Buy Property In Thailand - How To Own Land

In the last post about how to buy property in Thailand, we mentioned that although you as a foreign individual can own a building - e.g. a house or villa - in Thailand, you cannot own the land on which it is built.

There are a number of ways you can get round this - quite legally.

• You can set up a limited liability company registered in Thailand. There is nothing to prevent a foreign individual or couple from doing this and it will enable you to own land. However you have to pay a fee up front which comes to approximately £6,000 GBP or $12,000 USD, and there is also a monthly payment that amounts to around £50 GBP or $100 USD.


• You can purchase a 30-year lease, which you can register as renewable for consecutive periods of 30 years. You have to go to the local Land Office to sign the contract for the lease, which will be in Thai accompanied by a notarized translation into English or whatever your language is. The fee is 1.1 percent of the appraised value of the property.


• Many westerners choose to own a condo (condominium) rather than a villa. There is clear provision in Thai law for foreign ownership of up to 49 percent of units in a condo complex.


• There is another option which can be called the "romantic option"! A lot of westerners decide to marry a Thai national, which means they can buy property in the spouse's name. It is especially frequent for western men to take Thai wives. This is fine as long as it's a genuine marriage. However if you try entering into a sham marriage for the sake of owning property, you will find yourself in trouble as the Thai authorities take a dim view of it - not surprisingly! And if the arrangement breaks down, there will be all sorts of legal complications.

In the next post on how to buy property in Thailand we will look at the actual process of buying. If you would like to get started, you can visit http://www.bizwrite.co.uk/realestate/propertyabroad.html And if you have had experience of buying, or trying to buy, property in Thailand, do let us know your comments!