Thailand plans to relax foreign ownership rules

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splitlid
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Post by splitlid »

i believe the number of shareholders has now been reduced to 3.
much easier to keep track. :D
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brit583
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Post by brit583 »

Been visiting Thailand for a few months a year for 3 years now.

Would love to buy a property her but am put of by the short leases and no chance of freehold ownership. I am mid thirty's and plan on needing the property for more than 30 years.

Having visited Vietnam last year and learning that you can buy freehold property, I would seriously consider buying there. Not as developed as Thailand but it is getting there quickly.

4 governments in one year does not give much confidence either. Even if they were to allow freehold I would not be sure it would last past the next goverment, coup etc.
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Post by jimflan »

Sargeant

Don't want to go off topic too much but your post refers to the Phillipines line being v different to Thailand. May be true, but the context is also very different - I know of many horror stories form Phil's re people finding land/property they thought they owned turing out to eb owned bo others - basically their land registry is such a mess that buying there is little short of a lottery
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Super Joe
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Post by Super Joe »

I thought in Philippines foreigners can't own land but can condo ?

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hogus
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Post by hogus »

Have been in the Phils many times to inform myself about owning property there.
It's the same "sh**" as in Thailand...no big difference yet!:roll:
May be the worldwide credit crunch can force some governments to liberate their laws in 2009...who knows?
Never give up the hope...lol :wink:
Farang
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Post by Farang »

  
 

     Thailand plans to relax foreign ownership rules?        I plan to believe it when I see it.
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Spitfire
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Post by Spitfire »

I agree with Farang, seeing is believing on this one. Just can't see them actually doing it in a realistic way.

Hell will freeze over first.

Might be wrong, but I don't think so.
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Post by Norseman »

Don't know much about hell and if it ever will freeze over, but I agree with Farang and Spitfire that Thailand will never relax their rules about foreign ownership of land.
Why should they make any change?

I believe Thailand have better laws about property ownership than the EU.
I intend to live forever - so far so good.
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Post by CraigDunn »

A colleague told me today that last week, when he went to register a lease at the LO in Hua Hin, he found that the rules have been tightened - likely by the new chief officer there.

Up to now, it's been acceptable to make reference in the lease contract to the lessee's right to renew, resell, transfer, get another 30 years, etc. None of this is covered by the land law, but previous land officers have allowed us to include these things in the contract to be registered.

But when my colleague last week took his well-used standard pro-lessee lease contract for registration he was sent away with instructions to remove ALL of that stuff and come back with a contract which gives the lessee no more rights than the law provides. 30 years, full stop.

This is not exactly relaxing; perhaps rather a sign that the new chief is a stickler for the rules, which I think is a good thing. As Thailand finds its way forward into a more internationally-integrated future, playing by the rules will be an important requirement. Adherance to the law, a set of regulations or a code of conduct generates trust, and that's got to be among the first things we need, no?

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STEVE G
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Post by STEVE G »

That seems to be an improvement to me as surely putting something into a contract that is not legally binding is just misleading the customer.
cookmanchef
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Post by cookmanchef »

How does it work if you bought a couple of years ago via the Ltd Co. route, therefore own Chanote title, (Freehold), and now intend to sell.

Does the buyer have the option of buying via their own Ltd. Co? Has anyone gone down this route? Would appreciate any advice.
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Brit Jim
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Post by Brit Jim »

If your Thai Co own the land then all you need to do is change the director of your Co to the new owner. Cost 3, 000 B. No need to visit the Land Dept. The chanote will stay the same in your Thai Co.

This is the quickest way to sell but Im not sure that the property agents would welcome this approach. Also there could be problems at a later date for the new buyer IF he tries to regsiter the house!!

If the buyer has his own Thai then you could transfer from Co to Co but I would be carefull in the current climate with the new govner in Post! Im not sure about the costs to this and a visit to the Land Dept would be required.


However If you registered the house in your name which most people dont then buyer and seller will have to visit the Land Dept and there will be transfer costs involved. I think its about 0.01% of the total cost and this is normally split between buyer and seller. Leashold is another option
if the buyer wants to go down this route but 30 yrs not ideal!

If you go down this route I would get a solicitor on board or good legal rep. Make sure that you have your building permit for the house or at least a copy and original bill of sale. As you know its not easy and this is NOT a good time to be selling. You may have to flexible in your price!

I would be interested to hear from any Developers out there if the practice of just changing the director of a Tha Co is acceptable??


Good Luck! :cheers:
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Super Joe
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Post by Super Joe »

I would be interested to hear from any Developers out there if the practice of just changing the director of a Tha Co is acceptable??
No it's not. It's the farang shareholder you want to change :wink:

The incoming shareholder may not know what tax/debt liabilities (that are not shown on company paperwork) he is letting himself in for.

SJ
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crazy88
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Post by crazy88 »

I would change all parties myself unless I knew them and was happy to have them on the company .I would also change the housebook to the relevant new name as you would a car logbook .If there were any grey areas I would simply set up a new legitimate company and bear the costs to give me piece of mind .

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