An article by Stickman (Essential reading)

It’s nice to have somewhere to call home.  For anyone who has settled in Thailand and is looking at staying long term, the thoughts of buying a place are inevitable.

What are the issues a Westerner needs to consider when contemplating the purchase of property in Thailand?

In the West one can assume certain characteristics in the property market over the long term.  Property prices increase, on average, around 10% a year.  Monthly rental is usually around 1% of the value of the property.  And so on.  The characteristics of the property market in Thailand appear to be less certain and from what I have observed, you can't count on out the aforementioned norms.

If you’ve read this column for very long you’ll know that I tend to err on the conservative side so it will come as no surprise that overall, my feeling is that for the average Westerner, buying in Thailand is not necessarily the best way to go...

Rent Is Cheap

Take the example of a good friend of mine.  He rents a 4 bedroom, 2 level house in Nonthaburi, less than 15 minutes drive from the expressway at Ngam Wong Wang, meaning that he can leave his place and be in central Bangkok (read: Sukhumvit / Siam Square / Silom) in not much more than half an hour.  Even at peak hour, it doesn't take much more than an hour to get from what is really the outskirts of the city into the city centre.  The monthly rental on his property is 8,000 baht and the landlord is asking 2,800,000 baht for the property.  At 8,000 baht a month, it would take almost 30 years to pay for the property, and that is assuming zero interest!  With no certainty of the value of the property moving at all, and all of the headaches of home ownership left with the property owner, he is probably better off continuing to rent.

Ownership Issues

As a foreigner, you cannot buy a house and have it in your own name.  It must be in the name of a Thai spouse, Thai friends or the Thai fellow who sleeps under the bridge, down the road.  There is the odd exception but generally, the property cannot be in your own name.  This is the red flag of all red flags.  If things go bad, then the property is gone and you have no claim to it.

In the case of a condominium, you can buy in your own name as a foreigner.  There are certain criteria which must be met such as which floor of the building the condo is on and the percentage of foreign ownership in that building, but yes, you can purchase a condo and have it in your own name.

The immigration laws in Thailand effectively mean that foreigners must renew their visa each year, every year - and this doesn't look set to change.  What happens if for whatever reason, your visa is not renewed?  Suddenly you have a property in a country which you cannot enter!  Very unlikely, but again, not beyond the realms of possibility.

Maintenance

In the case of a condominium, unless it is a particularly well managed building, there are no guarantees that the building will be looked after for at the same standard as it was when you first purchased it.  This seems to be the biggest complaint many farangs (read: the bunch who I know) who have purchased property in Thailand have.  The building is left to the dogs and the value of their condo drops accordingly.

The Market

There are no guarantees that the price of property will move in Thailand.  I know of many houses in the outskirts of Bangkok that sold in the 2 - 3 million baht range more than a decade ago and guess what, that is still their market value.  Having said that, properties in central Bangkok and anything close to the skytrain has soared in value over the last 2 years.

Another of the big issues with buying in Bangkok (or for that matter all of Thailand) is selling.  In the West, generally speaking, if you want to sell quickly, you can.  You just drop the price 10 - 15% and assuming no extraneous factors in the market, the property will likely move.  In Thailand, it is not quite like this.

There are definite perceptions amongst sectors of the Thai population about second hand places.  A lot of Thais simply don't want to buy second hand, period.  And the fact that a farang may have lived there is a negative perception to many Thais.  Yeah, really!  The superstitious nature of the locals also means that if one of any number of events happen, then suddenly your property is no longer somewhere they would buy.

And quite frankly, some of the prices that property in Bangkok is going for are outrageous, by Thai standards at least.  Yeah, you could argue that Bangkok is still cheap by international standards, but when you look at property prices compared with other things in Thailand, they seem a bit stilted.

An article by Stickman (Essential reading)
See also Thai Laws on Marriage and Divorce

From The Telegraph

Poor Thai girls marrying foreigners were once stigmatised but not any more, reports Sebastien Berger in Ban Jaan

The paddy fields around Ban Jaan, in Thailand's impoverished north-east, are lush with green stalks of rice ready for harvest, yet the real secret to the village's wealth is contained within its houses.

It is the women of Ban Jaan and their foreign husbands who have paid for the new high-ceiling villas and bought the gleaming four-wheel-drive vehicles to rest alongside the humble wood-panelled homes more typical of the region.

The 449 families of the village can count around 100 foreign sons-in-law between them, the vast majority Swiss, with a scattering of Britons and Scandinavians. Virtually none of the foreigners lives in Ban Jaan, instead taking their wives to Europe.

The next generation is keen to follow in its elder sisters' footsteps. At Ban Jaan school yesterday more than half the girls in Year 9 raised their hands when asked if they wanted to marry a foreigner.

Foreigners love children and they care about Thai culture and traditions, said Wipaporn, 14, whose cousin has married a Briton, adding that she wants to build a big house for her mother and grandmother.

Where the mixed marriages are kindled has long been a sensitive subject, and Wipaporn said she had "no idea" how she might meet a "farang" - a foreigner.

Ban Jaan's Swiss relations have their origins with a local girl who moved to Switzerland in 1982, while the others stem from meetings in what are known as "places of entertainment".

North-eastern Thailand, known as Isaan, is the country's rice-basket but also the poorest region, with average income only a tenth that of Bangkok. Its girls provide most of the human capital for the capital's sex trade.

A certain stigma has always been attached to poor Thai girls marrying foreigners, but now Nopporn Jantarathong, the governor of Roi Et, the province which contains Ban Jaan, has decided to recognise their economic potential.

According to a survey by Thailand's national economic and social development board, there are 15,000 foreigners' wives, known as "mia farangs", in the north-east, who bring in tens of millions of pounds in foreign currency every year.

The governor is recruiting the brides as "ambassadors" to promote tourism and trade. All the 679 mixed couples from the province are to receive certificates of welcome, and membership of his United International Housewives' Association.

Those living overseas are being issued with promotional materials from home and asked to talk up the province's products and encourage visitors.

Nopporn said: Before the women were not being honoured by Thai society, because when they went out with foreigners, for the Thai people, it was a kind of shame. But first there is money for the family, and then there is money for the community. This is a benefit for the villages, not a loss.

He had no qualms about where the couples might have met. I will not look at the past of the woman he said. For women, the financial security provided by far wealthier foreign husbands is a major, but not the only, motivation.

Most of the "mia farang" had been married before and cited the "bad habits" of Thai men - principally adultery and drinking - as reasons to wed outsiders.

Farangs live with only one lady. Not butterfly, said Wilawan Kuyper, 36, who held off marriage until meeting her Dutch husband Hans, 50, three years ago.

The couple met in Hong Kong, where both were working, and have now opened a restaurant, Elephant Milk, in Mrs Kuyper's village of Mahasarakhan, in Roi Et. The restaurant employs several of Mrs Kuyper's family.

If you are a European guy and you marry a woman in Asia there is always an expectation that you will help the family, said Mr Kuyper, pointing out that ties and obligations spread further and deeper than in Western societies with their emphasis on the nuclear family. But if it's just about sex and money it won't last.

From the Phuket Gazette spotted on ThaiVisa.com

A Phuket Immigration official has confirmed that new financial requirements for one-year extensions to stay in Thailand on the basis of being married to a Thai or being the legal guardian of a Thai child will apply to both first-time applications and to renewals.

Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen, the Deputy of Inspector of Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO), told the Gazette, The current minimum requirement is proof of 200,000 baht deposited in a Thai bank account or an income of 20,000 baht a month. That will double on July 10 to either 400,000 baht in an account or an income of 40,000 baht a month for a one-year ‘marriage’ or ‘guardianship’ extension.

He stressed that applicants may not “mix” the two systems – applications must be made either on the basis of bank deposits or on the basis of income.

The new thresholds were announced in September last year but there has been some confusion about whether existing extension-holders would be allowed to apply using the old financial requirements, as has been the case with those living for many years in Thailand on retirement visa extensions.

Capt Krissarat was crystal-clear, however, on this point. This applies not only to first-time applicants but also to renewals. People who previously had to show 200,000 baht in a bank account, however long they have been here, will have to increase the amount to 400,000 baht. This will apply to all applications submitted on or after July 10.

He explained the reasons behind the increase: Other government departments complained that Immigration was making it too easy for foreigners to stay in Thailand long-term. I don’t think that the higher thresholds will result in a decrease in the hundreds of people living in Phuket on this status. It’s a fair and transparent system. We found many people were trying to stay in Thailand on small amounts of money, or with suspect sources of funds.

He added that all documentation will be checked carefully because we found some people had persuaded friends to transfer funds into their accounts temporarily so that they appeared to have the required amount to qualify. Then, three days later, the money would disappear again from the account. We don’t want this to happen. Applicants will find the process goes more smoothly if they can supply documents [such as pension records] showing us where their money comes from. I don’t think it will be difficult for innocent people, who have legitimate and sufficient sources of income, to meet the new requirements.

But, he warned, If people show us only details of their bank account in Thailand, we are more likely to check carefully with the bank and interview them in much greater depth. In the case of renewals, we will check the documents against those from the previous extension applications. He reminded holders of one-year extensions that they should apply one month before the expiry date of their existing visas or extensions, and that all those holding extensions must report to Immigration every 90 days.

From June 1, he added, those who do not report on time will be fined. Receipts showing that fines have been paid must be included among the documents submitted with applications for one-year extensions.

Asked how long funds must remain in a bank account before or after application, he replied, We cannot tell people how long they must leave money in their account. But we believe that if they can afford to live here, then keeping 400,000 baht in an account should not be a problem.

He concluded, We are just doing our job, keeping the country safe from the bad foreigners. That’s why we have had to introduce this new requirement, to ward off problems created by such people.