Can a foreigner own land in Thailand?
When it comes to buying property in Thailand, I’m no expert, but from what I’ve learnt over the past couple of days about what foreigners have to go through just to lease land, I think it’s enough to put me off for life.
Thai law states that foreigners are not allowed to buy land in Thailand. On the flip side of that, foreigners are allowed to lease land for a period of up to 30 years, which is about as close as you’re likely to get to freehold ownership of Thai land.
The problems occur when after 30 years the Thai lessor is not obliged to renew the lease. If you have a piece of land and want to build on it or plan on being alive for more than 30 years, you’ve got a hurdle to get over.
The way to get around this is to have a second contract that states that once the initial 30-year period is up, another will be agreed to. You can do this for a period of up to 90 years, although I assume it can be done indefinitely with the right tweaks.
Another obstacle to overcome is that a lease is rendered void if either the lessor or the lessee dies. Imagine you’ve just got hold of a great patch of land in a hot spot in Thailand; you’ve handed over your money and the next day the lessor dies. As with most things in Thailand, there’s a way to work around this.
You need to have a rider clause added to your lease that legally binds the person who will inherit the land from the Thai lessor to continue the original lease.
Through all manner of clauses and extra contracts you can effectively own land in Thailand, but you can never be 100% sure that you’re always in control.
Is it this complicated in other countries? I can’t quite get my head around the whole thing.
Techno' tags: Thailand, Bangkok, Real estate, Property
July 21st, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Well, in Vietnam the answer was "no" until recently; now foreigners in certain fields will be able to buy land. Still, I doubt the process will ever be as easy as it is here in the states.
July 21st, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Hi,
In France, foreigner can own land and building. I heard that in UK one can own a land only for 90 years or so, is it right?
Back to Thailand, another workaround consists in setting up a company that owns the land with thaï nominees (ideally who don't know each other…), the foreigner own only 49% of the shares but is majoritary in the decision-making process. But there's more checking on these "companies" since last year (roughly)…
Bye
FKA
July 22nd, 2007 at 12:47 am
Prevously in Hawaii they had similar laws. If you weren't of Hawaiian descent you couldn't own land but you could lease it for 99 years. Those laws have since been changed though and others can own.
In the USA if you are there legally you have basically the same rigths as American citizens to buy, sell and own. If meet the financial requirements anybody can buy and own property, buy and own a car or run any legal business.
I don't know about other countries but I believe many restrict foreign ownership.
July 22nd, 2007 at 2:24 am
Well in Switzerland anyone who has money can buy and own land. No matter what nationality… Switzerland WANTS rich people to come and spend their money in our country…
July 22nd, 2007 at 6:14 am
In the UK, at least in London it is very hard to find something to buy in "freehold". Most property are leasehold for anything between 20 to 999 years. Anybody can buy in lease or freehold.
Often bank won't loan you money if you want to buy a flat or a semidetached building because there is no such thing as "community and syndication" that ensure that if in case of a problem all tenant will contribute. Hence there is a legal vacuum if there is problem between your ceiling and the floor of your upstairs neighbors. None of you has to pay, the property can loose its value in case of problem…
The lease can be extended but you have to pay for that and it is cheaper to do it before the lease is less than 74 years.
This is typical English thing where the land belongs either to the Queen of the Church!
In France, anybody can buy and there is no leasehold system.
~R
July 22nd, 2007 at 6:55 am
If you were planning to own land in Thailand, wouldn't you become a Thai citizen? Thus rendering the 'lease' issue irrelevant? Once you own land (in a Lockean way) and mix your labour with it, you are more home in that sovereignty than the one you emerged from imo.
July 22nd, 2007 at 8:28 am
The majority of land in the UK is freehold, only London where there is a lot of leasehold land and property. That said, flats/apartments anywhere are generally leasehold.
Anyone can own property here. If you have the money to pay for it you can buy it, simple as that. I know foreigners who aren't even resident who own property here. I have a Thai friend, for example, who owns a six bedroom house in London that is rented out to an embassy. She doesn't live here and only visits once a year but owns the property and takes an income from it. Perfectly legal.
July 23rd, 2007 at 4:18 am
Hey LOE,
Is she a related to a recent ex-PM ?
;-)
!!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:10 am
Roger, haha. Oh yes, I forgot that family. Seems anyone can own football clubs as well as property!
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:48 am
actually, if the lessor dies, the person who inheritted the land is still obliged to lease out the land to the lessee, granted that the lease is registered. however, if the lessee dies, the lessor is not obliged to lease out the land to the lessee's heir.
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:56 am
You can in fact have a very easy experience of buying property in Thailand. It just means that you follow Thai law and take lease hold. If you use a decent lawyer then he will set it up for you so that you will have a secured 3×30 year lease that can be willed, sub leased and sold.
Plus the value for money that you get In Thailand is quite astonishing. have a look at this property that only costs the same as my mates ex council flat in the Portsmouth area. siamdevelopments.com A lot of the problems that are associated with the whole "ownership" thing was because the estate agents had been encouraging people to circumvent Thai law.
The reality is that you don't need to. They then all panicked when the laws were looked into and may possibly be enforced. basically they had it too easy for too long and now that they have to do a bit of work to get sales they are all whinging.
The fact of the matter is that real estate in Hua Hin is booming as they are happy with the lease system and write a clause into to the contract that should a more preferable option become available then the lease will be transferred accordingly.
I don't think many of us will survive more than 90 years anyway, does anyone else?
July 24th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
You are quite right Tony, foreigners or falangs can easily lease land in Thailand, the probelm is many people listen to guys in the pub and get cheap lawyers.
You pay peanuts , you get monkeys, you cannot spend to much money on GOOD lawyers or accountants, in the end of the day they send you money.
I checked out that website http://www.siamdevelopments.com, looks a great villa, any idea how much they cost, ive just brought a house in pattaya, but not as nice as the one you mention.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:08 am
Hi there.
Yes Roger they are stunning. They actually look a lot better in real life. They start from 9.9 million bht unfurnished but that includes stuff like the Jacuzzi, landscaped gardens, huge L shaped pool, roof garden with BBQ area and Sala etc.
I think that the show villa featured on the website is 11.5 million bht ready to move in as you see it in the photos.
Whereabouts did you buy?
July 25th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Me and my husband have owned our own home in Thailand for 7 years now, and our lawyer has advised us to change to leasehold, it was very easy and not expensive.
What we did was put the land in a thai name, then leased it from them for 3 x 30 years leases, paying in advance the full amount, of course no money changed hands .
But we own the house in our own names and lease the land for 90 years, also in the lease agreement we have stipulated that when foreigners can own land the land will be transferred to us.
We are actually in the progress of buying some more land in east Pattaya, land and property there is going to explode, i would advise anyone wanting to live in Thailand not to be scared, its a wonderful place to live, you can keep Europe, that place is finished.
Too expensive, too boring, too cold, everybody wants to live in Thailand, thats why property values will keep rising and rising.