don't even own 1 square inch of Thai land.

http://www.samuiforsale.com/knowledge/land-property-ownership-thailand.html

Exemptions for foreign land ownership

In theory foreign individuals can own land up to 1 rai (1600 square meters) under section 96 bis of Land Code Amendment Act (1999) for residential purposes through the Board of Investment which requires a 40 million baht investment into Thailand in specified assets or government bonds beneficial to the Thai economy. If granted it is under strict conditions and in specified areas and requires approval of the Minister of Interior. In practice, even if you would be able to make an additional investment in the Thai economy of 40 million baht, this is not a viable option. In addition this ownership is NOT transferable by inheritance, therefore limited to the life of the foreigner granted the right to own land under this exception.

Edited May 19, 2015 by Anthony5

[Happy Grumpy]

Thailand should allow foreigners to buy max 1-2 rai in their own names.

Foreigners are allowed to own one rai in their own name, requirements permitting.

No. Farangs don't even own 1 square inch of Thai land.

Incorrect.

Foreigners are allowed to, and in fact do, own up to one rai of land. Requirements permitting.

Sorry that you are clueless about Thailand.

[lostoday]

Just bought a house in Samui. No problems at all. Set up a Thai company and register it all in that name. Easy.

A company that you can only own 49% of.....

Unless you're from the US and you set up an Amity treaty company...

But a company set up under the Amity can not own land.

The question was "A company that you can only own 49% of....

The answer is "Unless you're from the US and you set up an Amity treaty company..."

[lostoday]

I think we all know the theory, thank you.

The fact remains, you can't float a house in the air; and few would fully trust the 30 year rollover lease option.

Thais owning, let's say, for clarity, a property in the UK, own it without restrictions. It therefore stands to reason that the same privilege should be extended to British residents in Thailand. It isn't!

Tell your government to negotiate a treaty of Amity. What is good for the Thai is good for the Brit.

What has the Amity to do with land ownership?

A company limited of which a foreigner can own 49% is allowed to buy land, a company under the Amity rule is not allowed to buy land.

While the Thailand Treaty of Amity provides the above-mentioned advantages, the US citizen is also subjected to several restrictions stipulated in the treaty. The Thailand Treaty of Amity prohibits American investors from engaging in the following reserved activities:

• Communications
• Transportation;
• Fiduciary functions
• Banking involving depository functions;
• Land Ownership, Exploitation of land or
• Other natural resources; and
• Domestic trade in indigenous agricultural products.

You wrote, "What has the Amity to do with land ownership? Me - Nothing.

I wrote, "Tell your government to negotiate a treaty of Amity. What is good for the Thai is good for the Brit."

Definition of Amity that I was referring to above is : a friendly relationship.

"international amity and goodwill"

synonyms: friendship, friendliness, harmony, harmoniousness, understanding, accord, cooperation, companionship, amicableness, goodwill, cordiality, warmth; formalconcord.

"this will bring greater amity between our peoples"

I didn't say negotiate a treaty of Amity like the USA, heck that was a poorly written treaty given what Thailand got in exchange; I wouldn't wish it on anybody. You can do a lot better than that.

At the time Thailand really needed and was begging for aid and defense from the USA. They (USA) did a very poor job negotiating that treaty.

Edited May 19, 2015 by lostoday

[Anthony5]

A company that you can only own 49% of.....

Unless you're from the US and you set up an Amity treaty company...

But a company set up under the Amity can not own land.

The question was "A company that you can only own 49% of....

The answer is "Unless you're from the US and you set up an Amity treaty company..."

No the original post was

Fatneville, on 18 May 2015 - 13:43, said:

Just bought a house in Samui. No problems at all. Set up a Thai company and register it all in that name. Easy.

If you set up a company from which you own 100% you can't register the house on it

[Orac]

Deleted

Edited May 19, 2015 by Orac

[lostoday]

Unless you're from the US and you set up an Amity treaty company...

But a company set up under the Amity can not own land.

The question was "A company that you can only own 49% of....

The answer is "Unless you're from the US and you set up an Amity treaty company..."

No the original post was

Fatneville, on 18 May 2015 - 13:43, said:

Just bought a house in Samui. No problems at all. Set up a Thai company and register it all in that name. Easy.

If you set up a company from which you own 100% you can't register the house on it

I was not answering the original post. If I was I would have linked it. I linked, "A company that you can only own 49% of.."

If your company is of any substantial size you can own the land anyway. What's the big deal?

The treaty of Amity simply saves Americans the hassle of dealing with Thai business partners.

When the other poster said company I assumed business not house as I think the Thai government does too.

Who would want to set up a company to buy a house? Makes no sense to me whatever the circumstances.

Edited May 19, 2015 by lostoday

[ggt]

I agree there is a lot of confusion over foreigners being able to own houses in Thailand.

As I said in the poll thread earlier, foreigners can own any property in Thailand 100% in their name. They just can't legally own the land it sits on.

You can dress it up however you want, but a lease isn't ownership - it's a lease.

If you're hell bent on buying a property, setting up a usufruct on the land plot is perhaps a better way to go, but this still isn't ownership.

I think Thailand's existing laws on foreigners owning land were probably established to stop wealthy foreign individuals and/or corporations buying up masses of land and leaving Thais with nothing. You can't really blame them for wanting to protect their land - don't forget how nationalistic Thais are.

Of course the results of this means that the country misses out on huge investment.

Interestingly, did you see that Vietnam is now offering 100 year leases to foreigners - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/825366-foreigners-can-own-houses-for-100-years-in-vietnam/

Tue, 19 May 2015 11:23:00 +0700 : Expats who purchase property in Thailand in the name of their Thai spouse often believe they automatically have joint ownership. This is not the case.

[Happy Grumpy]

Who would want to set up a company to buy a house? Makes no sense to me whatever the circumstances.

Makes no sense to anybody, as they as a foreigner can own it 100% themselves. No company needed.

[Anthony5]

When the other poster said company I assumed business not house as I think the Thai government does too.

Who would want to set up a company to buy a house? Makes no sense to me whatever the circumstances.

Uhmm, my estimate a few hundred thousand foreigners so far were interested in setting up a company to buy a house.

Keep trolling mate, your post history shows you're an expert at that.

Let me remind you about the thread title before you want to go trolling off topic again.

People think that foreigners are not allowed to own houses here. Why?

[micmichd]

What to do with a house without land......I think it isn't called house it is called caravan....

you don't do anything with it, you live in it. and that's it! ownership ends for all temporary owners of anything in anywhere on this planet when they are on their way to the graveyard or crematorium.

Well said Naam. I think one of the issues for westerners looking to take control of property in Thailand is that current laws challenge western ideas of what ownership really means. After all we come into this world from dust and we will leave it just the same way, knowone can take anything with them, but most people would like to pass on the value of their perceived assets to their loved ones, and thats where the unencumbered right to own land as an asset becomes important to most people. That being said a lease can also be passed on in a will along with its inherent perceived value, its just that this doesn't "sit right" with western ideals or concepts of ownership.

Its really Thai nationalism that's the issue here, and levels of trust, the issue goes deep into Thai culture, know other country can force the Thai government to give equal rights (some might argue human rights) to foreigners if they choose otherwise. At some point "democracy" will flourish and the do gooders will get into power and Thailand will become like Europe, and everyone will have equal human rights at which point I suspect contrary to commonly held beliefs Thai land values will fall, becuase it's fact that the bulk of the population is Thai in Thailand, if they vote into law that foriegners can freely hold land they have just told the world they don't value it as much as they used too!

It might as well go the other way: Maybe people in Western democracies decide it's too dangerous to let economy rule over social integration of the country, and therefore restrict further accumulation of land ownership for private reasons.

[lostoday]

When the other poster said company I assumed business not house as I think the Thai government does too.

Who would want to set up a company to buy a house? Makes no sense to me whatever the circumstances.

Uhmm, my estimate a few hundred thousand foreigners so far were interested in setting up a company to buy a house.

Keep trolling mate, your post history shows you're an expert at that.

Let me remind you about the thread title before you want to go trolling off topic again.

People think that foreigners are not allowed to own houses here. Why?

It was not the statement I and a few other posters answered. A lot of people don't know when buying a business that an American can own 100%. It was an aside connected to this thread. Why would an individual set up a company to buy house and land (land actually)? Why would an individual pay cash for said company and house and land? Not in the West. 95% of homes are bought with a mortgage. I join the chorus of voices that say under most normal circumstances you can't buy a house and land in Thailand.

If you are dead set on leaving something to your Thai family buy a mutual fund and make a will.

You have a lower opinion of the intelligence of most Farangs than I do. I don't know anyone who has bought a house except as an expensive present (they can afford expensive presents).

Edited May 19, 2015 by lostoday

[micmichd]

Thailand should allow foreigners to buy max 1-2 rai in their own names.

Foreigners are allowed to own one rai in their own name, requirements permitting.

No. Farangs don't even own 1 square inch of Thai land.

http://www.samuiforsale.com/knowledge/land-property-ownership-thailand.html

Exemptions for foreign land ownership

In theory foreign individuals can own land up to 1 rai (1600 square meters) under section 96 bis of Land Code Amendment Act (1999) for residential purposes through the Board of Investment which requires a 40 million baht investment into Thailand in specified assets or government bonds beneficial to the Thai economy. If granted it is under strict conditions and in specified areas and requires approval of the Minister of Interior. In practice, even if you would be able to make an additional investment in the Thai economy of 40 million baht, this is not a viable option. In addition this ownership is NOT transferable by inheritance, therefore limited to the life of the foreigner granted the right to own land under this exception.

"in specified areas"

a nuclear power plant, an air base, offshore ?

Edited May 19, 2015 by micmichd