News Forum - Cabinet to debate foreign land ownership in Thailand

[Thaiger]

A foreign land ownership act which would allow foreigners to buy houses and up to 1 rai of land in Thailand has been drafted and will soon be debated by the Cabinet, according to Deputy Minister of Interior Niphon Boonyamanee. If the bill makes it through further readings, it could stimulate Thailand’s real estate economy, said Niphon. According to Thailand’s Land Code Act, only Thai nationals are allowed to own land in Thailand. Foreigners may not own land unless there is a treaty or exemption allowing them to, which, there currently isn’t. In terms of real estate, foreigners may own […]

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[Disenfranchised]

Really bad idea, all it does is force prices up denying opportunities for natives to enter the housing market.

Over the last 20/30 years prices have rocketed in the US and UK due to foreigners buying up property.

This will be the thin end of the wedge with farang (especially Chinese) owning Thailand.

[TheDirtyDurian]

4 minutes ago, Disenfranchised said:

Really bad idea, all it does is force prices up denying opportunities for natives to enter the housing market.

Over the last 20/30 years prices have rocketed in the US and UK due to foreigners buying up property.

This will be the thin end of the wedge with farang (especially Chinese) owning Thailand.

Doubtful. If, and it's a big if, this happens there are likely to be many conditions. 

Things like minimum house value purchase 10m baht for instance. 

Only allowed to buy houses in certain projects that meet value requirements etc. 

Don't expect foreigners to be able to snap up  townhouses in the suburbs of Bangkok for 1-2m anytime soon. That indeed, would be a disaster for regular Thais, and I can't see that happening. 

Regarding land, it's a bit more interesting, but I would expect similar restrictions. Don't think foreigners will be able to snap up cheap agricultural land and build a McMansion with Tuna parked outside as the Ferrisaang do. 

See what happens though. Probably no change, or only changes that might apply to the very wealthy. 

Thailand has said often enough they want high value foreigners coming in. Expect things to be geared towards them. 

Not pensioners scraping by on 30-50k baht a month. 

[Marc26]

My wife just bought a new house 

 

I found it interesting that I cannot own the house but I had to be there to sign a bunch of paperwork at the transfer office 

 

Mostly anti-money laundering declarations but still odd I needed to be involved at all

[Cabra]

Would be nice if they simply made it easier for resident aliens to own property. That way non resident investors and speculators wouldn't be able to necessarily drive up prices. Then again without changes to immigration rules, the property owning resident aliens is still taking risk and is subject to the whimsy of immigration. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

1 minute ago, Marc26 said:

My wife just bought a new house 

I found it interesting that I cannot own the house but I had to be there to sign a bunch of paperwork at the transfer office 

Mostly anti-money laundering declarations but still odd I needed to be involved at all

As I recall I had to sign something saying I had no claim over any of the money used in the purchase. 

[Cabra]

1 minute ago, Marc26 said:

My wife just bought a new house 

I found it interesting that I cannot own the house but I had to be there to sign a bunch of paperwork at the transfer office 

Mostly anti-money laundering declarations but still odd I needed to be involved at all

That is interesting. How did they find out you where funding the transaction? 

[palooka]

5 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

My wife just bought a new house 

I found it interesting that I cannot own the house but I had to be there to sign a bunch of paperwork at the transfer office 

Mostly anti-money laundering declarations but still odd I needed to be involved at all

They are covering her as in "where did the money come from".

If you had declared yourself the owner of the house renting the land on a 20 year lease from your wife, would have put their minds to rest. Maybe not the wifes mind but.....

[Tim_Melb]

The idea a seems poorly thought out. Personally I think that the Mexican system is the best I have seen. Foreign ownership is not the frightening issue for inflation that some here think it is. Millions of foreigners are not going to rush to Thailand to buy their little house lot. And some comments here about property in Bangkok are ludicrous foreigners can buy condos in Thailand already that market will be completely unaffected. The issue is where these properties are. In Mexico they controlled the possibility of foreigners snapping up coastal properties and other high demand holiday areas by making it illegal for foreigners to own property within a set distance of the coastline and other areas designated by the government. By doing this they limited foreign investment in these areas and stopped the prices from exploding. You can purchase a coastal property in Mexico but only in a roundabout way. You must open a trust account with a Mexican bank place the funds for the purchase of the property in that trust which is operated by the bank. You then request that the bank purchase the property you desire for the trust and then you effectively rent the property to yourself for the cost of the maintenance of the property. In doing this the bank legally owns the property and as such no law is broken. Because most foreigners do not trust the Mexican banks with sums of money that large there are not many foreigners that have done it. However away from the coastal and tourist areas normal property ownership by foreigners in Mexico is completely legal and has had virtually no effect of property prices. 

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, Cabra said:

That is interesting. How did they find out you where funding the transaction? 

Just once she declared she was married............

 

 

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, palooka said:

They are covering her as in "where did the money come from".

If you had declared yourself the owner of the house renting the land on a 20 year lease from your wife, would have put their minds to rest. Maybe not the wifes mind but.....

I've been with my wife 18 years, so not really caring about any property I buy in Thailand being "mine"

 

It will amount to 400-500k CAD all in when we are done..............can go to my stepson if something happens to her

 

But I know some like the security of doing the lease..........which I understand

[Artemis080]

This is a terrible idea. Don't worry about the number of retirees trying to buy properties, the big money from China will come rolling and prices will rocket. I don't say that from a stance of being anti Chinese, quite the reverse. My partner is Chinese and I've spent some years there. It's just the reality.

You can only hope the standard level of lack of care, poor visa and incompetent program design will save them.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Artemis080

[EdwardV]

2 hours ago, Disenfranchised said:

Over the last 20/30 years prices have rocketed in the US and UK due to foreigners buying up property.

Except for some very localized areas, that's not been the case at least in the US. In the US it's been mostly in gateway cities like LA, SF, Seattle, Miami, NYC, and Boston. Even then, it's only small portions of those cities. Still the prices in those areas are not rocketing strictly because of foreign buyers. The US housing market is just too big for it to be effected by foreign buyers. The issue with people buying up foreign homes isn't to live in them or generate income, it's capital flight. They are getting whatever capital they can out of their home country to somewhere safer (read into that what you wish). Will it effect Thailand, probably. However like other countries it will do so in localized areas. You aren't going to rush out from Sydney or Munich to buy a home in Buriram. While it won't effect me, I think it's a good thing.  

[TheDirtyDurian]

2 hours ago, Tim_Melb said:

The idea a seems poorly thought out. Personally I think that the Mexican system is the best I have seen. Foreign ownership is not the frightening issue for inflation that some here think it is. Millions of foreigners are not going to rush to Thailand to buy their little house lot. And some comments here about property in Bangkok are ludicrous foreigners can buy condos in Thailand already that market will be completely unaffected. The issue is where these properties are. In Mexico they controlled the possibility of foreigners snapping up coastal properties and other high demand holiday areas by making it illegal for foreigners to own property within a set distance of the coastline and other areas designated by the government. By doing this they limited foreign investment in these areas and stopped the prices from exploding. You can purchase a coastal property in Mexico but only in a roundabout way. You must open a trust account with a Mexican bank place the funds for the purchase of the property in that trust which is operated by the bank. You then request that the bank purchase the property you desire for the trust and then you effectively rent the property to yourself for the cost of the maintenance of the property. In doing this the bank legally owns the property and as such no law is broken. Because most foreigners do not trust the Mexican banks with sums of money that large there are not many foreigners that have done it. However away from the coastal and tourist areas normal property ownership by foreigners in Mexico is completely legal and has had virtually no effect of property prices. 

I don't know if your comment about Bangkok was directed at my post, but it's simply a matter of space. 

Townhouse in the suburbs over 70-100sqm plus front and back yard beats 30-40sqm every time. And obviously the house is two storey!!

In the 1-2m baht price range that's what we're talking about, as I mentioned in my post. 

If you want to take that further, larger condo equals single house with nice garden and so on. 

Find me a foreigner living in a condo  with his wife, bought after marriage, when they have so many better options in an actual house for the same money re space, garden etc. 

Very small numbers. 

[Rookiescot]

It could work IF they set the criteria correctly. Foreign investors buying up large areas of land will of course be an issue.

A retiree with a visa exemption buying a house with a small piece of land? Nah won't make a difference.

[Thaidup]

5 hours ago, Disenfranchised said:

Really bad idea, all it does is force prices up denying opportunities for natives to enter the housing market.

Over the last 20/30 years prices have rocketed in the US and UK due to foreigners buying up property.

This will be the thin end of the wedge with farang (especially Chinese) owning Thailand.

But only up to 1 rai, may be a good idea. Basically keeping it to the size of a large house plot of land, It may give more husbands the willingness to settle down and invest in their future?

[Thaidup]

2 hours ago, EdwardV said:

Except for some very localized areas

Some very cheap houses in the USA, a search for homes under 10,000 brought up 3 or 4. But you or I or anyone wanting to live there compared to Thailand is a different story.

https://www.landcentury.com/search?price-max=10000&categories[]=cheap-houses

[Mazz11]

It will be interesting if this change goes through.

I agree with most that there would need to be some protections put in place to protect the market from foreign investors. Maybe one of the rules could be that the owner must occupy the property for a set period of time before being able to sell the property, with a substantial sales tax in place if this condition is not met.

This could also protect some of the less fortunate foreign men who make the unfortunate decision of buying a property with their new girlfriend only to find it being sold as soon as they turn their back and the girlfriend moved onto the next mobile bank account.

This reminds me of a story I read about a guy who's girlfriend talked into buying a house, one night as they where cooking dinner in their rented condo he informed her that instead of being a house he bought a condo in his own name that they could both live in, the next thing he remembered was waking up on the kitchen floor after being hit in the head with a frying pan. He never saw the girlfriend again   

[Khunmark]

If you’re married to a local, buy a property with her name on the title and she dies before you, you are required to sell the property within 12 months of her death. Not only are you saddled with grief of loss of a loved one, you also face the burden of relocation. You also face discount on the sale price to satisfy these onerous regulations. These changes would remedy this issue.

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, Mazz11 said:

It will be interesting if this change goes through.

I agree with most that there would need to be some protections put in place to protect the market from foreign investors. Maybe one of the rules could be that the owner must occupy the property for a set period of time before being able to sell the property, with a substantial sales tax in place if this condition is not met.

This could also protect some of the less fortunate foreign men who make the unfortunate decision of buying a property with their new girlfriend only to find it being sold as soon as they turn their back and the girlfriend moved onto the next mobile bank account.

This reminds me of a story I read about a guy who's girlfriend talked into buying a house, one night as they where cooking dinner in their rented condo he informed her that instead of being a house he bought a condo in his own name that they could both live in, the next thing he remembered was waking up on the kitchen floor after being hit in the head with a frying pan. He never saw the girlfriend again   

Why should someone acting like an idiot be protected?

[thaifarmer]

My wife mentioned this last night, and added that only, after an investment of 40 million baht, you would be able to buy land in your name. Don't the source, sorry.

[TheDirtyDurian]

1 hour ago, thaifarmer said:

My wife mentioned this last night, and added that only, after an investment of 40 million baht, you would be able to buy land in your name. Don't the source, sorry.

Which, if true, would attract very few. 

Plus, there are other countries around the world offering citizenship with the property investment for a lot less money. 

[thaifarmer]

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2347033/thailand-to-offer-land-ownership-to-lure-wealthy-foreigners 

there it is.... 40 million.... that's gonna hurt.

[Artemis080]

15 hours ago, thaifarmer said:

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2347033/thailand-to-offer-land-ownership-to-lure-wealthy-foreigners 

there it is.... 40 million.... that's gonna hurt.

Million bucks? Bargain for HK money.

[thaifarmer]

9 hours ago, Artemis080 said:

Million bucks? Bargain for HK money.

Also, I fail to see, how this can be a boon for Thailand. I assume that the 40million a sum is which need to be invested over a couple of years. Still, that money buys you a lot of comfort in a lot countries almost anywhere in the world. Well.... time will tell....