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Home » Reader question » Reader question: Can I buy a house in Thailand with a tourist visa?
Dear readers,
I am about to buy a house in Thailand. Now my question is can I buy it while I have a tourist visa or do I have to have a retirement visa or a resident visa?
I would very much like a serious, well-founded answer.
Best regards and thanks in advance.
Do
dear Will
As a foreigner you cannot buy a house in Thailand at all. Only a condominium in a building where at least 51% of the other owners are Thai.
Despite all kinds of (complicated) legal constructions: they are not watertight and not the same as property.
Don't be fooled and: think before you leap.
Dear Chris,
You are absolutely right but there are some exceptions in Thailand.
12 years ago we bought two apartments in a condominium in Kailmbay, Patong.
In the condominium "The Residence" 98% of the owners are foreigners, of which 8 are Dutch owners.
The two condos are 100% freehold and in my name only,
I was able to buy a motorbike and a car with proof of ownership without any problems.
Regards Klaas
Buying or acquiring property in Thailand is possible, but then you must first have obtained Thai nationality and that is of course only possible after living here for the necessary years.
Do you know an expat who has Thai citizenship?. Then please let us know
yes, there are but they are the white ravens among the expats in Thailand. I know a few. One is my English colleague who has both a UK and a Thai passport.
My wife had an uncle and aunt (both passed away last year) who came to live in Thailand from China and started a business here. They lived in Mukdahan on the Mekong River, their children still live there and own a large shop. It's more like a big warehouse. Well, that uncle and aunt, who were also expats, were able to obtain Thai nationality but never took it because it would have cost them too much. After all, one must be able to prove 800.000 Baht income all years. That may be why it is difficult to find a European expat who has taken Thai nationality. The children of that uncle and aunt – so my wife's cousins – were born here in Thailand and are of course Thai from birth, who took over their parents' shop at the time and still run it today.
The 800.000 baht is probably not the direct requirement for nationality. That amount is what one must have untouched in a Thai bank from three months before applying for an 'extension of stay', per person. So 1.600.000 baht for a couple of foreigners. It is part of the extension of stay for the duration of one year, on the basis of 'retirement'. It is only one step to obtain a 'resident visa' after a few years and the nationality comes even later. It should not be income, you can start using it up from the granting of the 'extension of stay', but if you manage to get by with half, you only have to add the deficit to the bank within 9 months so that there is again 800.000 baht per month. person standing. Either one must demonstrate a regular monthly income [eg pension] of 1/12 of the annual amount, for which proof from the embassy of the country of origin must be submitted; if the whole sum is not reached, the annual deficit may be placed higher on the bank. Those who are 'retired' in Thailand are not allowed to engage in the slightest activity – not even voluntary work. They can be the owner of the shop (or perhaps more precisely the shop company, because as not-yet-Thai they cannot own the land), but they cannot work in it themselves.
As a foreigner you cannot buy a house at all?. That's something new again. Which Thai law says that. It would be nice to be able to consult this law about what may and may not be bought, eg bicycle, TV, car, boat, hat, coat, etc., and what may or may not be considered your property. Because somewhere there is a Thai border / regulation / law that regulates this?
It is possible, but you have to be officially married to a Thai and/or have a permanent residence here, as far as I know. Which doesn't mean you have to live here permanently. For example, I know people who live in Belgium and own a condo in Pattaya.
However, a flat in a condominium of which most flats belong to Thai, so that the land on which the building stands is still managed by Thais. No home on private land. The nationality of the wife, if any, does not play the slightest role, but elsewhere in this section you can read under what conditions the land for a house can be bought by a Thai wife, and the foreigner can be the owner of the property himself. house on it.
So the statement is NOT about a condo, but about a house. A condo is an apartment block that is part of a unit with several apartment blocks. A house is generally a free-standing building on its own piece of land, on which only that house + any adjacent buildings stand.
As far as I know, you don't have to be married to a Thai. You only need to have a piece of land, the owner of which is (logically) Thai or Thai and on which you can build and live in your house.
Just make sure in advance that you can walk anywhere and anytime on the property during your lifetime, etc. Otherwise, after a divorce, for example, you will no longer be able to enter your own home. That also applies to the sale and planting of it. Not that he-she plants your 50 chestnut trees in front of your balcony after a fight. Or that he or she sells the land free of charges and you can then tear down your luxury bunker resort.
Dear Will,
I think this is not possible!
I myself (yesterday) tried to buy a scooter from Honda and have it registered to my name.
But Honda refused to put it in my name because I have a tourist visa, despite a (temporary) residence permit from the police!
Scooter was bought, but in the name of a Thai acquaintance.
Regards William.
Hello William,
Well, I bought that scooter from Yamaha a month ago and registered it in my name
have it put, with a note from immigration, but just a tourist visa.
As I have often heard, the local differences are large.
Greetings Will
Dear Will, in TH every foreigner, even if you see yourself 'only' as a tourist, can/may buy a condo. No house, you can't. Sit on the ground. That is possible if you have a TH partner.
If you click on the link below, you will find about 10 (ten) articles from Thailandblog about buying real estate in TH: https://www.thailandblog.nl/?s=huis+kopen&x=0&y=0
Rest assured that, given the Thai situation for a farang, all responses to those articles are serious and well-founded. You can almost certainly use it to your advantage. Also assume that in TH the following applies: good preparation saves half the wallet, and: a forewarned man thinks twice! In other words: collect a lot of information, think about it, be sure, and only then buy. And don't grumble afterwards!
You can buy a house (see my response a little later), but no land. Thai partner makes no difference. In fact, as soon as the Thai marries a foreigner, she too was no longer allowed to buy land, but that was somewhat remedied under Thaksin: She is allowed to buy land after (explicitly AFTER that) the foreign husband signed a statement that the means to buy the land were already owned by the Thai wife before the marriage and that the foreign husband has no claim whatsoever.
However, a lot of land has already been bought by Thai wives, which always seemed to be possible without any problems. But according to Thai law, that land can simply be confiscated (appraised) at any time. I have not yet heard that this happened, but there are still those protectionist Thai laws that remained dormant for a long time until they were suddenly fully applied (for example, constructions whereby a company was established to buy or manage land in its name).
This topic has been discussed here several times. So Wil, just read what has already been said about it. The starting point is: foreigner cannot own/buy land. Good luck.
The only thing you have to buy in TH is what you can consume immediately or take with you to NL. The rest: rent. There is pinging everywhere. But something as solid as a condo (a house stands on land, and a foreigner can NEVER buy that, not even with all kinds of drug constructions, because sooner or later you will be cheated) under no circumstances. You don't even have the right to live there if for any reason your visa is not extended.
As it once said on a blog: investing in TH? Just as much, if you are willing to deposit it in the rubbish bin upon arrival at the airport. In many cases, that is also the final result.
Be sensible and read what Harry says carefully and carefully; do not buy anything in Thailand and rent if there are no other options; don't invest a penny in this country or you'll want to donate it, but do it with a purpose.
You can buy a house, but not the land it sits on. You can lease that land for a longer period, usually 30 years.
It has nothing to do with your visa. I know plenty of foreigners who have done this and only stay in Thailand for a few months a year.
Dear scarf
I'm responding to your post because it comes closest to my question.
I have been living with the same lady for 6 years and I know from the ground up that she wants it
I put it in her name and the house on a lease contract in my name.
However, I heard from outsiders that the purchase of the house did not go well
my visa.
Thank you and on to the Government and of course to immigration anyway
to apply for a retirement visa as I am unfortunately currently of age.
Mrs.gr Wil
After three years on a 'non-resident' visa with some 'extension of stay' due to 'retirement', you can apply for a 'resident visa', but that is far from free [was 197.000 baht]. And the road to Thai nationality is still long and perhaps even more expensive. It has been determined per nationality how many people may become Thai annually, provided that all requirements are met, which seems to be a problem for some nationalities. Yet I do not yet know a single originally foreigner with Thai (possibly dual) nationality, although I know many here and there in Thailand who have been living there for many years, both men with and without a Thai wife.
PS: You may marry your Thai partner of six years, but only after she bought the land; or you are already married and you need to make a statement before she buys the land - see my response above from January 5, 2014 at 02:42 am.
Good Will, wise. It's best to go your own way and not expect too much from the answers on this forum. I don't want to be offended, but most of the people who comment here just go on and on about other people's answers and get completely off topic….
Buying a house as a foreigner would be possible, because the land is NOT attached to it. In Thailand one can own a building on someone else's land – certainly not so in Belgium and I suppose not in the Netherlands either. The land can then be rented (maximum 30 years and, contrary to some claims, one can never count on renewals) or usufruct (maximum 30 years or lifelong, but the latter may be shorter).
Strictly speaking, the building could remain the property at the end of the contract or go to the heirs, but how could one use that building if one no longer has the right to enter or even use the land… so either a kind of prefab that can be moved in time, or an agreement stipulating that the building becomes the property of the landowner at the end of that agreement. The latter may allow for a cheap agreement to be negotiated.
Bear in mind that as a foreigner you can be expelled from the country in about a week, with possibly a short objection period, which is not necessary - especially if someone with a long arm sees an advantage in this. In fact, Thailand is mainly interesting for renting in the short term, not for long-term investment. Land leased in the long term cannot be converted into money if one wants or has to leave prematurely: The foreigner may never rent out Thai land and therefore not sublet it, because that is an act of management instead of a act of maintenance, and forbidden to foreigners with regard to land.
Dear,
Do ask me why there are still so many focused to buy in Thailand.
While renting is so much easier, there is much less risk.
Usually a heavy hangover afterwards.
Anyway, everyone is free to do what they want with their hard-earned money.
Success!
Just a relative thought. If you buy a house, you will be - with or without special construction regarding land - about TBH 2 million. Let's assume that you have lived in Thailand for 10 years. Then that means Tbh 2 tons per year or Tbh 16.600 p/m.
Well, I think that you pay a similar amount for the rent for a little apartment / house per month. So buying or renting is financially comparable.
Renting is only a good option if you plan to stay in Thailand for a shorter period of time (less than 10 years).
The conclusion is therefore: there is no general rule. Personal circumstances are of crucial importance.
And it is certain that as a farang you can never own land, but if you can rent land for a period of 30 years with the option of another 30 years (de facto for nothing), what is the difference?
Dear Teun,
You may be able to rent the land for 30 years, but a new owner of the land is not bound by the old lease, nor by the agreed price. In short: you have no protection whatsoever if the new owner (can be the heir of the old owner or the new owner of the company if you rent the land from a company) wants to get rid of you or to see a lot more money.
Your calculation is correct, but the prices differ greatly per region. In Phuket and Bangkok, not much fun can be rented for 16.000 Baht, certainly not in the center. You can't buy anything special for 2 million Baht.
Chris,
The first was an example calculation and may differ in terms of amounts per region. But the principle stands.
And of course you have to pay attention to whose name you put the ground on. Then you let that person borrow money from you to buy the land. Interest and loan repayment are equal to the rental price of land. And finally stipulate that "owner" of land may not sell without prior written permission from you.
dear Teun
Everything goes well until it goes wrong.
And then it turns out - according to the law - that if a Thai is not able to buy the land himself, but receives or borrows money from a foreigner, the land is considered the property of the foreigner and that is prohibited. The land is then confiscated.
The heirs are not bound by any contract entered into by the deceased, including the loan. And what if you build a house on the grounds of a Thai who does not have to borrow money for it because it already belongs to him/her? Then you take out a loan that is not actually necessary?
Chris,
The idea behind my piece was: if you plan to live in Thailand for about 10 years (or longer), renting or buying doesn't matter much. And that applies to every region.
And who says that you have to provide a loan to a Thai(se) who already owns the land? That is completely pointless. After all, you only pay for the house on that land, right? You then rent the land and finance the house. And she can also live in that house against remission of rent land. In that case, you can also give her ownership of the house and take out a mortgage loan on it.
The point is that you have to try to protect yourself against a situation in which the relationship breaks down and you – if you have not arranged anything – can just be kicked out. And if you don't trust her from day 1, you certainly shouldn't start building/buying a house. In my opinion, renting a house together is also not wise in that scenario.
Do the gentlemen want to buy a villa? I had a nice (small) house built, which cost me about 700.000 baht. An apartment on land, so to speak. With a piece of land of 800 square meters, which also cost something. Just calculate what it was in Euros. If I'm going to buy a nice car, I'll lose almost as much and see what that car is still worth in about 4 years. Not only that, just count the maintenance costs with such a car and the insurance, tax (now that is not so high in Thailand, but think of the Netherlands).
What do you lose after a while?
You can also buy a villa or a large house for more and then? Should it? Does it make sense? In the Netherlands, where you spend three-quarters of the time at home because the weather is so bad, that seems practical to me, but then you also lose much more than 2 million baht.
Here you live outside for a large part. The weather is nice, why hang out indoors? Even if it rains you can go outside and you can only sleep in one bed at a time, can't you?
But each to his own…
Still, it should be noted that in Thailand there is such a thing as the Condominium act. that means that you can only become the owner of an apartment if 51% of the apartments in that building are owned by a Thai national.
There are also all kinds of constructions to avoid this, but sooner or later this can cause serious problems, whereby even the deed of sale is declared invalid and you lose your money and apartment.
So pay attention.
Be careful indeed, especially with 'special constructions'. Legal constructions in themselves have already been debunked by Thai courts because, in the judge's opinion, they sought to circumvent [the spirit of] the Law.
In places where a lot of 'farang' reside, the necessary 51% in Thai hands turns out to be able to drive up the price for the 'farang' because he has to pay almost two instead of just his apartment. Moreover, condos are everywhere with some 'fixed costs' for the common parts and with 51% Thai owned the 'farang' are in the minority to approve the rates…
Well, buy, rent…
I am a real buyer. If there's a risk involved, so be it. In practice, it is often not too bad. In the worst case you have to sell your home, but then you have money again. Renting is just a waste of money.
I myself bought a condo in Thailand, Jomtien, and I am still very satisfied with this purchase. I still live in the Netherlands, but that doesn't matter. The purchase of the apartment went smoothly and I have never had any further problems.
So my advice, if you have money: buy it! But something that already exists and not something that still needs to be built. And… in your own name.
Historically, the Siamese capitals (especially Ayutthaya) ruled the rest of the country in the Roman way, namely as colonies only. Since then, foreigners have become the hottest in Thailand, from cheap workers from neighboring countries to visitors and investors from countries with a high GDP. With all the administrative and cultural experience of centuries, you can count on the fact that the Thai, from ordinary man or woman to highest government, including very protectionist laws and jurisprudence, are geared to this and know how to apply it with great refinement. It is their land, their paradise, and it is shamelessly made to feel it, to the regret of those who envy it.
You can of course win the lotto, for the time being there even seem to be winners, but risk your hard-earned money on that... The advice that people also read above is worth [sometimes a lot] of gold: only bring into Thailand what you are willing to do without losing anything in return; Although you can hope that things might not turn out too bad, you cannot depend on that. Make sure you have a decent parachute in advance, completely free of any Thai influence!
When I came to live here with my Thai wife, we bought 4.000 m2 of land and later another 4.000 m2 as agricultural land. Built 2 houses on it (1 was for my brother-in-law) and officially please put half of everything in my name and half in my wife's name. When the exchange rate of the Baht fell to a very low level and I was afraid that I would no longer be able to prove enough income, I asked the immigration service what I could do in that case. the response of the immigration officer: sir, don't worry, you have enough property, that's no problem. So, if there is no problem about my property from such an official body, then I can sleep soundly, I thought? or not?
dear roger
Just because it all worked out doesn't mean it's legal, because it isn't.
If shit comes up, your half will simply be confiscated. Voila.
Everything is officially registered by the property registration office here in the municipality, which we call the Land Registry, so it is legally regulated. And what's more, if things ever go wrong, there's no man left overboard, then I'll just put everything in my wife's name. I am now 71, my wife is 17 years younger, logically speaking I will die first and everything will be for her. And if that were the other way around, I would inherit from her (by will), I would remarry as quickly as possible and I would repeat the entire procedure to secure everything.
Roger, have you ever had the Thai text registered by the Land Office (cadastre) translated by a competent translator who is really independent of both your wife and the Land Office? Those responsible at a Land Office can accept some extra punics, also actively name an amount and not display it, but phlegmatically issue a lower receipt, for example to 'expedite' a transaction. However, I cannot imagine that a Land Office of any district would dare register a foreigner as co-owner of a piece of Thai land, against the Land Code. Only by inheritance with the approval of the competent minister or after 40.000.000 baht investment in certain projects approved by them or in certain government loans, a maximum of 1 rai (1.600 square meters) can be owned by a foreigner. The Land Office does not systematically check whether a transaction is correct in every respect; for example, a Thai wife married to a foreigner could and can have land placed in her name without being entitled to do so, for example if the Land Office has no knowledge of that marriage. Legally, the husband must declare in advance that the land to be purchased will only belong to the wife, otherwise the land can be lost; Before the government under then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, there was no possibility for a wife of a foreigner to buy land in Thailand. She could own it before the marriage, or obtain it through inheritance, or through a gift from her father or mother, provided that the land had been owned by the relevant parent(s) for at least five years before. The Land Office will normally only act after a complaint. Assuming that 'your' land was purchased since that relatively recent change in the law, your name (and then probably converted into Thai characters) could possibly be listed as a spouse and then it would most likely be stated that he has no claim to the land which is solely in the name of the wife.
The change in law that now allows a Thai married to a foreigner to buy land after the legal declaration by the husband, was not accompanied by a possibility to regularize previous transactions (or those that are made later without a timely declaration) by such a declaration . That simple fact probably points to a deliberate desire to keep the possibility of later confiscating the lands that have become corrupted by past and future illegal transactions.