Yellow House Registration Book Experience.

[crazykopite]

Today I went to my local Tassaban office in the hope of getting a yellow book for my house I live on Koh Samui. I already have the blue book but wanted the yellow book so that I could have my name placed in it in order that I could hand it to immigration when doing my yearly extension ( Retirement ) I took a Thai friend with me to help with any translation. I had my blue book utility receipts passport with visa and went there with confidence that after 15/20 minutes I would be walking out with the new book. My Thai friend had a conversation with the two girls which took all of 3 minutes she then pulled me to the side and told me that to get my book I would have to part with Thirty thousand Baht ( 30,000 baht ) I could get away with this payment if I could do the following translate everything I had into Thai ( no problem ) ask a Thai neighbour to act as a guarantee that I am of good honesty live where I say I live , that I own the house I explained that I have no Thai neighbours but would a Thai friend who lived in the next village be okay the answer was NO it had to be a neighbour finally I had to know a Government worker who would also vouch for me if I could not fulfil any of the mentioned then 30,000 baht would be required in order for me to get my yellow book.j

I was under the impression that the current PM was getting rid of all these corrupt individuals it appears that this is not the case on Koh Samui !!! The friend I took is my accountant she did warn me that this would possibly happen but I insisted we give it a try !!!!!!

[CharlieH]

Koh Samui specific, moved to local forum.

[KhunBENQ]

Samui, the crook islands.

Unbelievable.

If you are interested in the YB go the legal path.

The book as such costs 20 Baht.

The real cost lies in the translation, witness and travel cost.

Many threads. Just another one started today:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/831486-yellow-house-book-korat/

Whether its Korat or Samui, the requirements are similar.

Only this blunt corruption seems endemic to Samui.

The translation req. and witness are NOT unusual.

You have to find a way for that, but surely not worth 30000 Baht !!!!

Edited June 9, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[gamini]

I do not know who told you about the yellow book. It Is the most useless document you ever could have. It serves no purpose whatsoever except verifies your address which could be simply done with a utility bill.
In fact I think the yellow book is all a bit of a joke as far as Thais are concerned. They know it's worthless and may just offer it to farangs to please them or to make money out of them as in the case of Samui. I came to Thailand nearly 20 years ago and I cannot think of one time where this book could have been any use whatsoever. I have not needed it to get driving licences, open bank accounts, opening share broker accounts, getting credit cards or showing imigration or anything else.
A lot of people having gone to a certain amount of trouble to obtain this book might tell you otherwise brcause they somehow want to justify thier trouble they have taken to get them.

[khunPer]

Seem to be huge variation from area to area to obtain the Yellow House Book. When reading treads about it, it sounds like a “piece of cake” many places up north; they even sometimes get a health card for the hospital.

The procedure, when I got my Yellow Book at Samui about 5 years ago, when my house was finished, was about the same as OP “crazykopite” describe.

First I needed an authorized translation of my passport – a very simple procedure – but that had to be done with the right rubber stamps and certificates, ended up as nice booklet with all the certified graduation copies verified by another lawyer, so the cost was 5,000 baht.

I needed two witnesses to guarantee, a neighbor and a government employee; for the latter I asked the local Head-of-Village, who knows me well. Presume it’s a good idea to ask the Head-of-Village, if he knows you; do kindly offer some compensation fee for time and transport, which seems to be a polite Thai-way-of-doing-it.

It took about half a day to get it all done, as first the guarantees had to be interviewed, and then I needed to pass a quite extensive interview – I used my Thai girlfriend as translator – which seemed to be about same kind of questions that are mentioned, when you apply for permanent residency, apart from I did not need to pass a language test. All questions and replies from the interviews had to be typed into their computer system and printed – ended up as quite a dossier.

Finally I got my Yellow Book and paid a fee – honestly, I today have forgotten how much, but think is was minor – at that time I felt the expenses, including translation costs, was very Okay to obtain the Yeollow Book, as it also serves as official proof of my name in Thai characters.

I’m glad to be the proud owner of a Yellow Book – even it’s only some proof of name, address, and a Thai ID-number – and I often use it as proof of address for banking, car registration, drivers license, SIM-card registration, and so on; probably saves me many a trip to Immigration every time I need proof of address. And of course, I also use it when applying for extended stay based on Retirement.

[Pundi6446]

Sounds like rolox to me...............Find the head man where you live and have a chat.....HE is god in your area and fixes stuff for a very small fee.

No one is a village is God, he is just a money taker, like most Thai BULLSHIT that has to do with money scams

[Tonto21]

I don't understand........

You say you have a blue book, is your name in it? are you a Thai national?

The blue book, like the yellow is there to keep track of who lives where.... its that simple, how it can be an advantage having one is neither here or there.... Blue for Thais and yellow for foreigners.

In the Blue book the first name, (normally) will be the legal owner of the property, whether they live at said property or not.

As for its usefulness.... I believe it is a legal requirement to be in one or the other if LIVING in Thailand, the fact that so many don't is just a testament to how things are done here.

My wife has her name in blue house book, Owner and I have my name in a yellow one as living in the house.

I would go in and say OK......But I want a receipt, with a photo copy of there ID card........sit back see what happens, you will either get your yellow book, (standard fee) or you will be told you can't have one. There is always way to get what you want....the right way, (not being ripped off) however it is not always wise to screw with these bonehead, its not about backing down to these Muppets, its about picking you battles with them.

Good luck.

[crazykopite]

I do not know who told you about the yellow book. It Is the most useless document you ever could have. It serves no purpose whatsoever except verifies your address which could be simply done with a utility bill.

In fact I think the yellow book is all a bit of a joke as far as Thais are concerned. They know it's worthless and may just offer it to farangs to please them or to make money out of them as in the case of Samui. I came to Thailand nearly 20 years ago and I cannot think of one time where this book could have been any use whatsoever. I have not needed it to get driving licences, open bank accounts, opening share broker accounts, getting credit cards or showing imigration or anything else.

A lot of people having gone to a certain amount of trouble to obtain this book might tell you otherwise brcause they somehow want to justify thier trouble they have taken to get them.

I wanted this book for my extension of stay as the new requirement is that you need a a lease along with a google map of your property when applying for your new extension from your landlord or a yellow book will suffice and as I own the property via a Ltd Company I have not made out a lease for myself although I may have to do so if I cannot get the yellow book I took the blue book to immigration but that was not good enough as it does not have my name on it and only Thais are allowed the blue book apparently for foreigners it has to be a yellow book they also told me I need a Thai neighbour to sign a guarantee for me out of the group of houses which is roughly 12 we are all foreign non of us being Thai I have many friends Thai friends but non of them live writhing 6 Kim's of me and the office States it has to be a neighbour I have no objections in contributing into the office coffee scheme but a figure of 30,000 baht buys a hell of a lot of coffee !

Edited June 10, 2015 by crazykopite

[chickenslegs]

I got my yellow book about 8 years ago in Sattahip. The clerk there was extremely helpful and filled out all the forms for me. There was a 20 Baht charge for the book, plus another 60 Baht for photocopies. I tried to give the clerk 500 Baht reward for her help but she refused to take it.

[crazykopite]

I don't understand........

You say you have a blue book, is your name in it? are you a Thai national?

The blue book, like the yellow is there to keep track of who lives where.... its that simple, how it can be an advantage having one is neither here or there.... Blue for Thais and yellow for foreigners.

In the Blue book the first name, (normally) will be the legal owner of the property, whether they live at said property or not.

As for its usefulness.... I believe it is a legal requirement to be in one or the other if LIVING in Thailand, the fact that so many don't is just a testament to how things are done here.

My wife has her name in blue house book, Owner and I have my name in a yellow one as living in the house.

I would go in and say OK......But I want a receipt, with a photo copy of there ID card........sit back see what happens, you will either get your yellow book, (standard fee) or you will be told you can't have one. There is always way to get what you want....the right way, (not being ripped off) however it is not always wise to screw with these bonehead, its not about backing down to these Muppets, its about picking you battles with them.

Good luck.

My Thai accountant came with me she is disgusted with the way they demanded payment of 30,000 the yellow book is very useful when it comes to purchasing a vehicle or obtaining a Thai drivers licence as you no longer would be required to take a trip to immigration and pay 500 baht for a letter to confirm where you live so I do not think it is a useless piece of document far from it My property does have a blue book with just the address no name blue books can only be in a Thai name or Thai Ltd Company yellow books as you said are only for foreigners . Where there is a will there is a way and somewhere down the line I will get my Yellow Book as a foreigner married to a non Thai it is always that bit harder in the land of smiles as the wife says they smile because they know there ripping you off !!!!!!!

[Rooo]

Very simple way around this for the extension. I am in the same predicament, own house etc... through company, just took an updated copy of co papers showing directors / share holders of the Company mentioned in the Blue Book..

[Chrisbinbkk]

I do not know who told you about the yellow book. It Is the most useless document you ever could have. It serves no purpose whatsoever except verifies your address which could be simply done with a utility bill.

In fact I think the yellow book is all a bit of a joke as far as Thais are concerned. They know it's worthless and may just offer it to farangs to please them or to make money out of them as in the case of Samui. I came to Thailand nearly 20 years ago and I cannot think of one time where this book could have been any use whatsoever. I have not needed it to get driving licences, open bank accounts, opening share broker accounts, getting credit cards or showing imigration or anything else.

A lot of people having gone to a certain amount of trouble to obtain this book might tell you otherwise brcause they somehow want to justify thier trouble they have taken to get them.

When I applied for citizenship it was a must. I am married to a thai so never bothered to do permanent residence (total waste of time and money if your working here and married)

It was simple to get and just another required document but otherwise useless...

[PattayaPhom]

I do not know who told you about the yellow book. It Is the most useless document you ever could have. It serves no purpose whatsoever except verifies your address which could be simply done with a utility bill.

In fact I think the yellow book is all a bit of a joke as far as Thais are concerned. They know it's worthless and may just offer it to farangs to please them or to make money out of them as in the case of Samui. I came to Thailand nearly 20 years ago and I cannot think of one time where this book could have been any use whatsoever. I have not needed it to get driving licences, open bank accounts, opening share broker accounts, getting credit cards or showing imigration or anything else.

A lot of people having gone to a certain amount of trouble to obtain this book might tell you otherwise brcause they somehow want to justify thier trouble they have taken to get them.

20 Baht and 40 minutes for me. The amount of time saved when buying/selling bikes/cars over the years using the yellow book rather than having to spend 3 hours at immigration for a residence letter has made it exceptionally useful for me. Those wishing to apply for PR or citizenship also require a yellow book. Not so useless to some of us.

[Anthony5]

I don't understand........

You say you have a blue book, is your name in it? are you a Thai national?

The blue book, like the yellow is there to keep track of who lives where.... its that simple, how it can be an advantage having one is neither here or there.... Blue for Thais and yellow for foreigners.

In the Blue book the first name, (normally) will be the legal owner of the property, whether they live at said property or not.

As for its usefulness.... I believe it is a legal requirement to be in one or the other if LIVING in Thailand, the fact that so many don't is just a testament to how things are done here.

My wife has her name in blue house book, Owner and I have my name in a yellow one as living in the house.

I would go in and say OK......But I want a receipt, with a photo copy of there ID card........sit back see what happens, you will either get your yellow book, (standard fee) or you will be told you can't have one. There is always way to get what you want....the right way, (not being ripped off) however it is not always wise to screw with these bonehead, its not about backing down to these Muppets, its about picking you battles with them.

Good luck.

Name in the blue book has nothing to do with ownership of the property.