Should you be buying Property in Thailand ?

[stilljustbrowsing]

Yeah, the farang can buy the land. His/her name is not allowed on the title deeds of sale, only Thai names, signed, sealed, and delivered. (I'm yours) sorry, old Stevie Wonder song and remember he is blind. (no disrepect meant)
Twitter, and many other means of global communication are reducing certain countries domination now. Just look at Iran.

[wanderer252]

I bought a floating restaurant 2 years ago,tha deeds are in my name only,so bypassed any land problemms access is via river bank covered by Royal decree,Access is granted for the lifetime of the boats stay

[overhaul38]

Regardless of whatever method you use to buy land please keep in mind that you own it at the pleasure of your wife/girlfriend and the Thai Government. Anytime they please they can remove you from the property, declare your title/deed null and void and you move to a hotel or go home.
BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

[foreign-currency]

Never buy land in Thailand, until the laws are changed and foreigner can hold land just like Thai people with the exact same rights of ownership.

In fact, never buy land in any country where the laws are specifically set up to insure that you will not have complete, equal rights under the law for (1) ownership, (2) full rights of succession, and (3) protection of assets.

In Thailand, the laws are specifically constructed so you cannot own land. Loop holes, long term leases, joint ownership with a Thai citizen, shell companies... all of these systems are in place to insure that if there is a problem, the foreigner will loss their money.

For example, if you are married to a Thai and you die, you cannot have a will saying your portion of the property goes to anyone other than you wife (maybe you can will to your child if they are Thai, but I am not sure). Basically, you cannot leave your property to a relative back in Europe or American or Japan.

In other words, do not buy property here, period. In fact, if foreigners stopped buying property under the draconian laws that deeply discriminate against foreigners, then the government might actually change the laws someday.

As a side note, as a general rule, you should not buy property in any country were you are not fluent in the language, read, right and speak fluently. If you need to talk to police, lawyers, read documents, legal briefs, go to court, etc. you will be at a great disadvantage over people who are fluent in the language. This is also true regardless of the country, unless their are laws set up specifically written to protest foreigners.

In Thailand, there are no special laws to protect foreigners and there are many laws that strip foreigners of their rights.

Do not buy land here.

[overhaul38]

I can only say HEAR, HEAR! You buy property in Thailand knowing full well that the laws are very definitely stacked against you.

[Ian Wensor]

There are more ways of skinning a cat and parting a fool from his money than one ever dreamed of... Buying land in Thailand is one of them so '(caveat emptor)... let the buyer beware.

[Odysseus221]

I have owned a property in Pattaya for several years now, which was bought, unfortunately during the Thanksin coup. It was a nightmare but things come down to this: if you need to start a company to buy property, you must be sure of the attorney's ability to achieve this objective. There is alot of price gouging and incompetence in the legal profession, particularly since attorneys never turn down a chance to make money. Additionally, laws here are pretty much less precise.

But Thai people and the government is well intentioned towards foreigners who wish to stay here. However, you should be well intentioned also, and realize that giving a foreign person the right to own property here undermines the economy in ways you cannot imagine. It might be OK to own in certain areas interested in attracting tourists--but when you get to the outlying villages, the price of land is very sensitive and affects the whole country if not just the local economy.

You should not expect the right to buy such land ever, since it is definitely not in Thai people's best interests.

[luangtom]

I have--but when you get to the outlying villages, the price of land is very sensitive and affects the whole country if not just the local economy. You should not expect the right to buy such land ever, since it is definitely not in Thai people's best interests.

I fully concur with this statement. I am married to a Thai lady and have been for the past 37 years. We have a home in the Isaan that is modest and definitely not to Western standards. It is, of course, in her name only and is on family property for all to use the land adjacent to our home for farming. I see the developments in Sawang Daen Din and Udon Thani with prices in the millions of baht and I cringe. It is these developments that are truly not in the best interests of the local economy. It will evolve into incidents as happens in the West. Locals will be priced out of their family-owned lands to make way for future developments. Higher taxes and higher property values will drive locals out of the market for local land.

[Ian Wensor]

[b]I congratulate Aussie John on his down to earth and informative article and every word is true however, he failed to mention a few things the Thai government should seriously look at and will hopefully resolve.

1/- Outlaw the double pricing system i.e., ... one price for Thais - another for farangs.
2/- Give farang's the right to own land in Thailand...( They're not going to take it anywhere.)
3/- Give Permanent Residency status for all farangs who've lived here for say 10 years.
4/- Give full citizenship to farangs who've married a Thais and lived here permanently for 5 years.
5/- Issue farang retirees with 12 month visas without the need to report and renew them every three months.
6/- Make it obligatory for banks to pay farang accounts the same interest rate they do Thais.
7/- Warn ATM clients beforehand that 500 baht notes only are available and a limit of 12,500 baht applies thus
negating the two 150 bt rip off charges needed should one want to withdraw their daily limit 20,000 bt.
8/- Crack down on police, solicitors and gov't officials who abuse the system and rip off falangs at ever opportunity.

Footnote: Unless and until the government resolves the above and similar issues, Thailand will not be recognised as the land of smiles ... BUT THE LAND OF SNARLS.

[HarryB]

I laugh at the previous comment. I've lost count of the number of men I know who've met the farang girl of their dreams, bought her a house, car, income, etc., funded her while she has babies, and then she's off, leaving the western courts to carve up his wealth to give to her so she can lounge around as a lady of leisure.

At least you can expect a Thai bargirl to try and rip you off, and can manage the funding accordingly.