Pattaya Real Estate

Property Market in Pattaya, Jomtien Beach & Koh Samet

The international status of Pattaya City makes Pattaya an attractive location for many foreigners. Pattaya is a beach resort with city status, with something for everyone. Year round tropical climate, there are international hospitals and schools, shopping malls and supermarkets. Add in the low cost of living in Pattaya, the friendliness, warmth and hospitality of the Thai people, and this makes Pattaya City an extremely popular choice for a secondary home or retirement.

HISTORY

The last decade has seen a massive growth in the number of people, particularly from the West, investing in property overseas. Some buy principally as an investment, while others buy a holiday home; and some a permanent residence, having taken the decision to emigrate. ...(read more)

INVESTMENT

The key tourist areas of Phuket and Koh Samui have seen significant growth in so far as foreign buyers are concerned, as has Bangkok, albeit more typically with expatriates living and working in the Kingdom. However, it is the Pattaya market that has really taken off, particularly over the last five or six years, with purchasers from overseas having accounted for the vast majority of units sold in numerous housing developments and large condominiums....(read more)

BUYING A PROPERTY

When it comes to purchasing a property, there is a massive variety of houses and condominiums, in terms of size, price and quaility, to choose between, which, in general terms, represent outstanding value for money, particularly when compared to the cost of real estate in the Western world...(read more)

FOREIGN OWNERSHIP LAW

In terms of Thai law relating to the ownership of real estate by foreigners, it can sometimes be quite confusing. While an article such as this cannot be a substitute for taking specific legal advice, which one should always do before making a significant financial investment, it is possible to give a broad outline of the way the system works. ...(read more)

OWN, LEASE, MORTGAGE OPTION

The situation with respect to land, and thus owning a house in Thailand is significantly more complicated. The starting point is that, under Thai law, a foreigner may not own a freehold title to land in his or her own name. However, a foreigner may own a leasehold title to land. ...(read more)

COMPANY OWNERSHIP

It is also perfectly legal for a Thai company to own land in Thailand and for up to 49% of such a company to be owned by a foreign shareholder or shareholders. Moreover, such foreign shareholders can have majority voting rights within the company. However, it is illegal for the Thai shareholders in such a company to be nominees, although the questions of what are and what are not nominees and how to prove that a shareholder is a nominee are not ones that are necessarily easy to answer. ...(read more)

PERSONAL EXPERTISE ON REAL ESTATE

Again looking at things on a practical level, I have been advised upon several occasions by various Thai lawyers that, in practice, the authorities are unconcerned with foreigners using the company route to purchase up to one rai of land (1,600 square metres) upon which to have a private residence. Of course that does not come with any form of guarantee and one can properly argue that “policies” such as this are subject to change. However, it is relevant to how much, if any, risk actually exists in using the company route to own a house. ...(read more)

EASY BUT RISKY PROPERTY PURCHASES

Other foreign buyers decide to purchase property in the name of their Thai husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend. Experience tells me that this is certainly the most risky way to buy property in Thailand. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen foreigners lose the full extent of their investment in such circumstances.

The reality is that lots of relationships in places all around the World end every single day, and relationships in Pattaya, for a wide variety of reasons, tend to be especially brittle. ...(read more)

CONCLUSIONS AND CONTACTS

If you have any questions or queries on the above, please feel free to contact me by telephone on 086 145 3395 or by email on

tgladwin@sallmannsthailand.com.

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