News Forum - Opposition to foreign land ownership in Thailand

[Thaiger]

The government scheme to allow foreigners to buy one rai of land may have been met by enthusiasm in the expat community but not everyone has welcomed the idea. The Interior Ministry’s proposal to allow foreigners to own a bit of land if they invest 40 million baht is seen by many as a short-term fix to the kingdom’s economy after more than two years of Covid-19 stagnation and decline. The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) is backing the proposal. It believes foreign ownership of land would give the economy a boost and at the same time help the ailing […]

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[jobapps]

I wouldnt worry no one can really afford it anyway so these take ups will be very low, its a silly idea. clearly no one normal is supposed to by land so whats the point.

Better to sell it without all these crazy ideas (i.e. 40 million baht) so a foreign expat and his Thai wife can go 50/50 on a house in equal terms rather than this 51/49% or whatever it is atm, god help the foreigner who argues with his wife when she owns 51% of the house, make couples equal partners and more harmony in relationships will ensue as it will be fair. Currently it isn't.

Edited July 29, 2022 by jobapps

[Pompies]

Anti foreigner attitudes! Well that's a surprise, not.

[Guest1]

I personally see the potential land purchase of only one rai by foreign investors as just for speculative purposes 

Takes one to know one, huu?

of course, land prices would rise if "a lot of wealthy foreigners" would start buying. More money in the pot, everyone wanna have more.

and of course, renting out a plot for 30 years means you still can sell it. And the new owner can often even ask for more rent or kick you out. After you build a nice home on there.

I just think, every country should handle people equal.

Meaning: why can Thais buy land in foreign countries, if Foreigners can't do that here? But that would need political changes in the west, mostly. Which I do not see any time soon. Even with this global crisises of the past 2 years

[BBY]

Invest 40 million Bht to be able to buy 1 Rai of land. I shouldn’t worry to much. The uptake will be minimum, if at all. You seem to think there is this massive queue of expats that will line up to make this investment and buy the land. IMO, you couldn’t be more wrong. You can’t even sell condo’s at the moment. 

Thailand is beautiful, With some lovely people and the cost of living is also good. But there are many other places around the world that can offer the same with far less complicated and complex processes and procedures that need to be adhered too.

Retirees, along with their income need to be attracted and you just don’t have the ability to understand that.

As mentioned in another article. Airfares are now astronomical @ around a £1000 for an economy return trip. That is never going down again. Its more likely it will increase again. People will not make the same number of trips anymore, So tourism is very unlikely to recover to previous levels for years if at all. Therefore, the alternative is to entice people to come and stay and that is only going to happen if it’s attractive. 

Thailand is in decline and unless you wake up and smell the coffee. The news is full of theft, scams, drugs, road accidents and death. How many bodies have been found floating in the waters of Pattaya over the past few months, Mmmm,  it’s only going to get worse. Thailand is becoming AMAZING for all the wrong reasons.

[Pinetree]

I support the Thais in not allowing foreign ownership of land.  Land is your Treasure, your very essence as a Nation.  To give it away to none Thais makes no sense at all.  I just wish that the UK government had the same law as they seem to be intent on giving away the best land and property to the Chinese, Arabs  and Russians, some of whom are known criminals and swindlers  its pure madness. Good on you Thailand. 

[Benroon]

Yet another article on this without a word on how the 40million is invested. 

Makes the article meaningless. 

[Leeshard]

I’ve lived in Thailand for many years, bought and later sold a family house for a good uplift on the original price, now have a condo in Pattaya and a house with garden in Samui, both in Thai company names. Never had to put down more money than the purchase price of the property. Why would I want to invest 40 million baht first? This scheme is totally pointless completely unnecessary. 

[EdwardV]

What Thailand needs right now is not a stack of short-term foreign capital, but long-term investment, startups, and service development to support the country’s economic development in the long run.

How’s that working out for you? It’s not a zero sum game, you can do both. 

[Fortuner]

Old news, Americans had this option for years!

[Giltee]

The article mentions ownership of condos by foreigners. The Chinese were buying houses in New Zealand, mainly Auckland, leaving them empty, not even using them themselves, to speculate and make money and I’d say the same is going on here with condos. Without the requirement to invest 4 million the same would happen here but I still think there’s be many money launderers that’s leap at the chance to hide dirty money. Be careful Thailand what you wish for. 

[Richard1944]

I as a foreigner believe this will be a big mistake if the government will go ahead on this scheme,, it will in most attract the wrong kind of foreigner , increase home prices substantially beyond what normal Thai citizens can afford, the looser will be the ordinary Thai people and the country.

Allowing foreigner to buy condos as it is at the moment is ok and hardly effects the Thai population.

Edited July 30, 2022 by Richard1944
Spell error

[Buzzkill]

Bring on a million usd get 1 rai of land has been on the books for decades already not an easy task

[Janneman]

You have to be quite wealthy to be able to invest 40m, buy land, build a house on it and keep on living the way you are used to. Means you probably must have at least 2m euro or dollar available. Not many people have that. Very few I guess. At least in Europe. Dunno about the Chinese.

Of course, this might attract certain people interested in money laundering. For them this seems like a good opportunity.

[MikeTexas]

So a foreigner can buy a small piece of land if they invest 40M Baht?  If seems practical at first, if you invest you can have property here which makes it easier to live and run your business/investment.  However, if you are running a multinational then you can already buy land through the company.  I doubt many small business owners would invest ~1.2MUSD in Thailand as the average salary is $800USD.  You aren't going to get a good ROI selling locally as prices are low so you would need to export.  There are plenty of other countries that have good infrastructure and are better setup for that type of business.  Better and easier just to lease and not have money trapped in Thailand.

[HiuMak]

  On 7/30/2022 at 4:50 AM, Giltee said:

The article mentions ownership of condos by foreigners. The Chinese were buying houses in New Zealand, mainly Auckland, leaving them empty, not even using them themselves, to speculate and make money and I’d say the same is going on here with condos. Without the requirement to invest 4 million the same would happen here but I still think there’s be many money launderers that’s leap at the chance to hide dirty money. Be careful Thailand what you wish for. 

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Good way for the super rich to get money out of the country.