Foreigner Buy Condominium with 100% Ownership

Application by Aliens for Ownership in a Condominium Unit

An alien or a juristic person deemed by law as an alien may have ownership in a condominium unit in Thailand when 2 following conditions are satisfied. In the absence of either condition, the alien is not permitted to have ownership in a condominium unit.

1 Being an alien or juristic person deemed by law to be an alien under section 19 of the Condominium

Act in any of the following prescribed categories viz:

(1) Being an alien permitted to have a residence in the Kingdom under the law on immigration, in this instance, the evidence required to be produced shall be a passport indicating the nationality of the alien, and the certificate of residence (either TM. 11, TM. 15 or TM. 17 Form, as the case may be) issued by the Immigration Division, National Bureau of the Royal Thai Police Force. In the case of an alien who possesses an alien identification card issued by the Police Station in whose jurisdiction the alien is domiciled, such card can be used as evidence for the purpose of applying for acquisition of ownership in a condominium unit in this case without production of a passport;

(2) Being an alien granted permission to enter into the Kingdom under the law on promotion
of investment, in this instance, the evidence required to be produced shall be a passport indicating the nationality of the alien, and a letter of the Office of the Board of Investment certifying that the person is an alien granted permission to stay in Thailand under the law on promotion of investment;

(3) Being a juristic person deemed by law to be an alien under section 97 and 98 of the Land Code and has been registered as a juristic person under the laws of Thailand, in this instance, the evidence required to
be produced shall be the evidence indicating the registration as a juristic person under the laws of Thailand, i.e. a certificate issued by the corporate Registrar of Department of Commercial Registration, Ministry of Commerce must be produced in the case of a limited company, a public limited company, a limited partnership or a registered ordinary partnership;

(4) Being a juristic person that is an alien under the Alien Business Operation Act B.E. 2542 (1999) and that is granted a certificate of promotion of investment under the law on promotion of investment, in this instance, the evidence required to be produced shall be a letter of the Office of the Board of Investment certifying that the person is granted promotion of investment under the law on promotion of investment;

(5) Being an alien or a juristic person deemed by law to be an alien, who brings a foreign currency into the Kingdom or withdraws the money from a non-resident Baht account or from a foreign currency account, the following evidence must be produced;

(5.1) The evidence for proof of the bringing of a foreign currency into the Kingdom for sale in order to obtain money in Baht currency to pay for a condominium unit is implemented in 2 manners :
(5.1.1) in the case of an alien selling foreign currency in an amount exceeding US$ 5,000 or its
market-rate equivalent, if an alien himself brings the money for sale, the Form F.T.3 (B) provided by an authorised bank to an alien shall be produced for reporting on sale of foreign currency. If an alien sells foreign currency through transferring of that foreign currency to a transferee who has residence in Thailand to do the sale, the Form F.T. (A) provided by an authorised bank to the person residing in Thailand shall be produced for reporting on sale of foreign currency. In both forms, it shall be written “remit from abroad” as regard the remitter;
(5.1.2) in the case of an alien selling foreign currency in an amount not exceeding US$ 5,000 or its market-rate equivalent ,or the sale of foreign currency to an authorised agent or person, a
financial instrument of sale of foreign currency to be produced is a credit advice issued by an authorised bank or agent or person to the alien bringing foreign currency for sale;

(5.2) In the case of evidence for proof of the withdrawal of money from a non-resident Baht account, either from an alien’s account or a foreign financial institute’s account, a letter provided by a commercial bank certifying that the withdrawal from such account is for the purpose of purchasing a condominium unit shall be produced;

(5.3) In the case of evidence for proof of the withdrawal of money from a foreign currency account:
(5.3.1) in the case of the withdrawal of money from a foreign currency account for
sale to a commercial bank in order to obtain money in Baht currency in an amount exceeding US$ 5,000 or its market-rate equivalent, a copy of Form F.T.(B) provided by a commercial bank to the seller of foreign currency shall be produced along with the application for sale of that foreign currency;
(5.3.2) in the case of the withdrawal of money from a foreign currency account for
sale to a commercial bank in order to obtain money in Baht currency in an amount not exceeding US$ 5,000 or its market-rate equivalent, a financial instrument issued by a commercial bank to its customer or a commercial bank’s letter certifying of its purchase of that foreign currency shall be produced;

In addition, the evidence as specified in 5.1, 5.2 or 5.3 or the combination thereof shall
represent the amount of money that is not less than the price of the condominium unit intended to purchase.

2 The ownership in condominium units by the alien and juristic person in 2.1 shall not be in a higher

proportion than forty nine percent of the total space of all units in that condominium at the time of the application for condominium registration under section 6 with the exceptions that:

a. A condominium in which the condominium units are to be owned by the alien and/or the juristic person specified in 1 in a higher proportion than forty nine percent must be located in the area of Bangkok Metropolis, municipality or the City of Pattaya and the land on which the condominium is situated shall not, when combined with the land provided for common use or benefit of all co-owners, be more than five rai in area. Also, the condominium units in such condominium shall not be less than forty units and the condominium shall already be registered not less than one year prior to the date of application for the alien to own the condominium units in the proportion higher than forty nine percent, and such condominium shall not be situated in the area of military safety zone under the law on military safety zone.

b. It is provided in section 9 of the Condominium Act (No. 3), B.E.2542 that at the expiration of five years as from the date of the entry into force of the Condominium Act (No. 3), B.E. 2542 (28th April 1999) the provisions as set forth in a. shall be repealed and the alien or juristic person having obtained the condominium units under a. or the alien or juristic person specified in 1 to whom the condominium units are transferred from the aforesaid alien or juristic person may continue to have ownership in such condominium units although in the higher proportion than forty nine percent of the total space of all units in that condominium.

About Thailand

Climate
Thailand's climate is tropical, high both in temperature and humidity, and dominated by monsoons. April and May are the hottest months of the year, when even the locals are moved to complain about the heat. June sees the beginning of the South West Monsoon...

Economy
Agriculture is the primary means of employment, but industry, commerce, and services account for the 80% of the gross domestic product....

Festivals
In 1940, Thailand moved its New Year's Day from April 13th to January 1st. The old New Year is still a holiday called Songkran. Years are counted as the Buddhist era (B.E.) which started 543 years earlier than the Christian, era, therefore 2002 AD is the year 2545 BE.....

History
It is difficult to determine the type of culture which existed in Thailand before the Christian era, since no written records or chronologies exist but archeological excavations in the area north of Nakorn Ratchasima indicate...

Language
Thai is one of the oldest languages in East and South-East Asia. It is a monosyllabic language which uses five tones (high, mid, low, rising, and falling tone) to alter the meaning of a single syllable. This makes it rather tricky to learn for most Westerners used to speaking non-tonal languages...

People
Thailand is often called the "land of smiles", and rightly so because you will see more smiling people here than anywhere else in the world.
The country has a population of about 59 million, with some 6.7 million of these people living in the Bangkok area. Approximately 75% of the citizenry are ethnic Thais....

Religions
About 95% of the Thai population are Buddhist, which is a religion based on the teachings of Buddha, "the enlightened".
Born an Indian prince in 560 BC Siddhartha Gautama subjected himself to....

Food and Drink
Thailand's cuisine is regarded by many people as one of the best in the world. And, if variety is the spice of life, you can literally have a different meal every day of the year.
Almost all Thai food is cooked with fresh ingredients, including vegetables, poultry, pork, fish and some beef. Lime juice, lemon grass and fresh coriander give the food its characteristic tang, while liberal helpings of fresh chillies are used to add some fire to many dishes. Other common seasonings include black pepper, ginger, tamarind, and coconut milk which is often added to curries

Acquisition of Land by Alien

According to Section 86 of the Land Code, an alien may acquire land in Thailand only by virtue of the provision of a treaty providing him with the right to own immovable property. Obtainning such acquisition is subject to the provision of the Land Code and the Ministerial Regulations issued under the Code, and the permission must be obtained from the Ministry of Interior. Before the termination of the treaty which was made on February 27the, 1970, there were 16 countries bided to the treaty; USA, England, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, France, India, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Japan, Burma, Portuguese, and Pakistan. Since then, Thailand has no longer made any treaty with any country to allow an alien to acquire land in Thailand by virtue of a treaty.
However, the Land Code has been amended with Section 96 bis providing that since January 19th, 2002, an alien is allowed to purchase land in Thailand for residential purpose and the land to be purchased shall be not more than one rai in area, and the following rules and conditions must be met:
1.Bringing money not less than Baht forty million into the Kingdom for investment and maintaining the investment not less that five years;
2.Permission must be obtained from the Minister of Interior;
3.Money brought into the Kingdom shall be invested in one of the following businesses or activities;
3.1 to purchase bonds of Thai Government, bonds of Thai National Bank, bonds of State Enterprise or bonds which the Ministry of Finance secures the capital or interest,
3.2 an investment in a property mutual fund, a property mutual fund or a mutual fund for resolving financial institution problems established under the law on Securities and Stock Exchange,
3.3 an investment in share capital of a juristic person who is granted permission of investment under the law on promotion of investment,
3.4 an investment in an activity as declared by Board of Investment to be an activity eligible to be granted promotion of investment under the law on promotion of investment;
4.the land to be acquired shall be located in Bangkok Metropolis, Pattaya City, or Tessaban (Municipality), or in the area specified as residential zone according to the law on Town and Country Planning and shall not be located in a military safety zone according to the law on Military Safety Zone;
5.an alien, who is granted permission, shall utilize the land only for residence for his/herself and the family in a way that is not contary to the local custom or good living of the local community;
6.if an alien, who is granted permission to acquire such land, does not comply with the rules and conditions specified, he/she shall disposes of such land in the portion of his/her possession within the period of time specified by the Director General of the Department of Lands which shall be not less than one hundred eighty days and not more than one year, If the time limit elapses, the Director General shall have the power to dispose of such land; 7.if an alien, who is granted permission to acwuire such land, does not utilize the land for residence within two years as from the dat the registration for land acquisition is made, the Director General shall have the power to dispose of such land.
Besides the aforementioned rules and conditions, an alien may acquire land by inheritance as statutory heir, in this instance, the land devolved when combined with the land already acquired shall not exceed that specified by law, for wxamples, land for industrial purpose not exceeding 10 rais, and land for agricultural purpose not exceeding 10 rai per household.
An alien whose spouse is a Thai national either legitimate or illegitimate, that Thai national can purchase land but the alien spouse of that Thai national must give a joint written confirmation that the money which that Thai national will wxpend on purchasing the land is wholly the seperate property or personal effects of that Thai national and not the Sin Somros or jointly acquired property.
Fees
(a) 0.01% of the valuation price, in the case of purchasingg the land located in the land development project (this rate is due in December 2002)
(b) In the case other than (a) the fee is 2% of the valuation price
Taxes and Duties
To be paid according to the Code of Revenue

Living In Thailand

How can foreigner purchase land and property in Thailand?

Following to Thai legal statements, only Thai person and Thai legal entity are allowed to own a freehold title of land. Therefore, foreigners are not able to have a freehold ownership of land in Thailand. However, there are two options for foreigners to purchase land in Thailand. First, foreigners are able to purchase properties with the name of Thais whom they trust. Every Thais who married to foreigners are legally still Thais and can own properties in Thailand with their names although their last names are changed. Second, this is usually recommended, foreigners can form a Thai registered company limited to own parcels of land and properties. There are many professional law offices in Thailand, which help foreigners meet their requirements easily with reasonable cost.(around 70,000 - 100,000 Baht per case)

How can foreigners receive mortgages or financing packages?
Foreigners are able to apply for any loan packages from banks in Thailand if they have any businesses in Thailand or they have a Thai partner who will sign any loan contracts with them. They can purchase their properties in the name of Thai registered companies or the name of Thais.

Foreigners can lease out their homes to other people.
In Thailand, There are no restrictions for the owners to use their properties as an entirely commercial venture, for example, to rent out their homes.

What are other relevant costs to purchase land and houses?
There are five more items, which have to be paid in addition to the prices of properties.
Government charge for the guarantee of water - meter. (428 Baht at present)
Government charge for the guarantee of electrical - meter.(2,000 Baht at present)
Government charge for Registration fee. (2% of government appraised value of this properties)
Extra charges for upgrading the standard matters of the buildings, for example, structures, materials, etc. On the other hand, standard matters will be refunded to clients if the upgrades of these matters are required. (Our clients will be informed usually about standard matters of their purchased houses before they signed the contract.)
Charges for public - service fees. (300 Baht per 4 square meters of purchased land for land and houses buyers and 200 Baht per 4 square meters of purchased land for only land buyers) For example, if a client purchases a house on a parcel of land of 400 square meters, this fee will cost him 30,000 Baht. However, it will cost him 20,000 Baht only if he purchases only a parcel of land of 400 square meters. This fee covers the services of garbage clearness, lights of common area, 24 - hour securities, clearness of common area, clearness of sewage pipes. Each payment will be submitted as a community fund to the management team of the community, which will be chosen formally by the clients. This fund can be used approximately for 2.5 - 3 years. It means that our clients have not to pay any fees until this fund is entirely used. This fee, however, will cost our clients around 1,000 - 1,500 Baht per month per unit thereafter.

All of above is the information in brief that you should know when you desire to buy a house in Thailand. Anyway buying and selling property in Thailand can be a complex matter, and you should ask a lawyer to complete advice