Real-Estate on Koh PhaNgan island

Featured Properties:

For Sale: Haad-Salad Ocean View (#101)
Land title: Nor Sor 3 Gor
Price 2.3 Million Baht per Rai
The land is on a hill close to the beach and overlooking the ocean.
Contact for more details

For Rent: Haad-Yuan Ocean View (#102)
5 Rai moderate hill-side, 150 meters from the beach.
Price: 100,000 per year for a 10 year period (Rent only)
Contact for more details

Have you alrady stayed at Koh PhaNgan ?
Have you met those who have changed their lifes by coming to live at this very special tropical island ?
Changes in Thai laws a few years ago mean that non-thais can now rent, lease, own and/or re-sell a land or a house in Thailand.

There are a number of very good reasons to buy a land or a house in Koh-Phangan:
The relatively low prices make it a very good investment. There are many prime locations such as beach-front or hill-top lands which can be either devided and resold or turned into hotels and resorts.
A small house can serve as a vacation-house and in the rest of the year can be lent, thus covering the initial investment within a few short years.
And the best reason of all, is to leave the urban world behind and come to live in a tropical island in the land of smiles.

Thai4fun.com offers land and house listings, as well as project-management, consultantcy services, purchase assistance, and more.

For more information, or if you have any real-estate related questions or enquiries, please don't hasitate to contact us at realestate@thai4fun.com

Legal Information

Owning a Condominium in Thailand

Buying a condominium, is perhaps the simplest and easiest option available to foreigners. The only restrictions on purchasing a condominium, are that the percentage of units sold to foreigners cannot exceed forty nine percent (49%) of the total number of units in the condominium block; and that the funds used to buy the condominium have been remitted from abroad and correctly recorded as such by a Thai Bank on a Tor Tor Sam. Purchases of condominiums by foreign individuals come under the jurisdiction of the Condominium Act B.E. 2535 (1992).

The owner of each condominium is issued with a certificate of unit ownership. The certificate also has a statement saying exactly what percentage of rights over the common areas of the building each owner has.

Land Ownership

Ownership of land is governed by the Land Code BE 2497 (1954), the Civil and Commercial Code, Land Reform for Agriculture Act BE 2518 (1975) and the regulations set forth by the Ministry of the Interior.

Although Thai law prohibits foreigners from owning land in Thailand, there are various ways in which you can structure your affairs so that you can own land, and still comply with existing Thai laws:

• Limited Liability Company - this form of purchasing property is the most popular with foreign investors as the Articles of Association can be varied to allow greater protection for foreign minority shareholders where majority Thai ownership is required under the Alien Business Law. Thai law requires that 51% of the shares be held by Thai juristic persons, however, any company with more than 40% foreign interest that purchases land will be investigated by the Central Land Office in Bangkok (under Section 74 of the Land Code) to ensure that the company has not been organized in an attempt to circumvent the prohibition against foreign ownership of land.
  This results in the foreign ownership of the company being limited at 39%, but with the recommended changes to the Articles of Association, the foreigner can be the only director of the company, and the only officer of the company who can commit or bind the company in any contractual dealings - effectively giving the minority shareholder control over the company. 
  
  
• Nominee with Lease and Option to Buy - you can use a Thai Nominee to purchase the house/land and have a 30 year lease with a 30 by 30 year option from the nominee. In order to be enforceable, any lease for a period of longer than three years must be registered, which involves payment of a registration fee and stamp duty based on a percentage of the rental fee for the whole lease term. The original registered lease remains in force and effect even if the property is sold. The drawbacks to a lease include the fact that the parties can contractually agree to renewals, but this right cannot be registered and is not effective against a purchaser of the property, and that the lessee cannot (without the lessor's consent) sublease, sell or transfer his or her interest.
  
  
• Nominee with Mortgage - you can use a Nominee to purchase the house/land and have a mortgage (registered with the appropriate land department office) on the property in your favour. However, in some circumstances the Thai courts have ruled that this was not a bona fide mortgage, but rather it was a mortgage contrived to circumvent the existing laws of Thailand prohibiting foreign ownership of land. It is important to note that only the owner of the land is entitled to mortgage the land; the lessee of land does not have the same privilege.
  
  
• Usufruct Interest (Sidhi-kep-kin) - gives you temporary ownership rights to things on or arising from the land. In practice, a usufruct is limited to a 30 year maximum period; like leases, the agreement can be successively renewed. In contrast to a lease, a usufructury interest can be sold or transferred, although it expires upon the death of the holder of the usufruct and therefore cannot be inherited.
  

What is Tor Tor Sam (3)

A Tor Tor Sam (3) is an official bank document issued by the receiving bank upon the receipt of foreign currency into your bank account in Thailand. You must request a Tor Tor Sam from your bank when you are remitting funds to Thailand for the purpose of purchasing a condominium, and the Tor Tor Sam must specify that the remittance is solely for the purpose of purchasing a property - Code 5.22.

Land Title Deeds

A Title Deed is the purest form of evidence that an individual owns a piece of land. The official land title deed is called Nor Sor see (4) Jor or "Chanote". Title Deeds are given only for areas of Thailand which are GPS-surveyed. For areas which are not surveyed, there are other documents for land possession such as evidence of the possession of the right to utilise the land or other interests in the land. These documents are called "Nor Sor Sam (3) and Nor Sor Sam (3) Kor". Unlike the Title Deeds, these Nor Sor documents are issued to show the possessors' exploitation of the land. Though these documents do not provide ownership rights, as do Title deeds, they can still be registered for transfer of the lands for which they are issued.

Land Measurement

Land in Thailand is measured in "Rai", which is less that half (40%) of an Acre

1 Wah - 5 sqm
1 Ngan = 100 Wah = 400 sqm
1 Rai = 4 Ngan = 1600 sqm = 0.4 Acre = 0.16 Hectare
1 Acre = 2.5 Rai
1 Hectare = 6.25 Rai