Ok having read a rescent post about moving and working in LOS i feel i must post this.

I have been to LOS more than a few times now,i am married to a Thai (Noi)

The last 5 Times to LOS we have stayed at a hse i rent in Bangkwai.Last feb06 we were talking to a Thai restuarant owner we know regarding building a hse in the future.

He told us that a welsh cple were having a hse built through him and that they would be at his restuarant in a cple days.

So we waited and went to see them. We were invited to see the hse.(almost complete) They have a small bussiness in england,but none in Thailand.

Now having read most of the rules and regs about hse ownership (and reading what members from here have posted)

I am wondering how was it possible to build and own this hse.

As many members from this forum know Cha-am and HuaHin they can confirm the amount of companys selling Farangs houses,and building houses for them.From Cha-am to HuaHin all you can see now is billboards advertising propertys for sale.

And regarding Farangs working in LOS

I personally Know 2 english,one finnish,One swedish,and an american,who all own and work in restuarants in Bangkwai.

Then we have the English guy in HuaHin who owns the meat company,openely selling and working,Importing from the uk.

Oh and the irish bar in Cha-am+many more i know off.

They are not all married to a Thai.


Did i mention Virgin car hire in Huahin? run by an English guy.Well ok that might be possible but ........


Is it just a matter of just doing what you want and keeping your head down?


Can you just get a thai you trust to have a hse built for you? Who in the goverment would know you just built a hse?

Am i looking at this in black and white with no shades of grey?


Im just saying what i have seen with my own eyes.

Can anyone enlighten me on these points?

I hope so best wishes Stevem

Stevem

the short answer is realistically, you cannot own anything in LOS, you can own a company in LOS albeit only 49% of the shares can be allocated to you.
the easiest route, based on trust, is to put everything in your wifes name

Hi Bryn,Yes,just as i thought .But the fact remains this cple did build and still have a hse near Bangkwai,and do not have it as an asset in a thai company.

And i suppose this is what is giving me some sleeples nights.
The thought that maybe just maybe it is possible to build and own a home ,but not knowing how to go about it

The pic in previouse post is as it was when i saw it. think when i am in los again i will have to pay it another visit.
Thanks for your reply Stevem

It is possible to build and own your own home you just can't own the land that it sits on you have to rent it. That's what the missus reckons anyway.

Hi Kanjana,ok Now if thats true,and lets say my wife owned land,then i would not have to rent,but the thai gov say that I could not own the hse.

It would have to be in my wifes name.

The point that im getting at is that a Farang cple from the uk have had a hse built.The only Thai involvement in this is that A thai restuarant owner did all the planning and arranged builders to build it .for commision on the price of the hse.

Now if i had just been told the story of this then i would not believe it , but i have met them and been to the hse,so i know it as fact.

Maybe you are correct and im sure someone will confirm this sooner or later.

Thanks best wishes Stevem.

Hi stevem, how do you know the restuarant owner doesn't own the land? I just asked the missus about this(family used to have their own building company) and she confirms what I said. She also said that regardless of the fact that it is your wife that owns the land you should still rent it from her because should the worst happen and you divorce she cannot get the land back until the end of the rental term or get you out of the house unless she pays you for it. Another thing to bear in mind is you wont be able to sell the house yourself because you don't have the rights to the land, the wife had an english friend who built and owned a house on his wifes land but because he didn't rent the land when they got divorced the house was worthless and he had to send the bulldozers in to flatten it rather than let his ex have the use of it.
By the way the wife reckons if you are going to build a house the best one to build is a nice wooden (teak) one, because if you own it and divorce happens you would be able to sell it, cos someone would be able to take it down move it and reassemble it.

When we had our house built the land was in my wifes name and I took out a 30 year lease on it, the house is mine, all done through a solicitor, after reading Stickman, cannot be to careful. as I have been stung before.

When I was waiting for flight to bkk from hongkong got talking to a British couple who had a house built in Pattaya, the land was in a Thai policemans name and his wife looked after the house when they were in the UK, very dodgy I thought.

Stevem
Scroll down this page it will give you more of an idea

Can somebody shed more light on the following:

Firstly, is it the case that the new military government are cracking down on foreigners who set up a Company for the purpose of circumventing Thai land ownership rules. For example having 6 token Thai shareholders who then sign away their voting rights and benefits in the event of a sale. I had heard that this method of buying land was now very dodgy.

Secondly, if a Thai wife (of a foreigner) buys the land. Can she use her maiden name or married name? Does the foreigner still have to sign away any rights to the land in the event of divorce? I had heard that if the divorce takes place in the UK, the UK solicitor will still take account of the value of the land/property, even despite the Thai rules?

Any information would be appreciated.

Here's to not getting divorced!!

Thanks Kanjana,your reply is very interesting.

Although i must point out that when i eventualy get round to building a home,The fact that it will be in my wifes name is no problem,

I love her and trust her,and seing as im 19yrs older than her,i know i will be long gone before her.

And the least i could leave her would be a home to live in.


Best wishes Stevem.

Thanks Bryn,I will spend a cple of hrs reading your link later. Although with the few braincells i have left it might take longer to understand it all.

She can use her married name to buy the land and as for signing away rights to the land in case of divorce you will find that you have to sign away your rights to the land and the money used to buy it before it is transferred into her name if they know that she is married to a farang.

quote:

Originally posted by stevem:
Thanks Kanjana,your reply is very interesting.

Although i must point out that when i eventualy get round to building a home,The fact that it will be in my wifes name is no problem,

I love her and trust her,and seing as im 19yrs older than her,i know i will be long gone before her.

And the least i could leave her would be a home to live in.


Best wishes Stevem.

My sentiments entirely, except that I don't assume that my wife won't die in an accident. If she does meet an untimely end, I don't want to rely on the forbearance of her family, which may or may not be forthcoming.
Get her to sign up to a 30-year lease.

Yes,Good point John,

Interesting post

I have a twist I would like to put out there.

We have bought some land, correction the mother in law is and will transfer it into my wife's/childrens name next year. This is the second plot we have bought and so that we can give one to each of my children in the future.... so not sure of all the legallities of this yet but as my children are Thai nationals. that one hurdle cleared and I hope on the piont of losing the land should the wife pass away first is also circumvented.

Any thoughts

the claw

It's good to buy the land for the kids, but i have heard that if you dont build on it within 5 years, the goverment have the right to take the land off you, not sure if this is true, but my wife thinks she has heard something about this.

Steve,

The rule about only being able to own 49% of a company only applies to a company of the type listed in the Thai regulations. There are certain types of business that you are allowed to own outright - exporting certain types of products is one example. Sorry I can't remember where to find the list at the moment but one of the agents out there can give you information - try Sunbelt Asia.

http://www.sunbeltasia.com/

You can also own a condo providing that the total foreign ownership in the building is no more than 49%.

After speaking to a Thai lawyer I was given information that contradicts the information that Kanjana gave you about renting. I was told that leases are not at all secure in Thailand and the landowner can in fact kick the tenant out. I've heard about this happening to business's on several occasions when the owner wants to redevelop the land so I would check with your own lawyer before taking that step.

Fly Boy,

The Foreign Business Act is now being enforced in its entirity. Strictly speaking it has always illegal to have 'nominee' directors who sign away their voting rights but 'a blind eye' had been turned to the practice for a long time.

Companies that were set up using nominees were given a certain amount of time to declare it but I can't remember what action was proposed to remedy the situation. The Thai directors of new companies must show where they got the money from to buy their shares and one story I heard was that they had to show proof of having the money for 6 months.

Basically they are crazy - like we are going to go over there with a wheel barrow full of money and tip it up at the feet of 7 Thai directors that we may not know. We would then be in a position that the Thai directors, having voting rights could effectively take control of the company and its assets - yeah right! Perhaps Thailand doesn't need any foreign investment?

Flip, thanks for that, very interesting.

As a matter of interest The Times had an article on Saturday stating that "Thailand is trying to attract foreign investors and retirees to it's shores", and "Thailand is proposing a change in the law to attract retirees".

Any idea of what's in the pipeline?

No idea I'm afraid Fly Boy.

The bit about retirees I can understand but attract foreign investment??? They seem to be doing their damnest to stop foreign investment or should I say attract it but on their (highly unpopular and unfair) terms - a suicidal policy in my opinion.

I was fairly surprised, and saddened, the last time I was in Hua Hin (June). In a very short time it's become completely over-run by real-estate agents, like many British high-streets. (most ridiculously overpriced)

Quite a few of these had farangs openly working in them - even wearing uniforms in a couple of cases. I also noticed more farangs openly working in other various businesses. It surprised me because I thought it was nigh on impossible to do this legally, especially as they were fairly menial positions such as selling real estate.

Aren't they all, nominally at least, involved in Co's that are Thai owned? Does that make a difference? There are a lot of Thai developers in Hua Hin.