Americans can own property in Thailand

synthia · #1 (**permalink**) 1st June 2007, 02:05 PM

I just found out that all the rules about property ownership don't apply to Americans. Thailand signed a treaty with the US back in the Viet Nam war era that gives Americans the right to buy property. The legislature can't take it away, because they would have to void the treaty. That makes it a more attractive place to retire, since you could buy a house and know that the government can't just decide to nationalize all foreign-owned property or something.

mitchell · #2 (**permalink**) 19th June 2007, 02:40 AM

Hello I just want to understand something. I read a few books such as Lonely Planet and even met some American living in Thailand and they were informed by their Lawyers that they could not own a house or even property. Is there somewhere I could find documentation that would give me the right to own property as an American.

Thanks

retiredusn · #3 (**permalink**) 24th June 2007, 11:40 PM

Reading about owning land in Thailand and the facts are two diff. things. You may buy a house or condo in Thailand but you can not own the land without a company/bride ect.

mitchell · #4 (**permalink**) 25th June 2007, 12:34 AM

Thanks for the reply. That sounds about right. Then to secure myself I would have to lease the land from my spouse/partner?

retiredusn · #5 (**permalink**) 25th June 2007, 07:53 AM

you may lease land in Thailand for any given length of time but it must be registered with the courts.

synthia · #6 (**permalink**) 25th June 2007, 08:02 PM

Make sure it is a really long lease.

synthia · #7 (**permalink**) 26th June 2007, 05:46 PM

It's called the Thai Amity Treaty of 1968. I did some googling, and apparently it was being renegotiated but that never really happened, or if it did I missed it when I skimmed some sites. The rights can't be modified by law, but must be changed by renegotiating the treaty. It applies to companies, too.

Bren · #8 (**permalink**) 28th June 2007, 01:40 PM

Thanks very much for your reply and the useful info!

I will be visiting Thailand later in 2007 and will try to speak to people who have successfully gone through the visa process. According to the Thai Embassy UK web site, it's possible to obtain an O A one year retirement visa at their London office. I think this will be worth a try when the time comes.

I also noticed on the Hull, UK, Thai Consulate web site that it is NOT now necessary to have the qualifying amout of money in a Thai bank. Hope this true !!

synthia · #9 (**permalink**) 28th June 2007, 06:31 PM

Wow, that's news. But Hull is odd, I hear. It's supposed to be the best place to apply for the one year visa. I've heard they grant them to everybody. It's an honorary consulate or something, and no Thais work there.

Check the thaivisa website.

#10 (**permalink**) 29th July 2007, 03:11 PM

I think this is accurate. You can't own property, or a house in Thailand. Same goes for owning or running businesses. There are 'legal' ways to go about it though. You can start a Thai corporation and that entity can buy a house. But you can not own 51% of a Thai corporation. You need Thai's on the board of your corp. who then sign over their proxies, but, if laws changed (as they do often without rhyme or reason here) you might be out. I was always worried about the devious ways that things could pan out. I also worry about a change in government, military, constitution, or a new King that could impact matters undesirably.
It cost me about 25,000 baht to set up a Thai corporation so I could buy a house/business in Pattaya about 4 years ago. Finally, I chose not to buy the house or open the business. It costs me close to 20,000 baht yearly for taxes, even with no business activity. I was quoted 40,000 by my lawyer to dissolve the corp. The corp. is still active and is transferrable, if anyone wants it - cheaper than what you can get it for new today. But that's not my point.
You can own a condo as long as most of the units are owned by Thai's. Your spouse (if they are Thai) can own property, house or business, or whatever. It will not take living here long to hear the myriad stories of supposedly loving wives who, when they got the property, immediately said, bye bye, after putting on an act - sometimes for years.
Now, my Mother owned several condos in the US before she died which had gardens, and property and were very much like houses. Every condo I've heard about in Thailand is basically an apartment. Most I've seen in Pattaya are high-rises. If anyone knows any different, I'd like to hear about it. I'm only going on what I know, or have heard personally. At this time, I'm thinking seriously about leaving the "Land of Smiles" or "LOS". After 4 years I'm getting a bit fed up. Hate to recommend another forum, I hope this isn't against forum rules, but there is a lot of discussion on topics of home ownership, daily news, weird laws, latest visa requirements, and a host of other matters on the thaivisa site. Be forewarned, posters there can get a bit crude at times. - Buzzer