Buy villa and have lawyers take u to the cleaners

[Sam Carpenter]

Folks:
This is a true story and happening to me as I speak. I contracted thru an aggressive realtor to purchase a newly developed villa in Pattaya. Neither realtor nor developer showed any consideration for my needs as I could not be in Thailand as of the closing but rather, six months later. Consequently, I paid the full price at my attorney's recommendation to avoid any penalties.

Next I attempted to have a Thai friend act as my land owner, only he refused to sign some documents claiming "no one would". Not just irresponsible--but a strange thing indeed for a close friend.

Next to the developer. Everything is OK with the developer but my lawyer of late says the land office in Chonburi advises that the property (land and villa) must be transferred simultaneously under the Land Allocation Act, and as such, I cannot own the villa. Not to mention I have paid 11,000 dollars to them to date.

They don't seem to be able to explain this, since my power of attorney regarding the villa is in their hands--but they sight some clause in the land allocation act.

Now I don't think there is much difference from my deal to anyone else's--additionally,
they cannot seem to explain why they cannot transfer this villa and land at the same time.

My concern is that if I accept the property as a lease, perhaps down the road I will be cheated out of the entire investment due to some "snafu" like an unpaid bill or something. So I would rather own the villa.

Can anyone add any insights?
Thanks

[colin howard]

hi sam ,i think you will find the answer on page 23 in the book " ALICE IN WONDER LAND" regards ,colin .

[harry]

All the informations about Thai laws who concerning foreigners, like Visa issues, buy real estate and other issues.

Visiting this website can save you a lot of problems and money



http://www.thaivisa.com/

and more detailed information

http://www.thaivisa.com/buy_land_thailand.0.html

http://www.thaivisa.com/own_land_thailand.0.html

I hope that you can find the information needed
Harry

[Luckana]

Hi Sam,

I don't know if you know or not about the property in Thailand that not everyone can buy it. You have to be a Thai citizen to be able to buy except the condominum (non citizen will be able to buy.) Your story doesn't make any sense to me after I hade read it, and telling you the truth that I hope you be able to get your money back.

If anything else I can help, let me know. I might know something a little bit more about it because I am Thai, but I have been living in the U.S for quiete sometime.

Good Luck,
Lucky

[Robert]

Sam

I wish you the best of luck. Your story is a repeat of the past and will happen again and again in the future.

Let your experience be a warning to those who wish to purchase a home in Thailand.

Perhaps you may want to cut your losses and walk. To spend more and more money only to find out that in the end you do not own the property does not make sense. It appears you are going to be milked for money over and over again.

That is how it is in Thailand.

[Ozode]

I know for a fact that you are correct, only thai citizens can own land in thailand. I am married to a thai citizen and we are looking to buy land in thailand and all of that land will have to be in her name or a company that is either incorporated in thailand or one that is approved to purchase land by the foriegn investment board. If you do try to create a corporation you cannot create it for the purposes of getting around property ownership laws, which means you have to actually have a functional business and employees. Plus the majority interest in the company has to be owned by a thai person. I believe that foreign ownership in a thai company cannot exceed 40% if memory serves me correct.

I think what this guy needs to do is get his money back if he can, which I doubt and then look to buy a condo, which he can legally own.

[Robin]

I hear many complaints about not being able to own property in Thailand. But, I gotta say, it may be one of the best things about being here. I have two Thai friends who purchased property, paid full cash price, both received title deeds and both are in limbo. In one case a person with an 11 year old contract showed up and took the seller to court which caused my Thais friends property to be frozen until a decision could be made, been in court over two years and in now in a second court after winning in the first court. The second case was even a bigger nightmare, after getting the title deed, a local woman approaches another Thai friend and demands 1 million baht for i rai which is included in my Friends title deed. She refuses, the local takes her to court and after attorneys fees has to pay the 1 mill, seems the local really did have a title deed as well. Land office error, wups so sorry.
Now by law she has clear title, the notices were all posted and no one raised a claim. She installs block walls, driveways and a huge water tower, also a small house for her brother who is the caretaker. A government official stops by and serves her notice that she can do no more work on the place because the Government believes that part of her land may have been a mangrove forrest, in some other life time. The government has not budgeted for a survey yet and will not tell my friend when or if she can resume work.
Basic rule in Thailand, NEVER EVER spend more than you can afford to lose, cause you are at some point going to. Western style ethics are not a part of Thai culture. Not being pessmistic, I like it here, this is just reality.

[Jonathon]

you asked your Thai friend to lie for you and when everything goes pear shaped you whine about loosing your money. Thailand doesn't need migrants like you anyway.

[Ian]

The reason why some farang lie about these sorts of things is because of the injustice and economic inefficiency of Thailand's xenophobic, self-impoverishing, elite self-serving anti-foreigner laws. Don't blame the individual victim - because ALL Thais are victims : these laws result in a lower standard of living for most Thais, than would otherwise be the case if such silly laws were massively overhauled.

[Sam]

Well, I finally closed on the property. The thing was, the Bangkok attorney had his head up his ass! There was no problem closing when I found a reputable, knowledgable attorney and it was a reasonable price. The Johnson Stokes and Masters attorney was a complete \\\ ///// and the managing director supported his actions apparently, finding nothing dishonorable about stealing the closing funds, charging exhorbitant fees for irrelevant documents, pestering office staff at the development site for information which he should have as a knowledgeable attorney, and conning a client. Just business as usual apparently, for Johnson Stokes and Masters, international legal experts located in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand and so forth. I would urge ALL AMERICAN and European citizens to boycott this firm until my money (over 13,000US) is returned. I would urge all US corporations to withdraw from relationships with this firm and to site as a reason, this dishonorable handling of a simple closing. Incidentally, if they would like a legal review by the Thai lawyers association, they have come to the right place.