Freedom of Ownership by Owning Boathouse

[Ian]

Harry - unfortunately you are right : on both counts. Thailand is now not a good country to do business - foreigner
"buyer beware".

[Ian]

Analyst - there's a major difference : the Jews fled Europe (those who survived) because they faced annihilation there.
This was the major spur for them to emigrate to Israel - though most, in fact went to the US, Canada, Australia, etc.
Those who went to Palestine did not marry Arabs.
It's hardly a comparable situation to us farang married to Thais.

[Ian]

The point about buying property in Thailand is : DON"T.

[robin]

Ian,
Difficult to imagine getting better advise, "don't" sums it up pretty well.

[Ian]

Robin - right now I would n't advise anyone to buy property in Thailand.
But there's now serious talk among Thailand's major leaders, during his current election campaign, about overhauling the antiquated anti-foreigner laws. These laws were enacted by military regimes umpteen decades ago,
when Thailand - and the world - had a vastly different economy.
I'm sure Thais - with their great ingenuity, subtle abilities to compromise, and great market common sense - will come up with a workable solution that makes possible more security for foreign investment, while keeping control of their country.

[robin]

Ian,
I think I will stick with the "don't" for a few more years. What can be changed, can be changed back far to easliy in Thailand.
During the current blame game mentality, world wide, it is too easy to put that sticker on someone else, in our case foreigners.

[phraxos5]

If they want to get your boathouse they will...and you know that 100% of the land on any water in Thailand is already protected from anything manmade extending into the water, especially for foriegners. Buy a condo! under the 49% foriegner freehold law. It is the only way for foriegners to legally own. Otherwise you could lose your investment even in a boathouse, not that anyone would want one anyway mainly because of security concerns not to mention the smell.

[bahu-luang]

As I understand it, up until the late 19th century, foreigners were only allowed to live on boats and not on land.

[Asian Hand]

If you enjoy mosquitoes, rats, monitor lizards and snakes - go for it!

[MalibuDan]

I have lived in Thailand for over a year now and spent 1.5 million Bhat here. My Thai wife has 500,000 bhats in her I lent to her so she could re-fi her rental house. I put a Honda Jazz in her name to limit my liability in case of an accident. I was going to build a 3 million Bhat home on the Chao Praya River, But it is in her name and she can just snap her fingers and I have to leave the country fast no Packing. Thailand got 1.5 Bhats. And I will only pay peanuts for my rent and food. If I had Ownership of Land I would of spent 5 Million Bhats on my new home and provided all the businesses and people with work. The Smart money will not buy here. I will invest my 5 million in the States and get a return of 50,000 Bhats a month for life. And my investment is secure and I don't lose my money. Just try to sell a used house here. Good Luck!!!
Money is not an issue for me, I spend what I want! But I will not buy into Thailand until I have ownership.....