Will new restrictions on foreign ownership in Thailand lead to panic in the property market?
Jan - 22 | 
5 comments. | 
Overseas Property News, Thailand Property
British villa owners in Thailand face uncertainty over the legal status of their properties, and might even lose control over their homes following a controversial change in company law by the country’s military appointed government.
With its low property prices and reputation for “sun, smiles and entertainment”, Thailand has been one of the most popular of the “emerging” markets. But it has not been all smooth going for the thousands of Britons who have already taken the plunge. In recent months, the Thai property market has been unsettled by a string of negative news including the imposition of capital controls, restrictions on tourist visas, a military coup, turbulence on the stock and currency markets, a wave of terrorism in southern Thailand and nine bomb blasts in Bangkok, the capital, on New Year’s Eve, that injured British visitors.
The latest blow was an announcement by the Thai government that it is to restrict foreign ownership of the companies that have been used by many British and other nonThais to buy holiday homes. Foreigners are banned from owning land in Thailand. Continue reading at Timesonline
Source: Michael Sheridan
There are many people asking the question why has after a step and prolonged rise in the Bangkok property market are prices slowing? There are a number of factors, usually these are attributed to rise in interest rates or slowing of the economy but in the case of foreign buyers these factors hardly contribute to their purchases. In September 2006 the Thai military staged a popular coup to depose the popular but corrupt Prime Minister Mr.Thaksin.
‘The coup caused little stir in Bangkok’s popular tourist districts, where foreigners packed beer bars and cabarets just a few miles from where the tanks were posted’, AP reported
Many thought this would have an effect on foreigners buying property in Thailand but the opposite occurred more deals went through. However many thought the draconian visa rules would be relaxed but they were not, ‘The Thai government on Friday announced new visa regulations for tourists limiting the foreign visitors to a maximum stay of 90 days each every six months in order to ease social problems and crime in the country. MCOP reported. This contributed to buyers lessening but not by much. There were also changes made to the company formation where rules were enforced that made buying a house or land under a Thai company, this shook the popular costal resort market greatly. Another event that caused major confusion was the central bank imposed a 30% rule due to capital inflows that meant you had to park this percentage of your funds with the bank for one year.
The Thai government could install confidence again by offering longer lease to foreigners buying land/house as suggested by various chambers’ of commerce, to increase options for visa status of property owners and of course to institute a new democratically elected government.
I hope these restrictions will be smoothed, as for now The Thailand property market currently offers foreign investors an exceptional return on their money and despite the devastating tsunami a few years ago the economy is in full swing. No where else on earth is the property market quite so inexpensive as compared to what you can expect in return. In Thailand, a foreign dollar will buy investors a lot more than it will elsewhere. In fact, there are currently several exceptional developments underway that carry extremely low price tags. Demand still seems to be relatively high from foreign investors with a steady supply of new supply coming on to the market. And I hope it will stay like that.
good it will remind people that it is not there home. too many foreigners hanground the beatern track i went to kong kaen and i was amazed by how many english men i met. Just shows how much trust they have in their women all i can say is better them then me
There are currently several exceptional developments underway that carry extremely low price tags. Thank you.
As I sensed when this story came out, it was not much more than checking the boxes. I see most foreigners are well aware of how the system works and as long as they abide by the laws of the country, they have no problems.