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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. Obtaining 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 27th, 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 Ministry 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 the 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 contrary 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
acquire such land, does not utilize the land for residence
within two years as from the day 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 examples, land for residential
purpose not exceeding 1 rai per household, land for
commercial purpose not exceeding 1 rai, 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 expend on purchasing the land
is wholly the separate 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 purchasing 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
Legal Affairs Division
Department of Land
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