Should you be buying Property in Thailand ?

[Geoff]

Fascinating postings. Good on you all. As a bit of a newbie here I wondered if any one could tell me if the following scenario is "do able"
I (Aussie /Pom) buy half finshed house with 2 rai of land in remore Issan for my partner/wife to be, sometime. I pay for everything including renovation, It's all ine her name. She then leases the house and land back to me on a 30 year lease for a token payment of, well, for as little as possible. She owns it all but I have security of tenure. Seperate wills should cover inevitable deaths. All comments very gratefully received.
Cheers all
Geoff

[robin]

Geoff,
That is the method I have used. You will only own the building the wife/girlfriend owns the land. I don't know it it will hold up as I have yet to reach a point where a challenge is necessary. Did the will thing as well.
The only problem might be the land office as that is where the lease is recorded. They have a form that you must sign swearing that you gave no money towards the purchase price. This is to insure that there is no misunderstanding on your part about the ownership of the land. Go ahead and sign, with a smile and you might slide by. A contract drawn between you two will also work, I am told. No experience in this one yet.

[Geoff Warren]

Thanks Robin, Sounds good. My next question to any one out there is reference internet access. We've no phone line so I'm looking at Sat access. Any previous experiences / horror stories appreciated. Our new place is just north of Phakdi Champhon, some 60 west of Chayaphum

[colin howard]

hi geoff , sat acces ?, forget it ,heard some real bad storys , why not use your moblile phone , i did for 4 months before i got ADSL , speeds not over exiting but had no problems at all ,best of luck , colin .

[Ian]

Both of you need to watch out : this method is far from secure.
I've come across many farang coming to grief through it, though it does work in
some cases.
But the worst loophole of all is that there's nothing to stop a guy turning up with a gun and simply forcing you out of the house (there are numerous other, less violent means also).
Always remember there are a lot of illegal guns in Isaarn, and it is very cheap to get someone killed.
What you should do is also hold in custody your wife's land title papers - store them safely away somewhere with a lawyer you can trust.
This increases the difficulty of her or anyone in her family easily forcing you out of the house, either violently or non-violently, on the excuse that house is on her/ their land.
However loving your wife appears now,
there are many cases of love turning to greed - even in Western marriages.
And if you have a Thai-born child who is a Thai citizen, you can put the land in your child's name when that child turns six years old - though the child won't come into full possession until age eighteen.

[colin howard]

hi ian , i really think that you are being a wee bit paranoid about this gun business , i,ve been coming here since 89 , lived full time here since nov 03 and i,ve never heard of anything as drastic as this , sure guys get ripped off i don,t deny it but chased out at gunpoint !!, it would appear by your writings that you trust your wife about as far as you can throw a 10 ton truck , i don,t have this problem at all , cos i just could not live with anyone i did not have faith in 100%, my wife as proved over and over again over the last 4 years that my judgement of her was correct in every way , regards , colin .

[Ian]

Colin - I'm not being paranoid about guns.
I was threatened by one. I don't live with my wife in Isaarn, having moved south after that !
But this warning came to me from an American who had lived in Thailand since Vietnam War days.
You have been lucky.

[colin howard]

hi ian , not a nice situation eh , i,ve never heard of this sort of thing before but i suppose there is always a first time, i know for certain this sort of thing would not occur with my wife or her family but thanks for your advice anyway , i,ve lived here since april 04 after having 5 months in samui , we bought our house shortly after we arrived off my wifes sister , about july 04 ,about 5 months ago my wife said she wanted put the house in my name , at first i declined but after some thought i accepted cos i thought it would make it more easy when i applied for anything , also when i asked the purchase price for the house off my wifes sister in july 04 , she asked i million , my wife said no no no you offer half , i finished up getting it for 670,000 saving me 230,000 hardly the actions of a thai wife who puts her family first eh , this and many other things which has occured over the last 4 years makes me certain i chose right, and that i come first before anyone, family included , regards , colin .

[Ian]

Colin - you and your wife have gone about things the right way.
Unfortunately there's a lot of marraiges that don't.
Congratulations to you both.

[Robert]

Hi Colin
I would have to agree with Ian on this one.. His experience is not a one off. I have a good friend from Michigan who after being married for many years returned to the US for a short holiday. Upon his return to Thailand there was a man living in his house. My friend said, “If you don’t leave I will call the police”. His response was, “I am the police and if you do not leave I will kill you”. My friend left…without the house but he retained his existence on this planet.

If Ian had that experience I am sure it rattled his bones to the core.

You are fortunate that your lovely is appreciative of the position that she has.. That is not always the case with others. It is easy to hire an intimidator or hit man in Thailand. If the farang owner of the house is faced with losing his ownership interest or losing his life, the decision is easy.. and in the end the police will do nothing.

Best Regards to you and Yao.