Is it safe now????

[ITKMAN]

Are there any reports that people can move ahead with one house one less than 1 Rai all for ones own use and it will be OK.


Here is what I know in Phuket. A gated complex with some unsold and some resale houses will do all the paperwork for free,including change over to Amity after the ladn reg papers are approved. . If it has a problem in the first 3 years they will buy the place back at purchase price. Certainly any appreciation is not accounted for in the offer but I they faxed me the offer and I had it looked at by a BKK law office.. Seems they are locked in to eating the deal...Three years of protection was considered a good offer since the Attys (Thai and Farang) also agreed that if the deal sat that long it was highly unlikely to have any problems in the future!

And they knew of no perosn who had a house with "dummy Thais on the board it would be no problem...Use of Amity...Build the Thai corp, buy the house, and then change it over. they have many clients whom have been process just like that...........

[silverbird]

ITKMAN. Any agreement to "buy back" that is backed up with a guarantee from a bank sounds fine. But without a "water-proof" guarantee backed up by a bank I would not feel sure the seller can deliver what has been promised.

[clive]

I have heard of a european time share buy back that sounds similar. it can't be very good business though, because the companies keep going bust!

[johnrxx99]

I posted this the other day on another thread (the long one):-

"Burger, I'm just getting to know things Thai but the drift I have gained from this thread is that the authorities are cracking down because companies that have been set up in such a way, namely, using unknown Thai nationals to get around the rules, is not legal. The fact that many have done it doesn't alter the fact that it is illegal to buy land in such a way. Setting up trading companies with dummy nationals may be OK but that is not the question as long as the company doesn't own land.

Thus the authorities are asking for details from dummy director nationals and requiring financial proof. If such proof is not forthcoming the company is clearly a sham, set up merely to get around the requirement to invest 40m bhat.

For example, if a company is set up with an asset of 2m bhat, namley the house and site being purchased, and the farang has 49% of the shares it follows that the Thai directors own 51% of 2m bhat. So where did said national find 1,020,000 bhat. I gather they will have to prove it was their money and provide bank accounts, pay slips etc. Giving the money to the national to give to the vendor wont wash.

It is the same in the UK re money laundering and is an international requirement in most countries in the world.

I suspect the Thai government is under pressure to crack down on terrorism and this is one of the ways they have chosen to do so. My profession is commercial property management and have acted for many overseas clients investing in the UK. While I'm not sure how the residential market works with overseas purchasers I'm sure that proving the source of the money is as exacting as commercial purchases. The added downside in Thailand is that a farang cannot own more than 1 rai and must deposit 40m bhat for the privilage.

Thailand does not want foreign land owners without a big penalty and you can't get around that however hard you may wish to unless one uses other methods than the company route. It's a gamble on the possible non-enforcement of the rules.

Sorry for the ramble."

I thought I'd post that here as it touches the issue you have raised. To consider the scam you have been offered, bank guarantees are very complex. I have dealt with UK bank guarantees from both overseas owners and UK tenants for substantial sums and the bank will require collateral. This is usually the amount under guarantee. If you are a big customer you may get interest.

So, unless you have come across a bank that is prepared to stand you your purchase price (ha ha) or the developer is depositing the purchase money with the bank, interest free, there is a big chance the paper is unenforceable. With regard to 3 years, read the first part of this post again.

My advise is to get a UK commercial solicitor to check out any purported bank guarantee as this is a very specialist commercial legal area and unless your lawyer is a specialist in bank law you don't stand a chance. But it's your money.
_________________
Thai me to the moon