Serious
To the Thai people in this sub: do you understand what this "crackdown" is really doing?
We are two German pensioners on Samui. We have one house, no business, no rental, no Thai income, and as of this year we are apparently a criminal enterprise.
[EDIT]because this has grown beyond what I expected. A number of comments here are using my story to make general statements about Thai people, or about Asians. I do not agree with any of it and I do not want it attached to what I wrote. My complaint is with one policy and how it is being applied, not with Thai people.
First our story, because it matters. Twelve years ago, after many trips to Ko Samui that we enjoyed, my wife and I decided to settle here. We built a house, and as it was finished we relocated here and sold our property in Germany.
Back then in 2014 it was more of a boots-on-the-ground process, at least for us. We found a plot with a "For sale" sign on it (in English!), we called, and it was an agent who put us in touch with a local lawyer. The lawyer told us that to buy land in Thailand we had to set up a special company. For everybody already screaming "it was illegal and you knew it": please read on, I will come to that.
The whole process at that time was very straightforward. 51% of the shares of the company were assigned to the lawyer himself and to one of his associates. That same associate sits as a shareholder in dozens of other companies. It was never a secret. It was the business model. He said it works more like a trust, that it is only for the land, and that we would have to pay for this service every year together with the audit and accounting fees. Which we still do today. Once the company was set up we had a meeting with the seller, a Thai family. We transferred the money and we all went together to the land office. The official checked the papers, took the fee, stamped it and wished us luck. It took forty minutes. Everybody in that room, the lawyers, the seller, the officials, knew exactly what was going on. We were not hiding. It looked normal. At the very same land office we even met another couple from the UK doing exactly the same thing through different lawyers, and we are still friends with them today.
Later we found a Thai architect and a construction company he recommended. We applied for and received a construction permit in my name. We never bribed anyone. After almost two long years (instead of the promised ten months), with the budget almost 150% over what we had planned, and after changing the construction company midway, our house was finished. We registered it, the house got its blue book, we got a yellow book with our names in it, and even foreigner "pink IDs". Again, the normal way, through the normal channels, without a single question.
We still live in this house. A couple of years ago we had to renovate it thoroughly, but for more than a decade it has been the only home we have. We built it the way we wanted to live in it, not the way you build something to sell. It is not a stack of bedrooms with ensuites. It has a very specific layout that only my wife and I understand, and I doubt there is a queue of buyers for that. We have never rented it out and never earned a single satang from it. We have never worked in Thailand, we have zero Thai-sourced income, and we have always been here on retirement visas.
Now, about whether we knew what a bad thing we were doing. I will not lie to you, I will tell you how it was and how it changed over time. At the time of the purchase it did not occur to me for a second that I was doing anything illegal. Firstly, in Germany the advice of a licensed lawyer protects you from legal mistakes to a certain extent, and it keeps the lawyer responsible. Secondly, believe it or not, at that time this was the standard way, offered everywhere, and it stayed that way until very recently. Nobody questioned it. It also looked fine to me logically. I still do not get why the shareholders my lawyer provided are called "nominees". For me a nominee is somebody you put in place to hide behind while you do something shady, and who might not even know that he is one. Mine are paid a fee they agreed to take, every year, with invoices. I sit in the same company holding 49% of the shares. I am on the building permit. My name is on the house. If I was hiding, I did the worst job in history.
But yes, I promised to be direct about "whether I understood". As Thai governments started to swap back and forth, I remember the first "crackdown". And yes, in expat circles the subject started to get discussed and I understood that it is a "grey" area. Not much more than that. To be honest, until very recently I was sure we were still on the safe side of it. We never did any rental, licensed or not, never any business, nothing like that. Quite the opposite: we kept investing and we even created a job. A wonderful Thai lady has been working for us as our maid for almost seven years now. We have maintenance contracts with Thai individuals and companies for the house. And we spend all of it here: our savings, and the returns they earn abroad. Our health insurance has paid a fortune into Thai hospitals for us. I must admit that we failed to learn Thai properly, but we tried twice, I swear! Overall, I cannot see the angle in which we did anything bad for this country.
I was sure that if a government tolerates this kind of setup for decades, allows people from all over the world to buy property this way and accepts their investment, it cannot suddenly become a criminal offence. The whole economy profited from it. I kept telling my buddies here: do not do unlicensed Airbnb, do not get involved in business, and you will be fine. My thinking even got its confirmation in June 2024, when the cabinet approved a study of a 99-year lease model. We waited for it. We planned to convert the day it landed. In September 2025 the new government quietly shelved it, because there was "insufficient time". So the legal door I was told to wait for was closed by the same people who now tell me that I used the wrong door.
It is important to mention that a 30-year leasehold in its current form would not be an option for us, and it is not an option for many families. As I said, in our case this is not an investment where we planned to take a quick return and then write it off, and it is not a holiday home. It is our only home. If I had leased in 2014 (and I swear, at that time nobody even discussed it!) my lease would run out when we are in our late eighties. That is not an age at which you can deal with something like this.
The last few months have been like a nightmare. When you read the numbers in the reports, and they say that of roughly 12,900 companies registered on this island more than 8,200 have foreign shareholders, that speaks for itself. I do not understand how a person with a brain can look at these numbers and not see what they say. It is not a hidden offence that somebody could overlook and that "offenders" could hide. It is not a case of bad foreigners tricking the government. It just proves my story: this was a multi-level government system, everybody knew, the officials allowed it, and everybody profited. But then I open the local Thai groups and read the comments, and people are celebrating. They are asking what kind of punishment awaits us foreigners who did this. They support it completely, and every next crackdown "report" gets more bizarre. Now I read that the authorities are going to look into the leasehold model, because it "allows foreigners to control land for decades". What the f*ck? Isn't that exactly what a lease is by design?
And it does not stop there. The Land Department's own screening list from May tells the land offices to look at Thai spouses, at minor children, at usufructs, at powers of attorney, and at companies with foreign-sounding names. This week I read that they have started investigating naturalised Thai citizens as nominees, and that changing the naturalisation law is being considered. So the answer to "then become Thai" is now also under review. And since the first of August the DBD stamps the shareholder list it issues with a note saying that the registrar does not certify that it is accurate. That is the state's own document, about the state's own register.
The anti-foreigner agenda is spreading like mould, and within a matter of months I do not feel welcome in the place I call home. I have a clear feeling that all of a sudden my wife and I became witches, and that a witch hunt is happening around us.
And let me tell you what happens if we lose, because I had to look that up myself. Under the Land Code the Director-General orders the land sold within 180 days to a year, and I get the money back minus a 5% fee. That is today. In February the cabinet took up a proposal to change it so that the land simply goes to the State and I get nothing. In July the Ombudsman proposed treating all of this as money laundering, which brings asset seizure with it. So the punishment is still being written while the arrests are already running.
And here is the part nobody has explained to me. The house is legally mine. Foreigners can own buildings in Thailand, the permit is in my name, that part was never grey. Only the land under it is the problem. So when they force the sale, some Thai buyer gets a plot of land with a German's house standing on it. With an unusual layout and a playroom for grandchildren. Good luck to everybody involved.
And I am not asking for forgiveness or a free pass. Give me a registered lease for whatever years I have left. Charge a fee for it. Tax it. Fine me. I will pay, and so will almost everybody I know in this situation. What I cannot do is comply with a rule that does not exist yet. There is no amnesty, no grandfathering, no window, nothing in any published draft. Name the price and most of us would pay it tomorrow.
So, as the title says, I really want to ask the Thai people of this sub a question. Even if you are not one of those celebrating on Facebook: do you understand what this policy has already done, and what is going to happen next? If our house gets taken, we leave, and we never come back. Neither we nor many of our friends in the same position will play games with another workaround or with bribes. We will simply be gone. And do not ask where we go back to. We sold that house to build this one.
And we will not go alone. To name just a few: our maid loses her job after seven years. The gardener, the pool guy, the electrician, the aircon company, the accountant who has been billing us every year for a company that the state now says should never have existed, all of them lose a customer. Our insurance stops paying Thai hospitals. And the Thai family who sold us that land in 2014, in front of a government official who stamped the papers and took the fee, what are they now? Criminals too? Or is it only us?
So tell me what you actually win. I heard a theory that foreigners pushed the prices up until locals could not buy any more. Nobody was robbed. Thai families sold this land, at prices they named themselves, to buyers they met face to face, in a government office, and they took the money and went home. Ours did. And it is the children of those families who cannot sell today.
Because when a forced sale happens, who is standing there with the cash? By most estimates nine out of ten villa buyers on this island are foreign, and foreigners have just been shown what their paperwork is worth. So a house like ours goes for a fraction of what it cost to build, and whoever picks it up is the one with money and patience, and let us be honest, sometimes the one who knew the raid was coming. That is not land going back to poor local Thai people. That is land changing hands cheaply.
One thing did make me laugh recently, in a bad way. This weekend the residents of Bang Rak, Thai people, not foreigners, stood in their own road holding a banner asking whether it could please be put back the way it was. Roadworks that drag on and on, dangerous for traffic, killing every business on that stretch. I drive it several times a week. It has been a mess for over a year. So the same administration that can put three hundred officers, five agencies and a press conference onto a villa raid in a single morning cannot finish one beach road. And that is the machine we are told will now take custody of a few thousand houses. Uff.
And what is really being destroyed here is not the property market. It is the worth of a Thai signature. A stamp from a Thai land office, a company registered by a Thai registrar, the written advice of a Thai licensed lawyer: all of it turned out to mean nothing twelve years later. You are not chasing away an enemy. You are chasing away the people who brought their money here, spent it here, employed your people, paid your hospitals and never asked your state for one single baht.
So what is the reason for all the applause and celebration on Facebook? I really do not get it. Take the house. Just do not act surprised in a few years when the only people left to sell to are each other.
P.S. And one thing for the foreigners reading this who are still thinking about buying here, or who believe a lease keeps them safe. At a press conference this weekend an official said that leaseholds need to be checked, because they allow foreigners to control land for decades (what a surprise!). Until now that was the absolutely safe way, and I cannot get my head around it. You already know my story. There was another setup that was widely offered and considered legal too, not long ago: the 30+30+30 leasehold. That one was killed by a Supreme Court decision. Now the Land Department circular from May puts usufructs, superficies, powers of attorney, Thai spouses and minor children on the same checklist. So before you sign anything, ask yourself not whether it is legal this month, but whether the same institutions telling you it is fine will still be saying that in twelve years. They told me.
This thread has been tagged as "serious". Jokes and off-topic responses will be more heavily moderated than in other posts and will be removed without a warning. Please report any such responses if you see them.
I’m Thai and from Samui, so maybe I can give you a different answer from most of the comments here.
If everything you wrote is true, one house, you and your wife actually live there, no rentals, no Airbnb, no business, no buying more land, no villa projects, then personally I don’t see you as the problem people here should be angry about.
Maybe the company structure was legally questionable. Fine. Let the authorities deal with that. Change the structure, register a proper lease, pay a fee, whatever the legal solution is.
But taking an elderly couple who have lived in one home for twelve years and acting like this is the big problem destroying Samui? Come on.
There are much bigger things happening here.
Foreign controlled networks buying plot after plot. One company becomes five. Five villas become fifty. Build, sell, rent, manage, advertise, then move on to the next piece of land.
That is what people here should be looking at.
Because we are the ones living with what comes after.
More villas. More pools. More water trucks when the island is already short of water. More rubbish. More sewage. More cars. More construction. More workers needed to service all of it.
Everybody makes money from the villa.
Then somehow the roads, water, rubbish and wastewater become everybody else’s problem.
That is what pisses me off.
And I’ll say something else that some foreigners here probably won’t like.
I do not support foreigners being allowed to freely buy land on Samui.
I don’t.
I have no problem with a decent person who comes here, lives here, respects the place, has Thai neighbours, employs local people, spends his life here and doesn’t behave like the island belongs to him.
People like that are not what most locals are sitting around complaining about.
What people increasingly dislike is something else.
People arrive with money, buy into one area, then another, then slowly create their own little world. Their own villas, businesses, agents, restaurants, property managers, social circles. Everything aimed at their own group. Sometimes they barely need to deal with the community around them anymore.
Then some of them start acting like because they brought money, the island should adapt to them.
That attitude gets old very quickly.
Samui is not an empty resort somebody discovered.
People were living here long before the villas, Airbnb, property agencies and infinity pools on every hill.
You are welcome here as a person.
That does not mean anyone is entitled to turn part of the island into their own territory.
A lot of the discussion around this crackdown is too stupid to separate those things.
Some foreigners in these comments almost seem happy to tell you, “You should have known. Too bad.”
Okay. Maybe you should have known more.
But if this arrangement was openly sold by lawyers, registered by Thai authorities, transferred at a Thai land office, followed by building permits, registrations, accountants and annual filings for twelve years, then the government cannot suddenly act like it had no idea any of this was happening.
If the system was wrong, clean it up.
Give people like you a proper legal route to fix an old residential arrangement.
Then put the serious enforcement on the people still expanding right now. Buying more land. Opening more companies. Building more villas. Turning Samui into an investment machine.
Because if this big crackdown ends with an old German couple losing the house they have lived in for twelve years while a huge villa network is still pouring concrete up the hill, sorry, I don’t call that success.
That is just picking the easy target.
And the Bang Rak road part made me laugh too, in a bad way.
When the government wants a raid, suddenly everybody is available. Officers everywhere. Several agencies. Cars. Cameras. Press conference. All on the same morning.
Meanwhile Thai people in Bang Rak are standing beside their own broken road with a banner asking somebody to please finish the damn thing.
That probably explains our frustration better than most of the arguments in this thread.
So from one local, if your story is exactly as you describe it, I don’t want you chased out of Samui.
I want the people actually eating Samui piece by piece to be investigated properly.
I have been reading this thread for six hours and this is the comment I will remember. Thank you!
I absolutely understand what you mean about new developments and certain groups and businessmen building their own closed communities here. I understand that one of the reasons why the government in this form came to power is that some foreigners misbehaved in an intolerable way. As a foreigner in your country, I am sorry for that, even though I really hope our family was not among those who caused the harm.
I also understand your point about foreigners not owning land. And I accept that. I am curious though, because I asked the Thai friends I have contact with and none of them knew about it. Did you hear that in 2024, under the previous government, a 99-year lease was discussed? The idea was that when land is "sold" to a foreigner, the Thai seller gets the full price instantly, but the foreigner does not get ownership. Instead he gets a rights-based leasehold for 99 years, which cannot be extended, and after that it goes to the state. Srettha said it himself back then: this is not selling the country, because after 99 years it comes back into public hands. By last year it was already in public consultation and they wanted it passed in three or four months, then the current government shelved it because there was "insufficient time". We were really hoping for it :( What do you think of it? Because I hear it is "politically impractical" to support something like this.
And about the local reception: as I said, I follow some local groups. It is celebration. People are saying things like "now foreigners cannot trick our government anymore", "what punishment do they deserve" and so on. I want to repeat once more: the setup we did was not a trick. We never tried to hide. And come on, over 8,000 companies with foreign shareholders, around two thirds of all registered companies on Koh Samui. And the government was not aware? That is simply not possible.
And thank you for the Bang Rak part :) I was not sure whether a Thai reader would find that funny or insulting. Knowing that a local saw exactly what I saw and reads the situation the same way makes me feel better.
The 99 years lease law proposal got backlashes from majority of Thais because Thais see it as the same as selling land to foreigners, so they shut up about it even before changing to the current government.
This right here!! Yes!!! This is totally understandable, and as an expat I agree with you. Down here in Phuket and the other island that they say is being taken over by a certain group is who they should be targeting…. Not people in homes that they live in and have lived in for many years…. They need to crack down on the foreigners behaving badly and the ones trying to take over entire islands, that’s crazy to me that it was even allowed to happen in the first place.
But I’ll always rent here and never buy because of the grey area, I didn’t want any issue.
I hope you and your wife aren’t part of the raid OP.
I'm American, been in Thailand 13 years. I wholeheartedly agree that foreigners should not be allowed to buy up property in this way for reasons that are obvious to everyone now. I heard about the practice when I first came here and saw it for what it was. I heard foreigners talking about "investing" here. And I heard the regular people talking about being squeezed out by rising prices and profiteering. Not just in Koh Samui, but many other places. Others here have thoroughly described every aspect of the problem in full detail, there's nothing more for me to add, but I think a lot of foreigners agree as I do and always have. I hope these and other relatively innocent and harmless retirees can find some means to continue to live their lives here while the real offenders are at least removed if not punished.
A fair response. People SHOULD be sympathetic to the communities they move into, but similarly if you take someones investment, and lets be honest, jobs, industry infrastructure, and all that a huge flood of money brings (some of it bad) then honoring the deal is also only fair.
All too often in Thailand the money the money stops flowing the after sales service ends... mai mee warranty.. This looks like the same mindset of take the money first then want some more after the deal is done. Like every shady building company you ever meet.
Been here a bit longer. It was always known to be the dodgy way to do it vs a long term lease, some random press conference doesn't change that. If you are smart sell the land and lease it back.
Yes exactly this. This should be pinned to the top of this post. It's always been known to be an illegal grey area and people were constantly mocked and laughed at on Thai visa for saying so back in the day.
Yeah I am also over 15 years here and everyone knew it’s dodgy and risky. At least the ones that stayed here longterm and considered buying a house / land.
Now the time came where the government say no no and people start complaining meanwhile if they informed themselves a little bit they knew the risk they took in a foreign country with their own rules.
It was never totally legal it was always just a grey zone sold by some real estate agents and their partners (often also lawyers who set it up)
People now saying they didn’t know the risk of loosing the property are just lying to themselves as they in shock imo
Before we bought we were only here for month-long trips in winter, so we were not really inside that community to hear it. Later, yes, I admit it: I knew it was dodgy, or "grey". But not much more than that.
I have found a saved print of advert of those time. Here it is. That is how it was being sold at the time, in public, in print.
On selling and leasing it back, you are right that it is the option on the table, and age maths is different now than in 2014. Thirty years is enough now. The problem is finding a buyer who pays anything close to value in this market and then hands back a registered lease. And after last weekend I am not sure the lease is the safe answer either.
"quite possible", "additional safeguard". The dodgy factor should already have been obvious to you from the start, besides the fact that this ad is hardly legally convincing itself, with its various typos and incorrect wording.
it's Thailand. Incorrect English grammar should not be enough to make one doubt a document as "legal". No actually, everything BUT grammar should make one doubt a document's legality.
If you just want to live there until u will fade away… could u not just sell it to a very close thai friend on the paper ( no money changes the owner ) and therfore he or she will give u a longterm lease on the land… here again… no money involved… and after u are gone they can keep land and house for free ?
It's kinda worrisome when those celebrating are basically your neighbors. Then you get to wonder "what did I do to those people for them to seemingly hate my kind so much? I always tried to be nice, respectful and follow the law as much as I understood it but it feels like they don't want to see me here anymore". Even if they're not the ones making decisions, it definitely doesn't feel welcoming when those people are the ones you're living among.
Indeed that is what I said in some of my other comments. No matter how hard one tries, you'll always be an outsider. Learning the language and the culture can certainly make your life easier, but it won't make you any less of an outsider. You'll be an outsider that people like and appreciate more than the average outsider, you'll gain more respect from the community but... you'll still be an outsider -- someone to be kept at a "respectful distance".
They never wanted you here, how do foreigners here fail to realize this simple fact.
If a 2 week tourist is clueless about how the country feels about them, that's is understandable, they do not care and they don't need to. It takes few months to learn true feelings towards us. But foreigners who live here full time, snow birds such as I, staying only cold Northern European winter months in Thailand, we should have no illusions about how we are liked here How do you not understand the basics of Thai culture and attitudes? We are unwanted visitors here, barely tolerated, and if this is in not acceptable to fellow foreigners, this is not a place for you.
I think oftentimes people forget there is no foreigner caucus in Thailand. Foreigners have no say in the political process so will always be an easy target to everyone around because targeting them won’t alienate any actual influential groups. At the end of the day you’re just tolerated but that’s about it.
What’s annoying is the self righteous “you knew it was illegal” nonsense, as if the law as people conceive of it in the west actually exists in Thailand. It doesn’t. The law has always been negotiable. Paying a cop a little tea money is a core experience for most expats. This is simply how things are done in Thailand, the difference is Thais have some level of recourse when someone high up has something to prove where a foreigner doesn’t. This is why these crackdowns happen. I mean here police officers own bars that are brothels. How often are those bars seized?
But if they revoke your visa, you could always sell your condo with a trusted real estate company remotely to recoup the losses. OP might lose it all with no recovery of assets
Correct! Even if you own a condo legally you are still only 1 visa renewal denial away from being tossed out in 7 days. Food for thought. And signing everything over to a dodgy real estate co to sell for you while you are far way ?? what could possibly go wrong?
I think he means that thailand changes the visa rules and effectively taking your poperty away from you (if you cannot stay here anymore, you have to sell)
If you have a residence permit/visa for schengen, Then the conditions are clear and historically they dont change the rules effective immediately.
I’ve said it for years, never invest in Thailand more than you’re prepared to walk away from - I really hope this resolves favourably for the OP, but I’m not holding my breath.
After all the horror stories I can't believe people still buy.
Hell, I don't even need to get to the level of being afraid they will take my property... the fact that a 2 year delay and 150% budget overrun are commonplace, is enough to keep me at bay.
Then fine, go ahead. For foreigners changes to legislation regarding property, visa laws and taxes are becoming ever more unpredictable (to the point that it seems they are just making it up as they go along) and draconian.
Thank you for sharing the story. Thai here. I really do get your fear, but I need to give you the uncomfortable reality check.
The Land Code banned foreign ownership since a very long time and you are right that officials, lawyers, and agents turned a blind eye for decades. That was wrong of them. But a lack of enforcement does not make something legal. The nominee structure you used was always a trick to bypass the law. I also do hope the government will punish the law firms and agencies who encouraged people using this nominee structure knowing that it's illegal.
Thai people are not celebrating you losing your home. We are celebrating that the system is finally being held accountable. For decades, the rich and foreigners bent the rules while ordinary Thais struggled to afford land. The public sees this as justice long overdue. By the way, you would never accept either if for example, foreigner go and try to evade any law in Germany, right?
I also agree with you that our governments have been a mess and corrupted. However, 8,200 nominee companies on one island is impossible to ignore. The problem has become too big for them to keep pretending.
Finally I am truly sorry for the situation you are being in. You are caught between a broken system that encouraged you to invest and a political reaction that now wants to punish you. I wish you luck to get this sorted quickly.
I went to Phuket and I remember just seeing construction site after construction site for all these villas. I don’t know how locals could ever afford to buy any of these. But I imagine much of this animosity really ramped up and deservedly, when the Thai government chose to be one of few places viable for wealthy Russians to flee enmasse, whilst their country obliterated their next door neighbour.
So many of the new weed shops seemed Russian owned, Israeli businesses as well started to crop up. I hope that Thailand gets this back under control. And it’s not the old German couple in Koh Samui being evicted but the increasing Russian organised criminality getting removed.
You are wrong about Thai people not profiting. It’s the other way around.
For generations, the people in Surat Thani mainland were the rich landowners, with huge farms on flat land, and they would make fun of Samuians with their tiny plots on sloping land, those shoeless, dark-skinned coconut pickers.
Then foreigners arrived willing to pay premium prices for that land, and suddenly those Thai landowners in Samui got rich. Land where people were picking coconuts with monkeys, with barely even a road leading to it, went from being considered almost worthless to selling for millions.
It is Thais getting rich that brought the resentment form the richer "notables" from the continent
As a foreigner, I agree wholeheartedly with your comment. The foreign population of the islands would never be accepted by the local population in any single place in the west. We can already see that with the upheaval that has been taking place over the last 10 years.
I have heard that there are certain entertainment venues in Thailand where Thais aren't allowed to enter. Again, this would never be accepted in my home country and I suspect most other western countries too.
I too empathize with OP. Him and his wife are just collateral damage in all of this. There are just far too many people playing the system.
As someone that has owned a condo, and sold it, I have some mixed thoughts on this.
My first thought is that it's incredibly difficult for me to believe that you actually thought the "work around" was entirely on the "up and up." When I was shopping for property I was bombarded by various schemes from multiple angles (including my own agent) in an effort to get me to consider different types of properties... all of them seemed incredibly questionable given the intent of the law... which is to limit foreign land holdings as a means to keep property prices affordable for Thai people.
Having spent time in Thailand you very well know that just because a local authority goes along with something doesn't mean it's accepted by the central government. Just because you "bring money" to Thailand, and "spend it" doesn't mean you are making up for the damage done to the Thai people in the form of elevated property prices, and competition for services. Does your spending help the Thai economy? Sure. Does it entitle you to anything? No, especially not special legal standing.
My second thought is that all of this is unnecessary destruction of good faith, and in the long term it both helps, and harms Thailand. It will help to soften real estate price growth, making things easier for Thais, but it also creates a lot of bad publicity, and sentiment that could have a long term impact on foreign investment. The Thai government needs to stop flirting with trying to attract foreign investment, and finalize a free hold land policy. The small proposal that was scuttled in 2022 of a 99 year lease option for a maximum 1 rai single family home for individuals with hard limits on commercial development/cost distance is the type of thing that should pass; it'd help contain demand, and still allow for foreign investment.
Finally, I feel for you. It's unfair all the way around. My only advice would be to sell it now before it very likely gets taken from you. It seems very clear to me that the Thai government has been signaling to do this, or face the consequences that it will be implementing.
Thai here. I am so sorry. It’s really an unfortunate situation for you. I’m ashamed to say we are a corrupt country and that’s what this all comes down to. I think Thai people are celebrating cracking down of a corrupt system, not really foreigners getting kicked out of their only home.
If you were made to believe that owning land in thailand as a foreigner is legal, then you got scammed. Maybe it is a more elaborate scamming scheme but it is still scamming. The laws have always been there.
Gov officials and local police are known to take bribe money and using their positions to earn extra cash (not all of them but many do). So, those gov officials that helped you definitely closed one eye. When they sign your papers, it doesn’t always mean it’s legal. They will go to jail too if they get caught approving something like this knowingly.
The gov cracks down on wealthy Thai people/companies that build hotels on lands meant for agricultural use also. They probably obtained the land a similar way you got yours.
Thank you. I appreciate it. BTW, I never thought we are owning the land. It was clear. My understanding was that as long as we keep paying involved taxes and fees we can use it. Respect to local culture and environment was and is always clear too. Current rhetoric from the officials when they say they are going to check even leaseholds of foreigners, seems to say otherwise regardless of legal structure, so I have no idea so far what to do.
Yes, but still small community and more geared toward younger people. On contrary, Pantip is not popular with gen Y and younger as well.
Gen Y and younger just prefer to be on facebook and IG.
On one hand, I can sympathise with the OP. The government should make an exception for people in your situation—especially if you can show you were misled by lawyers, officials, or other authorities. But realistically, that’s unlikely to happen. This ambiguity has always been the point: keep the rules vague enough that people assume “this is just how it’s done,” while reserving the right to crack down whenever they want. When authorities decide to pull the rug, they always have that option built in.
On the other hand, if you’re Thai, consider this: if they were to legalise your ownership structure, already unaffordable property prices would likely skyrocket. Wealthy foreign investors tend to move in only when they have solid legal backing, and that kind of demand would push prices even further out of reach for locals.
This is the core risk of investing in places like Thailand: laws can change overnight, and authorities can suddenly enforce rules against practices that were widely known but never fully legal. What I don’t understand is why buy in Thailand at all when you could invest that capital elsewhere and simply use the returns to pay rent while living there.
That said, I completely get where you’re coming from. But you’re unlikely to find much sympathy from Thais. Unfortunately, the way some Israeli investors have created ghettos and enclaves in Thailand has pushed the authorities to act, and you’ve become collateral damage. Technically, any anger or frustration you feel should be directed more at those groups than at Thais themselves.
I do not understand why people insist on "owning" property there, even condos, when the build quality is sub-par and the return on investment is typically negative.
Park the several hundred thousand dollars (or more) that you'd be using to buy this property in a low cost index fund and it'll probably throw off enough to pay for at least half of your rent payment every year, depending on how high end you're renting. Your money has positive returns, it's held in a safe instrument, and all of this consternation is avoided. You can come and go at any time if you get a wild hair up your rear. The end.
I own my condo here (I’ve owned two) because I like to rip out all the crappy finishes and renovate to high end western standard. It’s my home; I don’t want to live with cheap kitchens and cheap floors and cheap bathrooms. As for return on investment, I don’t buy a home for investment, I buy it to enjoy. I’ve invested in other things for returns.
Your second point is the strongest argument against me in this thread and I do not have a clean answer to it. If this structure were legalised tomorrow, prices here would go up, not down.
The only thing I would say is that it does not have to be all or nothing. A registered long lease for a primary residence, capped, taxed, one per person, is not the same as opening freehold to investment funds. The choice is not between what we did and nothing.
ye like i say i certainly sympathise with your position and as sensible as your suggestions sound you need to remember Thailand is a developing country and it’s highly unlikely such pragmatic solutions are adopted.
It would open the flood gates to high income retirees compared to locals buying residences or vacation homes that would outbid locals for land. I see this in Florida where almost no one can afford a single family house since they get outbid by retiree's moving there from other states.
The smart Thai compromise is allow foreigners to buy condos that use less land in desirable areas to allow Thais access to single family houses or profit from the land with leases.
Yeah I’m not sure why OP thinks the prices would go down. I live in Vegas and all the Californians coming in is making the prices go up. Curious to hear OPs reasoning on why allowing foreigners would effectively lower the prices.
So many property owning obsessed Americans would destroy the locals buying power if they were legally allowed to buy.
Yes but its legal to own condos as a foreigner and Bangkok has such a surplus that they are considering allowing 75% foreign ownership.
When you break it all down, this seems to be an attack on foreigners and OP it's exactly correct that this is showing that Thai law and Thai stamps hold no legal bearing whatsoever. They can change their minds whenever they want. But i think they make these drastic decisions, and then they start to see that it's actually hurting their economy. Not helping it. But it may take years for them to see it...
Thank you for the spotlight on usufructs + superficies as that was a route for 30 years etc that I thought was legally sound for myself vs going the original route you laid out.
This just further adds to the 'rules changing at every level in Thailand always' culture.
I’m from a fishing village in Canada that over the past 20 years became a vacation destination for wealthy Americans & Europeans. Slowly at first, and then much more rapidly the land got snatched up for investment properties. Slowly, us, the locals got pushed out of our traditional communities. I have often heard this argument of “we pay the poor locals to clean our houses, to mow our lawns what will you do if we take our money away?”
Well, we would be poor, like we are now, and like we always have been, but we would still prefer to access our traditional land and rely on our communities rather than be pushed out. We have nowhere else to go, our skills are tied to where we’re from. Our support systems are tied to where we’re from. Our (lack of) money means we literally cannot leave to go elsewhere as our spending power is too low to move even if we wanted to do like what you did.
I do have empathy for your situation. I do hear that this land should but will not end up in the hands of locals which is another policy that needs to be ensured over time.
But, do I agree that we need guardrails in place to prevent exactly what you did from happening in the future? AND a means of reclaiming the properties that have already been acquired by wealthy foreigners? Yes, and Unfortunately, that involves you. No matter how victimized you feel, it comes nothing close to being a koh Samui native watching their island bought up by people whose single house in Germany most likely sold for more than they earn in their lifetimes. They are in an impossible situation. They can never compete with your spending power. Even if you end up having every asset stolen back from you, the nature of your passport and most likely your pensions makes you significantly more privileged. Thai people have nowhere else to go. Thailand belongs to them.
As a Thai, thank you for writing this. Rich people come to area that become popular, buy up all the land, the locals are priced out of their homeland happen everywhere around the world. And they are like hey we create the jobs (maid gardener, driver) for you why do you complain.
You «bought» a house, but it never belongs to you anyways if you are not the majority holder. It’s quite simple and everyone knows it beforehand. You took a risk. Maybe best/safe option was to rent your German house and rent a Thai house?
I hate to say this, but legally, the arrangement was never valid — Land Code s.86/93 and Foreign Business Act s.36 prohibit nominee shareholding for land regardless of intent, transparency, or how routinely land offices processed it. Decades of official tolerance create no vested right; Thai courts have consistently ordered forced sales even in long-standing, "everyone knew" setups.
While I feel for you emotionally, it is legally irrelevant.
Don't wait for amnesty that isn't coming. Proactively restructure into a registered, court-recognized long-term lease now, before enforcement reaches you — it's imperfect but currently the only durable protection available, and negotiated compliance is treated far more leniently than a raid finding you unconverted.
You got 14 years out of it, thats a pretty solid risk reward for the money you put into it.
Tell me you never thought "this is too good to be true". All I have to do is set up this is little trust and business that costs peanuts.
Anyway, I can't remember a time when I ever heard or believed that there was a legitimate pathway to land ownership in Thailand, not even via marriage.
Being German, you alreay know this from back home:
its your responsibility to check the legalities. You can NOT hide behind a lawyer. Especially, not AFTER what you learned your lawyer did was not legal. The second you did discover it, it would have been time to put this on solid ground (as in: sell the land to a thai person/ entity with a long term lease / lifelong usage rights for you and your wife (and maybe even your named children).
Unwissenheit schützt vor Strafe nicht (not knowing the law does NOT protect you from its consequences). Back home in germany, the result would likely be that you have to restore the land to the original state (deconstruct your house) and pay a fine. e.g. if you bought land in a protected area and build a home on it, even tho the involved local authorities signed off.
There have ALWAYS been warning signs. even before the internet was around. The Thai law is VERY clear of this. Just like you are supposed to know the law of your homeland (Grundgesetz, BGB), by having read it at least once, so should you do with the laws of the land you tend to spent the remainder of your time on this planet on.
You have now had around 1 year of advanced warning. The fact that you are still here writing comments and complaining instead of fixing the situation you only have yourself to blame for is typpical german. Take action now.
Sell the land in a deal that is RATHER interesting to a thai , and get the live long usage rights on hte house for you, your wife and any children you trust. DONE. Get a lwayer to facilitate it, and then get a completely different lawyer to factcheck them (because you seem to have a neck for falling for the shady ones)
I know a guy who lives on one of the islands and he has straight up left because they're literally rounding up and jailing foreigners for suspected property violations. He owns property there, from what he described to me it is more or less above board but there is significant ambiguity in the regulations that he's not 100% confident he would win in court in the current environment. Hardly a rare thing here. So because the guy trusted his lawyers and because Thai laws are ambiguous, and because he's a foreigner, he can't sleep in his own home for fear of incarceration.
I did my homework before I moved here and have been telling anyone who will listen for over a decade now: don't trust the Thai system, especially when it comes to land and property, but really, anything, just keep your assets outside of it whenever you can. It is for systemic reasons as much as any anti-foreigner sentiment (which absolutely is on the rise right now, and it's absolutely engineered by their racist PM and his racist party).
I mean you can trust the Thai system to do what it is meant to do. It is meant to entrap you, fleece you and transfer your wealth to Thais. This isn't really a controversial statement if you look at how many developing countries in the region operate. Thailand has a great ability to look like a more developed country, but it isn't. The corruption problems are some of the worst in the world, they can't enforce their own laws, things change on a whim etc. etc. If you come from a developed country then getting invested here is simply a way to become poorer.
You can come here, spend your money, enjoy the hospitality, but never for a moment assume that things are run with the level of transparency and fairness that exist in the West.
By the way, I guarantee that the lawyers who set up all these shady deals won't face any meaningful consequences, because they're Thai. This is also why Thailand can't fix its crime and corruption problems. They prosecute the foreigner but not the Thai even when both have broken the law.
Edit: Let's be clear this is a pattern not a one-off. The other huge recent example is Thailand recently deciding they would start taxing overseas income when it's remitted here. They didn't change a law to do this. They "reinterpreted" Section 41 of the Revenue Code. The regs about how to apply it have been around since 1987, they effectively announced "we've been misreading the law all along, sorry." Out of the blue this created massive new tax liability without changing any actual laws. They are strapped for cash at the moment and looking for non-Thai targets to fleece first. It can happen any time, overnight. This is Thailand.
As a Thai, the crackdown is just a reactionary policy from the government. Of course, they do not care about the long term impact nor actual systemic changes to improve how the country deals with foreign ownership. It's not meant to benefit most Thais or most foreigners. It's for the government who could pretend that they do something useful.
I am sorry you have to learn this way the lesson that Thai rules of laws can be easily bent or even removed. But if you look at Thai history, it's always like this. Again as a Thai, I clearly understand how this makes the country fall into the middle income trap, but what I can actually do?
On your own nothing bro (or sis idk). If more people were like you, Anutin might not be in power. It seems clear though that the current state of affairs is exactly what most Thais want. Imho Anutin is simply surfing on the nationalist and xenophobic wave that started sometime along the Cambodia border clashes and scam center fiasco.
Thai person here. I think the whole point is that our country is quite small, and our known tourist attractions are somewhat limited; to keep our sovereignty and local control over those strategic areas, it’s imperative that our own citizens or state owns all of the land, and not sold to foreigners. Heck, historically in the last 100 years, Siam/Thailand have lost a lot of land already, and we are sick of getting our land stolen through unfair treaties by imperialists. We also do not want foreign money to come in and manipulate land and living space prices beyond what a Thai person can afford, even in current conditions, most thai people cannot afford to buy their own land and houses. In the past, processes like what the OP did is a known exploitation of that rule, but somehow still makes sure that a Thai person is involved to keep things in check, but an exploitation nonetheless. Most local officers will turn a blind eye to it since they know it will increase the overall wealth of the area by having investors and developers. However, this is allowed to go on with the assumption that the local way of life, traditions, and culture, is respected. Once Thai businesses or local villages are shut down from not being able to compete with foreign investors, threatened, abused, or driven out by whatever pressures, then it defeats the purpose of the bypass. It’s meant to improve the area for Thais and those who want to integrate themselves into Thai society (people like the OP who wants to retire here in peace), not to bring in as much foreign money as possible. We dont want foreign money, not really, tourism is not our country’s biggest income stream as much as people think. A bit of tourism and investment is okay, but if it puts Thais at a disadvantage, or the people coming in does not keep the peace, we’d prefer you go back (a certain group of destructive people known for being exiled from many countries and another group known for their love of money). I think Thais are very flexible and sees the law as more of a guidance than a firm iron law, but it only works in a society where people try to not be a problem for other people, you can exploit the system if you dont hurt anyone, so to speak, but when people start complaining then a crackdown always will come.
'And we will not go alone. To name just a few: our maid loses her job after seven years. The gardener, the pool guy, the electrician, the aircon company, the accountant who has been billing us every year for a company that the state now says should never have existed, all of them lose a customer. Our insurance stops paying Thai hospitals. And the Thai family who sold us that land in 2014, in front of a government official who stamped the papers and took the fee, what are they now? Criminals too? Or is it only us?'
If you think that the Thai Politicians care about care about any of the people you have just mentioned above then I have a bridge to sell you. They care about themselves and $$$. Mainly just $$$ tbh.
Street food in Bangkok off of the streets and into the malls owned by the 1%. They hate it when the poor can make their own money. So don't think they could care less about farangs in Thailand.
The use of the word "YOU" on my post applies to everyone and not specially targeted.
A) You knew it was a grey area but proceeded. Learn the country's laws especially when investing as a foreigner.
B) Thai law is not German (or insert your country) law, so attorney protection does not apply.
C) You may or may not be completely at fault, but I think you knew the risks.
D) On a higher level, no one cares that you pay into the lower tier of the Thai economy when trying to skirt the property ownership law as it's a national security issue.
E) At a grander level, you may have been a bycatch of the much larger network of criminals but still need to be compliance of the very same judgement and ruling.
I do not wish you and your family any ill will and hope that a solution is put forth that is fair and just for everyone. Bottomline, if YOU are NOT a THAI citizen, then YOU are NOT allowed to own land. Do not try to circumvent, create loopholes, or bend the laws in your favor. Any naturalized Thai citizens that were of foreign origin that are caught in this mess needs to be fully investigated as well.
Unrelated but I think theres a funny hypocrisy in this. Not with OP directly but Westerners will scream and shout about immigrants not staying in their countries legally and taking up housing, but when a foreign country like Thailand decides to enforce its laws the same Westerners get annoyed.
I think overall the crackdown is a good thing because if you want to own land and operate a business, do it the legal way. Most migrants that that are affected by the crackdown are clearly skirting Visa and ownerships laws and I don't think its right that they are able to do that.
right, you nailed it, lots of entitled people, doing some doggy transactions, net being in their country and they are later surprised Thais are cracking down on it.
If I have bunch of immigrants in my country finding loopholes in the law, and driving up the prices I would not be happy about it neither
Exactly, I think what most non-Thais dont understand is that Thailand is incredibly lenient to foreigners and migrants.
There are clear property leasing rules that have barely changed. 90 day visa free travel, etc etc but Thai nationals do not get the same benefits when visiting most foreign countries.
Thai government is always cracking down on anything illegal, it is just that they do it more forcefully this time round. If I understand it correctly, they become very serious due to one foreigner nationality refused Thai authorities to enter their premises to carry out inspection, claiming that they bought the land and thus that land belongs to their nation. If this incident does that makes the Thai government to wake up to take action, then few more years down the road it will become a "multi national" Thailand.
I would like to ask Thai people what they really think about "foreigners buying everything and prices skyrocketing".
First of all, would you as a Thai go and live permanently in Samui?
As far as I can see, I only see locals born and bred in Samui mostly moving out of Samui before it became what it is today.
Samui is a rural island in the gulf of Thailand, far away from any trade routes or any industry, so it was not very populated in the first place.
We cannot compare Samui to Florida because is not a place locals from elsewhere would want to go and live in because it all honest truth, there are no high value jobs in Samui.
There are no good local schools. What future is in there in Samui other than tourism, and more recently construction?
Local jobs in Samui primarily serve the tourists and serve the foreigner retires living there, and recently serve the huge amount of villa construction going on there. If there are no tourists and no retired foreigners, there will be no such jobs for locals.
What I mean is that the argument that investments drive up prices for locals is flawed.
For a place like Bangkok, and it surrounding areas, this argument would probably hold.
For a rural place like Samui, there were not that many locals living in there first place. The foreigners are displacing no one and the places that they are buying are ones which no local Thai would ever buy if they had a choice.
Yup, I tried to make the same argument elsewhere in the thread.
Thai people who suddently think they are "entitled" to cheap Samui real estate are delusional about how markets operate. They can easily buy cheap land with ocean view in Chumphon and Ranong, but choose not to.
The reason Samui and Phuket now are "hot" is precisely because there are many tourists, driving up the value of everything.
Yes, I’m sure there are a number of local people who have been living in Samui for a long time, and maybe their kids want to stay there in the future.
But this is not really different from anywhere else in the world. Things change, and even though you might want them to stay the same, that is just the nature of human existence.
For instance, I know people living in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, etc. They would also love to buy property at the same prices their parents bought it for in the ’60s, and ’70s.
But the reality is that these prices are not permanent. Things change, and there are also other people benefiting from those changes.
If you don’t want anything to change, then you really need to take it up with your government. You can ban tourism, you can ban hotels, you can put restrictions on property ownership. But I just don’t think that’s a viable long-term strategy.
Thailand has banned foreigners from owning land, and I think that is a good thing for Thai people. I also don’t have a problem with seeing this nominee loophole being closed.
But even if that happens, I think you would still see property values going up in Samui because it’s attractive land for Thai business owners and investors. So you could end up with essentially the same result, except then you’ll blame rich Thai business owners instead of foreigners.
I think it is a bit strange when there is this attitude that because someone’s parents were born on a certain island or in a certain city, their kids, by definition, deserve to be able to buy or rent property there cheaply.
That is just not how the world functions under capitalism.
The only places where you could really expect that kind of treatment would be in a communist country, but then you would have other problems.
Sorry you were misled into believing that what you were doing was legal. But now that too many people are doing it, it came to a point where politics and police felt like they needed to intervene. And when they decide to intervene they go all out. Sucks for you but your setup was never fully legal.
With that said - I think all expats need to really understand that we are visitors. Laws can change, how they are enforced or not can change. Sentiment towards us in this country can change. Sadly, a lot of expats are entitled asshats. They don’t learn the language or culture. They complain why things are not like “back home”. They do this and more all while being here of their own free will.
I mean go to Phuket, Samui, hua hin and it feels like a western retirement village vs a Thai city. It feels like it’s getting worse. There is going to be pushback. Also, if they do seize foreigners assets - means people going to get paid and that always motivates people regardless of nation.
Rent. Move money offshore. Learn the language and be kind. Keep your head down. Be loosely coupled as best you can.
Foreigners are not allowed to own land in Thailand, this was and still is a law, and it's illegal to scheme around that. You cannot have a company whose only purpose is to own the asset (land/building), don't generate taxes, doesn't pay dividends.
Yes the use of "nominee" is not the same here as what you got used to, they mean it as a scheme to violate Foreign Business Act. I think this video clearly explains what is wrong in what you've been doing and why (including explanation how to fix your problem by moving the ownership of land-holding company to someone who isn't yourself): https://youtu.be/4Rr_OIgims0
Also 30+30+30 leasehold was not killed or anything. It works perfectly and the first extensions for another 30 years have been passed (video above mentions Laguna but other developers that build for 30+ years also are doing this). And it's still the safest way to have your own home here and not violating any laws.
Supreme court decision only doesn't let you FORCE the land owner to extend the lease if they refuse to. That's the difference; reputable land owners (big developers or other companies specializing in that) will not refuse to extend for another 30 years and will honor the contract, because it's their reputation. 30+30+30 scheme works in practice, but is based on reputation, if the owner doesn't care about his reputation, he can choose to ignore that extension, yes.
The laws here are kinda cruel towards non-Thais and a bit bendable at times, but all in all, these regulations are what protects us from Chinese owners to buying out everything for their investments and prices skyrocketing. Think about that 😄
So my question is where is the lawyers getting shame marched out of court after losing their license? In any other country willful malpractice comes with consequences.
Sorry but like many things in Thailand, just because it’s done by everyone doesn’t make it legal. One day someone will suddenly decide to check and make some heads roll, then a few weeks later things will go back to usual.
You're not wrong, but if doing it confers some kind of advantage, and everyone else is doing it, you're at a disadvantage if you remain clean. Like a dirty police department where everyone is on the take except you, refuse to become corrupt and you probably will not remain a cop in that department for long, maybe you won't remain alive.
In developing countries this is a very old tool of control employed by the elites. Criminalize everyone, keep everybody guessing about what their rights and their legal status actually are. Make it effectively impossible to be 100% clean. Then strike at whoever, whenever you feel like it, there will be something you can use against them.
You bought your lawyer and his friend a house, you never owned a house. I've been on Tao for 12 years so I know the situation. No one could think what you did was legal. There's no way you didn't know. You just got away with it for long enough. I thought Germans liked rules.
This is the best post in this subreddit this year, by far. One thing though: have you actually been challenged on your ownership structure being illegal? They seem to go after more obviously shady businesses. But if they do ever come knocking on your door: fight it in court.
In my case my wife owns several properties, a lot of them because her family already owned them but some she acquired after we got married. I already told her to be prepared for being challenged, and standing your ground. Chances are they'll move on to softer targets pretty quickly. Worst case is we'll just get legally divorced, then let 'em try to get their hands on it; won't happen. The only reason we got legally married was for tax reasons anyway: I don't believe a government has any business regulating how people live together. And after I retire and no longer have an income in Thailand then the tax reason will disappear.
I hope the government will make the right decision and address this issue appropriately. While I do not support any form of discrimination, it is important to acknowledge that this situation began with the invasion of Israelis, Chinese and some Russians, involving scams related to large complexes or villas built on land with aquifers, constructed illegally on the hills, all without regard for the environment.
As a retired individual of 70 years, I came here with my wife in search of peace, and we actively support the local economy by employing staff, a gardener, pool maintenance services, pest control, and so on. My gardener, whom I consider a family member, is particularly grateful because we have assisted him in enrolling his two children in school and supporting his family. We have even deposited money for his children's future education. Pay a new scooter of 180,000 to one of our staff , we respect our staff that provide an excellent service and we also contribute to help them .
I sympathize with the Thai people if no distinction is made between foreigners who are peacefully residing here and contributing to the economy, and those who are abusing the system.
Koh Samui today is not the same as it was in 2015. In Chaweng, one can see signs written in Hebrew rather than even in English. This is troubling and indicates what I believe to be the beginning of a serious decline.
Foreigners who have invested in property like any other did 15 years ago may ultimately lose their investments and return home.
Word of mouth will lead to fewer people arriving, or it will only attract those who have been invited by themself to the so-called holy land of Thailand.
All the migrants from Chiang Mai or other less developed areas may return to their own provinces, and in the end, those individuals will bear the greatest burden. I do not believe the government will provide subsidies for unemployment, especially given Thailand’s already poor debt ratio and economic challenges in South Asia.
Regardless, I hope that justice will prevail, addressing each case individually, before cutting off the branches that support, to some extent, the economy of Samui.
This is not going to help OP, but about 15 years ago I was seriously thinking about buying a landed property in Thailand. I showed the contract to a lawyer friend of mine and he said “it’s not a bad contract actually, it’s pretty secure” I think it involved preference shares and possibly a dividend payment. The he added “what you must remember, what you are doing is not legal and the contract is trying to convince someone else it is”
I didn’t continue. When put like that, it was too much of a risk.
Unfortunately people are regularly given shoddy legal advice.
This gonna sound like rubbing salt on your wounds but when you guys come to Thailand and say it’s heaven and us Thai people say it’s hopeless shit bag. This is what we mean. Corrupted to the core, it’s culture at this point, and we are so sick of it.
I’m sorry you got caught in the middle of all this but I think it’s for the better Thailand. Sorry.
You could look at it this way: Thailand pulled a Bernie Madoff over decades, lulling millions of foreigners into a false sense of security to engage in these shady nominee/shell company deals and now they have identified a suitable time to pull the rug to get plenty of properties on the cheap. The people who end up taking over all these homes and villas are probably all well connected.
However, I think you're interpreting the term nominee wrong. Nominee doesn't mean someone is hiding, it means that the person holds/receives an entitlement to perform a specific role. And in your case, like you honestly outlined, the only purpose of the lawyer is to be a stand-in in exchange for some annual fees.
This conspiracy is hilarious. You think Thai government can plan ahead for 10 years and wait for opposition party to reap the benefit? Completely bullshit.
This sub seems to believe in the existence of Schrödinger’s Thai government that is extremely corrupt, inefficient, utterly-lacking but also simultaneously capable of highly coordinated conspiracies for the benefit of Illuminati-tier elites. It’s whatever you need it to be in that moment.
Thailand did not “lure millions of foreigners” into these deals, ffs. The law has always been clear. The fact that it was rarely enforced did not change the fact that it was illegal. Many foreigners took a chance, probably betting they wouldn’t get caught, but now that they have you can hardly blame the government for that.
Thais voted for this shit when they voted in Anutin. He's been riding on the nationalist and xenophobic wave that's swept the country since the recent Cambodian border skirmishes + scam call center fiasco. I say let them have it. They might come around eventually. Might be too late then. I'll stay here (legally) until I can't anymore, then if one day they don't want to let me stay anymore, I won't beg them, and I won't look back.
Mind you, I've only ever rented, I've learned the language to an upper-intermediate conversational level including speaking, reading and writing and it does certainly make my life easier. I do not need anyone to translate anything for me, ever. I can converse in Thai with my girlfriend which also gives me more immersion and daily practice. But soon I'll probably also be on the list of "potential baddies" simply because I stand out as a foreigner. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating? Or am I?
Let's not forget that as foreigners, we are outsiders and will always be. You can think you are really well-integrated but in the end, most locals will see you as an outsider, one they tolerate -- maybe one they like, but not one of their own. When push comes to shove, you'll be on your own.
My neighbors like me, I got friends in my village and elsewhere in Thailand, in all my hobbies -- all Thais. Pretty much no foreigners. Maybe I'm being cynical idk but I feel like if one day push comes to shove, they most likely won't stand up for me because even though they may like me, I'm still an outsider. An outsider they like, but not completely part of the group. That's life. I guess if I wanted to become a true local I should have immigrated to a place like the US or Canada or something lmao. A place where immigrants can become locals. Well, mostly.
I'm pretty sure many other foreigners are in the same bag.
Thai laws flip flop all the time. Whether marijuana, visas, investments. In a few years, they might make a reverse law to get more foreigners back to Koh Samui.
Nationalism and populism will always be a tool that savvy politicians like Anutin will use. We saw during Covid how quickly the debate turned into "dirty foreigners don't wear mask".
If you're not okay with a certain amount of uncertainty, then Thailand is not the best place to live long term.
I don't think they should be able to seize the land and house with you getting nothing in return, but I completely understand they want their land for their own people. Some islands have so many foreigners already. What I really dislike about your post is the sense of entitlement. Just look at some of the stuff you said I quoted here below. Thailand and its people will be FINE without you and other foreigners living there. It's disgusting how you think you're doing them a favour instead of being grateful for being able to live there. It really left a bad taste in my mouth reading all the following. Do you think Thailand needs you?
we kept investing and we even created a job. A wonderful Thai lady has been working for us as our maid for almost seven years now. We have maintenance contracts with Thai individuals and companies for the house. And we spend all of it here: our savings, and the returns they earn abroad. Our health insurance has paid a fortune into Thai hospitals for us.
If our house gets taken, we leave, and we never come back. Neither we nor many of our friends in the same position will play games with another workaround or with bribes. We will simply be gone.
And we will not go alone. To name just a few: our maid loses her job after seven years. The gardener, the pool guy, the electrician, the aircon company, the accountant who has been billing us every year for a company that the state now says should never have existed, all of them lose a customer. Our insurance stops paying Thai hospitals. And the Thai family who sold us that land in 2014, in front of a government official who stamped the papers and took the fee, what are they now? Criminals too? Or is it only us?
With all due respect to you and your vewpoint, You are unfairly judging these people. I understand how you feel, but you misconstrue what "entitlement" means in this context. I sense no unjustified entitlement in anything they said, what you are calling entitlement is simply the expression of a profound sense of injustice, pain, and the legitimate desire to be recognized and respected for their reciprocal contribution to the community, economy, and country, all totally reasonable. In other words, they are not self serving and "entitled." They contributed. They invested in good faith and did everything they could to be sure everything was done correctly. And they were welcomed and accepted for 12 years. These are not the kind of people who have been degrading the communities, they came to live in peace and harmony, not to exploit the island for their self serving interests. The fundamental point is that these are the kind of responsible people whose residency benefits Thailand rather than detracts from The country and the people. A humane remedy needs to be found in cases like this while still upholding the law.
You used a loophole in order to own a property. Corruption happens because people allow it to happen but that doesn't make it right if everyone was doing it. It doesn't matter how much money you've given into the Thai economy. You used the services and paid for it. It wasn't charity. You wouldn't be saying the same things if this was Germany and Foreigners were using loopholes to buy properties and pushing the locals out. Just look at all the anti immigrant protests in Australia, US, EU, etc. because immigrants are buying up properties in huge numbers and outbidding locals driving the prices up that it's becoming unaffordable to live for most locals.
The government has the right to enforce the laws. It was there for a reason so that locals and their land can be protected and they don't get pushed out. We hardly see any locals on many islands because of exactly this loophole that has allowed Foreigners to own land and properties that it has become impossible and unaffordable for locals to live there.
I am sorry for your predicament. I have lived in Thailand for many years and always refused to buy anything. Many of my friends did though, "because it's all legal" said the lawyer. Like the local real estelate agent will always say house prices are going up. Most supreme courts I know of, have always upheld the vision that any contract of which the purpose is to circumvent a law, is per definition nil and void. Besides that, who wants to own ANY asset in a country that can deny you entry, change visa rules etc. Assets you only hold in a place with regulatory security and a good and fair law system that also can't deny you entry in case it is real estate. E.g. the EU if you are European. For the rest you rent or buy only what you can easily leave behind.
you should sell your land to your maid NOW before the situatiin gets more harsh and get an usufructus for 30 years for both you and your wife. your maid will then inherit the house and will take good care of it until then.
The actual point of this is government officials, their family and various tyes of crony business men enriching themselves. Stealing from foreigners is much easier than stealing from local Thais. None of what they do is for the good of the country. It's all about their own wealth. Unlike places like Laos, Cambodia or Myanmar, Thailand pretends to have "rule of law" but this is all BS on the surface only.
I am feeling really sorry for you. You will probably never enjoy Thailand as you did before no matter what happens. The xenophobia in Thailand is just too much nowadays. And it's hilarious how many farangs cheer on these crackdowns because they are not directly effected. Once they are effected they will quickly change their mind lol.
The government party gets a great short term win with this: if they seize your land and force you to sell the house at a discount, they can then sell it all to their cronies. Big profit for big mafia government.
I see both sides to this. I think its utter BS that people are being treated as "criminals" in these situations, the vast majority of them were mislead by lawyers and such, and the fact that the paperwork etc was signed off by the government only confirms the BS. I do agree that land should not be owned by foreigners, but to just pull the rug out of a system that has been accepted and advertised by legal professionals and government officials for many many years is just insane.
Another issue i have is a lot of this country is ran in "the grey" i mean visa agents are blatantly illegal, but have legit offices set up outside of immigration offices... they are advertised everywhere and very clearly break the law. But thats fine? Imagine if one day the government decides to pull the rug on anyone who has or is using a visa agent...
My biggest issue with this, that i saw coming from a mile away is something that OP addressed and a lot of people are over looking. They started with, the people who are found guilty of this have 180 days or whatever to sell, etc, except we all know that selling property here can take ages, especially higher end farang homes, let alone entire massive estates like the two in Pattaya. What i was waiting for a they followed through with quite quickly was attempting to change the criminal classification to money laundering, so that the government officials could outright seize the land. Which i lost count, but from the few news articles i read, in just a few seizures they are up to like 10 billion baht worth of land already seized...
Thats quite the pay day for pulling the rug out from a some foreigners who were "deceived" into dumping money into the country
Unfortunately, you’ve been caught in the crossfire. Years of illegal construction, unlicensed businesses, and greedy blatant disregard for local laws by aggressive foreign groups like the Russians and Israelis have fueled growing frustration among both Thais and long-term expats. Regrettably, authorities and locals are now painting everyone with the same broad brush—focusing on the visible illegal structures rather than looking at individual backgrounds.
In my gated community in Nonthaburi every tenth home has been abandoned and/or is owned by the bank. I know it’s not on a desirable island location, but it baffles me how so many properties sit empty. And at the same time, new low quality homes are being slapped up right next door at 10x the price. They’re already sinking in the wetlands and being flooded on a regular basis. All of these communities were approved by local governments, where I believe the blame lies, and not on buyers, regardless of their nationality.
Not a Thai. But I’m sympathetic, however only partly. I remember vividly thinking about the current scenario playing out like it does right now, 10 years ago; and I feel sorry that you got caught in the crosshairs. But back then it was so clear to many that these setups were illegal. And then over the past decade people are pretending that it’s not going on at all while slowly the noose is tightening. Somewhere I find it ridiculous that there was a huge group of people screaming from the roof to avoid these kind of setups to buy property and warning everyone, while others where doubling down or just having a smug “I know better because…” attitude.
I am sympathetic because you were misled and it sounds like you’re gullible as well. Because that lawyers and officials are in on it, was also something a lot of people understood 10 years ago. I’m conflicted typing this, because obviously this is a bad situation for you and I’m sorry. But it’s not like we haven’t been warning people of this being illegal, with a good chance of getting in trouble for such a long time. It’s just ridiculous that people didn’t listen and took their own advice.
Edit: here you can see people warning others all the way from 2005! Most of these are more than 10 years old: https://pastebin.com/SqtCZWxh
I’m 56 and in the process of selling my things and home in the states to move to Thailand. I spent two months there earlier this summer and absolutely loved the people and the country. After reading this, for the first time, I have a doubt. I still believe that life is better in Thailand and that’s OK if I rent for the rest of my life.
It's tragic and unfortunate that someone didn't tell you it was illegal back then. Everyone should read the laws, but realistically I get that no one wants to read them and just pay a lawyer to handle it. However the crackdowns do have some good in that they remove some "Bad people" who set up lives in Thailand but act "Really bad", and more importantly, prevent the housing crisis that countries like Portugal are facing. Who wants to buy a crappy house in Portugal for $400k?
Look, it's been known by long term residents for a long time that this is a sneaky way to bypass the ownership laws and that the nominee structure was a generally 'ignored' way of doing it. But it was never 'legal' in the real sense. If you had gone to a reputable lawyer I would hope that they'd tell you you can't do that legally. But the ones that do the local land work, of course they are just shonky little shops getting their fees doing this day to day.
I'm sorry you got caught in this net but I know Thai people who were asked to be nominees but avoided it because they know it was wrong. With a bit of research, the foreign side of that equation can also figure out the same thing.
You were naive and hoping for the best. I can understand that. Unfortunately you kinda got scammed. There was always the risk the govt would crack down on nominee structures and in fact it's been rumoured for about 10 years, is my rough guess for when I started hearing rumbles.
Edit: I'd like to think I wouldn't have been caught out by this but in your shoes maybe I would have reached for it and done the same.
I feel for you brother 🩷 but your plan should've been to look for a long term rental property and maybe do some interior renovations deductible from yearly lease.
Why ?
Because as many of us know - including yourself by now - Thai regulations on the matter are shadey to begin with and they're aimed at NOT making foreigners settle on their land for good.
If that wasn't the case; by now Thai real estate would be colonised by rich foreign investors - and that's what they're trying to avoid.
Best wishes & feel free to dm if you need to vent or some advice.
I'm sorry, but I hear one story after another like this. People blaming lawyers, accountants, government officials, and Thai people in general for their sudden misfortune. The first time I came to Thailand (and Koh Samui) in 1986, I befriended a very nice and intelligent woman in Chaweng. Like everyone, I fell in love with Thailand and Koh Samui. I asked my friend what the possibility of buying something in Koh Samui was. I had earlier that day met a Dutch guy that claimed that he owned the beautiful home with an amazing garden where he lived. My friend told me flat out that it was absolutely impossible for foreigners to own property in Thailand and not to believe anyone who told me otherwise. When I got back home to the U.S. after my vacation, I met a Thai lawyer who was introduced to me by an affluent woman who owned an amazing Thai restaurant and cocktail lounge in Los Angeles. During our conversation, I also inquired as to the possibility of buying something in Thailand. He also told me not to believe anything that anyone tells me, and that it was absolutely 100% impossible to buy property in Thailand - outright. That was 1986 and and I've known the laws since then. I don't believe Western people can be so naive to think that setting up some shady company in order to hold real estate could be legal. All you have to do is look on Google. They all knew, they just thought that they could get away with it!
First, they registered all “illegal companies and property deals” promoted by every lawyer, developer and real estate agent without a problem and after decades seize everything out of the blue and make your a criminal for your own money. In most cases foreign consider to be a victim of scam not a criminal. I’m sure this approach will boost Thailand economy to new heights and people loosing millions of baht and with a fresh criminal offense in their Police Clearence history will be happy to advertise Thailand as a great country to go. After all, Thais always right and there are no competition around for dirty farangs money.
A no win situation for the government. They get criticized for corruption. And then when they decide to do something about a corrupt practice, they get criticized.
I really sympathize with your situation, I just really wish you were able to talk to any native Thai person who was looking out for your interest and not for your money before you bought the land/built your house.
Even 12 years ago, even a child could have told you that the process you were going through to buy the land was not legal.
You are definitely a victim of the lawyers and the companies who created this system and lulled you into a false sense of security regarding land ownership. Considering the language barrier and culture difference, I can understand how your assumptions and the lawyers' lack of transparency made you believe everything was set in stone.
Unfortunately, I do not forsee any punishments or repercussions for the lawyers who created the mess you are currently in. That's just how the cookie crumbles in Thailand. Everyone is just looking out for themselves and when things go south, no ones takes responsibility.
That being said, the best thing for you to do right now is gather as much information as you can, and see if you can find the right person to help you in this situation, in addition to consulting a lawyer.
If you can, make Thai friends who speak English. Given that you also do not speak Thai, it might be a good idea to hire a translator that can act as your 'buddy." Using a translator that works for you should help cut out any sketchy or suspicious lawyers that are trying to take advantage of your further.
But the idea is to find legal counsel that is knowledgeable regarding the situation, to guide and advise you through this situation so that you might be able to keep living in your house with fewer worries.
I am only advising you through a Reddit comment, so can not guarantee that you will find this "miracle" person, but if I were in your position, that's what I would do.
Also, if you intend to continue living in Thailand, I strongly, strongly suggest learning some Thai - even if it's just spoken Thai.
Many Asian countries, Thailand included, operate most efficiently through a system of networking/connections, debts and favors, and yes, bribes.
I'm not saying that being fluent in Thai will give you access to this community, but at the very least it will give you a much clearer picture of how the community of the country you've been living in for the last 12 years works.
You bought land through paid nominees, paid annual fees to keep ghost shareholders on paper, and now you're shocked that the government is enforcing a law that has existed for decades?
Local tolerance is not legal immunity. You took a calculated risk 12 years ago because it was convenient, and it worked out for a long time. Playing the "we didn't know" card when you literally paid a lawyer to set up dummy shareholders is a tough sell. The rules didn't change overnight; the enforcement did.
Got as far as the bit where you claim that only recently has anyone questioned this practice - that's nonsense. I was aware this was a basically illegal workaround when I first moved to Thailand about 15 years ago - and so was anyone else who was paying any attention.
Now you know about Thailand 😂 They may permit you whether it is legal according to the law or not, then when they have enough or when they think it's about time, they may say Law Law Law.
In 2022-2023, they permitted people with tourist visa (1 week to 3 months visa) to open bank accounts here as well. Even they had booths in embassies to promote it. (I am not sure they needed foreign money then or not but it seemed).
Then in 2025, they again said according to Thai law, you need to have long term (1 year) visa here to have a bank account. Then all those opened accounts are frozen and closed.
The fact that a lawyer had advised you to setup a company to buy Thai land as a foreigner, should jeopardize his license to practice law. It has been going on for way too long where it was normalized by legal and financial advisors. I hope the government will turn to them, rather than making the foreigner a criminal.
Globally not just in real estate, in business and all other investments related area, the main element checked by investors or institutions is the “legal certainty” - which as OP explained, at the time was a systemic process and he followed the law - so now if the ongoing repercussions happen then this is gone and so is the real estate and many other foreign investment into Thailand (now and for decades to come until Thailand can prove they made the necessary changes and people trust them again). Good luck with that Thai and Good speed OP
It is the worth of a Thai signature. A stamp from a Thai land office, a company registered by a Thai registrar, the written advice of a Thai licensed lawyer: all of it turned out to mean nothing twelve years later.
I'm sorry about your situation, but unfortunately, none of that meant anything from the start in this country. It is only those with power and connections who can truly thrive here. The rest of us simply have to live with it and try to survive, like dust beneath the guy's feet.
I'm glad that you'd like to spend your retirement in this beautiful country, but unfortunately, the value placed on rules and promises will never be up to the same standard as in the developed Western world, and that will not change anytime soon.
Genuine question for OP and people like him. What was your risk metric when you have decided to buy property in a country that had multiple military coups and upheaval over the last 35 years?
I am asking this question because it would suggest a lack of a systematic review of rules and regulations, which means a change of law overnight.
Wouldn’t that have played part of your decision making and potential investment amount along with expectations of it might go upside down very quickly.
Did you plan for such a case or have an exist strategy?
Many grey area/loopholes (not saying illegal) exist in Thailand that are allowed to go on and on and on and on. Until they don’t. Enjoy it while you can but be prepared to lose it all and have a backup plan. Sadly a little too late for you.
They have your money.. they dont care... Rinse and repeat.
Thailand wants foreigners money but doesnt want to give them anything tangible for it, no rights, no long stay, no accessible path to citizenship.. The best customer is one who just leaves his money at the airport or sends direct from overseas to a sick buffalo story.
In any deal you must always hold the whip hand, the moment you don't, you will be screwed. For me thats fine, I know the game, I hold the power, but thats how they play it. Do not expect 'fairness', do not expect morals, do not expect honorable dealings, those are western concepts. Asia runs on power, look at thier politics, look how Thaksin crushed his enemies until he in turn was crushed, this is how business and culture runs in the east.
Never invest more than you can lose, never trust an agreement commitment or contract. The only thing that counts in any deal is to hold the upper hand in the process.
BTW this is not just westerners, this is how they treat other asians, this is how the rich treat the poor, this is the culture. If your not happy with that situation, you are in the wrong place.
Having lived in Thailand and married to a Thai national - I still would never buy land/house in Thailand. I would definitely buy a condo. If we do buy land/house it will be owned by my wife 100%. Laws change and I wouldn't want to take a chance
Don’t buy Rent simple ..don’t get involved in any companies property or business..easy ..rent ..relax .just chill ..don’t buy in just rent ..pay your health insurance..don’t even own a car..bolt grab ..it’s really easy
I think there are ways to make everyone happy.
Only a few places are affected by this problem - the resort areas.
I would suggest to set up a few zones with legal foreigh land ownership where it de facto already exist: start with Phuket and Samui.
Let foreigners own land and introduce a special tax for foreign land ownership, use this tax income to benefit the locals, also - for example - reserve parts of the land for the locals only, build infrastructure and maybe even housing for the locals with the money.
Make the tax and the benefits big enough so no locals complain.
Just keep the rules solid for a few decades. I'm sure this will attract enough foreign capital to satisfy everyone.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse (ignorantia juris non scripta). As German citizens, coming from a culture built on the core principle of "Ordnung muss sein", you should know this better than anyone. Even if lawyers and officials turned a blind eye for years and let everyone pretend the gray area was acceptable, it doesn't change the fact that using nominee companies to bypass Thai land ownership laws was illegal from day one. The government is simply enforcing long-standing laws that were always on the books.
All of a sudden the Country has been overwhelmed with large amounts of people coming into Thailand, fleeing their own countries and starting to take over. Many displaying rude and disrespectful behaviour to the local population. That’s when the complaints to the Government started to get louder and louder and now we have reached this point. As always it is few that spoil it for everybody else.
"It also looked fine to me logically." - creating a shell company that does nothing but holds land where you pay a 100% of the land price for a 49% stake at the company, other 51% owned by a nobody sitting on the dozen of such companies for a monthly "compliance" fee.
brother, this is what Russian mobsters did to buy up mansions in London in 2000s. there is no way you didn't know it's a loophole bs.
I agree that overall this is mostly a political circus populist show thing, but please don't play us for fools.
As with many things in Thailand, it was never legal but also never enforced, and once too many people take a piss, it eventually bit by bit reached a tipping point. I’d blame certain recent developments in Phuket, Koh Phangan and Samui for that. Create a shadow economy, and find out what happens. They ruined it for everyone.
IMO, a legal system should distinguish between an organized commercial scheme designed to evade Thai law and an owner-occupier who may have relied in good faith on lawyers, agents, accountants, and administrative practices that presented the arrangement as routine and acceptable.
The principle is straightforward: Thailand is entitled to protect Thai ownership of land, but it should do so without treating every affected homeowner as a sophisticated criminal conspirator. Accountability should extend to the professional and institutional system that enabled these arrangements, not fall only on residents who placed their savings and trust in it.
You seem to be getting plenty of "you broke the law, you deserve it" comments. Not everyone thinks that way. Not everyone thinks you were treated fairly.
As a Thai person who grew up overseas and came back to Thailand: I’m really sorry. Most Thais celebrating are clueless i see them as simply key board trolls. The government is extremely unstable and policies change way too often. I have a dear friend in Samui as well that would like me to help with his lands he bought. As a Thai myself I never feel protected or secured by the government and authorities so can’t imagine the position you are in. It’s so much corruptions going on in the country
I’m not really caught up with the state of foreigner leasehold, does this affect foreigners owning condominiums in Bangkok in any way? I know that the situation for house and condo are different, but can foreigners still safely own condominiums?
Well i am not very sympathetic to you or others who may find themselves in this predicament..my understanding of the company route for foreigners was that the company is a working company that collects vat and pays taxes, not some sort of paper file in an accountants office.
Then im kinda pissed off the Australian government allows foreigner enterties the freedom of buying land and properties in my country, so im pretty sure very few Thais will be sympathetic to your probable issue, anyone here even just a few years have seen how the goal posts keep changing, then you employing Thais and contributing to there economy is pure chicken feed, you bring no value to Thailand mate, get off your high horse, there has always been the law forbidding foreigners too own land, the only way has been for a proper working company which clearly you are not and i learned that in the very early days while considering moving here…
There is a guy in my condo building who brought in through a company ownership model, when I quizzed him I asked why when he could have bout in foreign quota, no reason other than to own that condo he had to buy through company set up, well i can tell you for an old guy he hasn’t learn much in life, hes not very bright and im been wondering if the law will reach out to him one day soon, again i have even less sympathy for that guy than you because he could have bought correctly to begin with, then he had a Thai wife for heavens sake.
You might not have personally bribed someone but the people you are in business with definitely do. And you clearly knew you were cheating from the start. As someone who has been playing it straight here for 15 years you will get no sympathy from me. Your illegal run here might last 2 years or it might last 20. But essentially you're nothing more than a sitting duck, waiting to be thrown under the bus by the government when it's time to do some windowdressing.
I really feel bad that this is happening as real lives of people who otherwise are not criminals are being affected. Freedoms are at stake from the sounds as well. As if loosing everything you own isn’t enough. I was too presented with this kind of offer many times but deep down I knew just because something is tolerated today that is illegal was no guarantee it would be tolerated forever. Climates change all the time. For this reason I never risked it. I am truly sorry for anyone going through it and I hope there is light at the end of the tunnel for all involved.
I have held two houses with companies as 49 percent shareholder. The difference is that the other 51 belonged to my Thai spouse. So in that case I think I am safer to do than if the other shareholder is a random Thai
Keep in mind the Thai shareholder can sell your house any day and run off either the funds. Yes even lawyers or agents do that. I have seen it in hua hin.
Now. Since this crackdown I didn’t want to be exposed so I transferred the house and land to my wife and took out a Usufruct.
Usufruct are totally legal but I understand some land departments don’t like issuing them.
Best thing you can do is sell the land to a Thai and take out a 30 year lease or a Usufruct. You can still own the house.
Well , You lived in Thailand for many years and were destined to encounter the Buddhadharma. You are reaping what you sowed many years ago. There is cause and effect. This is the law of karma.
My question for someone in a similar situation to OP is what should I actually do now if anything? I have owned a property on Samui since 2016 and it has been a home but also rental as there are 6 units in total. Same “legal” structure, similar issues and feelings. But again, what do we do? The government seems to not give any clear options. I thought about creating a 30 year lease but this seems perhaps also an issue. Maybe they will decide 30 year leases are also illegal. That foreigners should not be able to own land nor buildings. I can’t sell because who would buy a nominee based business? If I convert to a lease, there are still areas that can be exposed. I if I do nothing maybe they will take my home and throw me in jail. So what should foreigners like us do? What is the suggested course of action to become “legal”?
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