legal company ownership

sam · Specialist Joined: 25 May 2005 Posts: 164

Hi everyone, hope you are all enjoying sunny Hua Hin , we are hoping to join you soon but need a bit of help/ clarification on a few points if you would be so kind.

We understand that a farang cannot own land in Thailand(think everyone has got that now) however we want to set up a business which requires a small piece of land to enable it to exist i.e. paintball area, motor racing etc, hasten to add it is not these types of business,my question is if you have a company that is 49%farang and is a REAL company can you then buy land? If not how do all the companies exist such as hotels etc are they all leased or not legal? Tuktukmike do you rent the land for your company? Do the thai shareholders have to be real for any company or just for land ownership? Sorry if these questions have been answered before as I don't seem to be able to find them. Many thanks Sam.

STEVE G · Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:00 am Post subject:

Hi sam,
To run a company completely legally, and to own land, the company must have at least 51% Thai ownership. What large companies such as hotel chains do is set up a local subsidiary and then get several local investors on board, to buy shares in the company. As they are trading companies they can pay dividends on these shares, pay tax and stay legal.

sam · Specialist Joined: 25 May 2005 Posts: 164

Thanks for the info Steve, can you only hold land in the company name and only pay dividends on the growth of the land value? Sam.

STEVE G · Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:37 am Post subject:

Hi sam,
If you are asking what is legal to the letter of the law, as opposed to what has gone on in the past, trading in land is forbidden to foreigners under the Alien Business act 1999.
If you set up a Thai company to do this, you could be theoretically asked to prove that the majority ownership was actually financed from Thai funds, and not from you.

timego · Amateur Joined: 06 Apr 2006 Posts: 31

I don't get this what is going on with the company trying to buy a property.
My company was refused in land office so had the loophole being opened again or what?

johnrxx99 · Member Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 59 Location: UK

It appears they are cracking down on it. Various reports on other threads that people are being asked to produce proof of Thai ownership and proof of where money came from. I think this is to do with money laundering and terrorism.

If you wish to buy more than a rai of land (0.16hec) you must deposit 40m bhat in an approved investment like government bonds. That includes the land a house is built on.

There are many that will tell you it is OK to buy land but it is not.

You can take a lease for 30 years I beleive and renew it once.

Get a UK lawyer to check it out.

Edit: On another thread Tuketukemike has listed good Thai lawyers that can advise. http://www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3673
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