Foreigners and land rights ownership in Thailand

Personally, I wouldn't risk trying to own land in Thailand as an expat. What does concern me a lot and why I'll reply to your post is the situation with the World Club land and buildings in Chiang Mai, and also being a born again Christian. A group of Christians purchased this land several years ago, and I assume paid a pretty high price because it is truly a fine plot with some beautiful buildings used for schools and other church activities. I'm NOT real acquainted with what happened, only that some judges and attorneys in Chiang Mai got together and took it back, and I don't think the church was repaid for its investment, either. Now, personally, I don't believe foreigners can own land period, but can "own" a house on it used for personal residence. It can't be taken away, but I don't think the foreigner can resell it either, but I'm vague on these details. Farangs sometimes tell me that they came and bought a house, meaning that the land is in the wife's name I assume, but I also note that the law says that a wife cannot own land if purchased with money from her foreign husband, so has to sign a statement saying that it was all her money used, so that sounds a bit off color to me. All in all, I think any attempt by foreigners to own land in Thailand runs the risk of being a loss in the end, especially if it is not legal which is what I always hear.

malili18 wrote:

Dear foreigners of all countries,

My name is Lili and I am working for a local NGO in Bangkok named HDFF. We are currently conducting a study on land rights ownership in Thailand to understand the difficulties that foreigners encounter when they want to buy land in Thailand. We really need to get the opinion of foreigners who live here because many of them would like to invest more in Thailand but the law makes it difficult.

This study is funded by the Thai Royal Government, which is wondering if whether or not the law should partially be adapted to the international investment prospectives and requirements.

As a corporate member or as an individual, we are asking you to participate in this work that will lead to policy recommandations towards the thai government, by the end of this year. Would you please take 5 minutes of your time to fill our questionnaire?

Whether you possess land or not in Thailand, your opinion matters because you work and live in the kingdom, or you wish to.

Please note that the results of this study are entirely anonymous!

It takes only 5 minutes. If you are interested, please write to me at hdff.lapouge@gmail.com

We hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

Lili

I live in Thailand but I am retired so I do not work here.
I wish you luck in trying to persuading the Thai Government on anything. Most of us who live here realise that "individual foreigners" other than those willing to invest millions of Baht for 1 Rai of land will never be able to own land here.
Perhaps your "report" will point out to the government that Thais living in my own country have equal rights on land ownership with those born in the UK.

I am however happy to complete your questionaire perhaps you can PM me a link.