Retiring to Thailand.....

I've been retired here for 7 years, and I don't know how you buy businesses or such. I only know that the shippers stole an expensive motorcycle when I first arrived, and I couldn't find anyone to help me. Thailand will eventually get all of my assets and income, because the states posed far worse problems for me, and at age 64, even with 8 years university and grad school with a 4.00 gpa, I'd never find a decent job or friend.

So, you tell me.

The best advice is do not invest money in Thailand that you can not afford to lose.

Perhaps link below will help you find information you need.

http://www.samuiforsale.com/

Hi Straydog, I got this email today from a property agency in Thailand, what do you think?

Hello Rhonn & thank you for your enquiry,

You don't need to marry a Thai national to purchase property in Thailand, the safer option & most commonly used is for you to set up a Thai limited company, your the owner/director of the company & you purchase the land & property through the company. 

Please see below details of Foreign ownership in Thailand:-

1. Foreign ownership in a condominium
If a project is residential (and generally in a town or city) the developers can apply for a condominium licence. This licence allows 49% of the units in the development to be sold on a freehold basis to foreigners, and the other 51% of the units in the development must be "Thai owned". “Thai Owned” can mean either these 51% of the units are owned by Thai individuals or that they are owned by Thai entities – such as a Thai Limited Company (see next point!). Sometimes developers charge a premium to foreign clients who buy condominium freehold as only 49% of the units can be purchased this way so they are considered as being “more valuable”. 

2. Foreign ownership via a Thai Limited Company
Foreigners can set up and control Thai Limited Companies legally and have been using Thai Limited Companies as vehicles for buying, owning and selling land or property for years and years successfully. The Thai Limited Company belonging to the foreigner purchases the land or property and when he/she comes to sell, usually he or she simply sells the company lock, stock and barrel to the new owner. Selling the company (which owns the land or property) also means property transfer tax is avoided it becomes a company sale rather than a property sale so the actual property title does not need to be transferred – thus no need to pay any transfer taxes!
With this method of ownership there are some additional costs, such as 500 GBPs (approx) for setting the company up, and approx 200 GBPs per year for administering the company (end of year accounts etc).

3. Leasehold Ownership
The third method of ownership for foreigners in Thailand is Leasehold . Leasehold ownership is legally bullet proof, plus the foreigner doesn’t bear any holding costs at all, once the lease is executed.  The leasehold term in Thailand is 30 years, and so developers divide up the cost of the property by 4 and the contract should state that the foreigner is buying 4 x 30 year lease terms as this gives a total of 120 years unequivocal ownership.

For example, if a property is costing $100k usd, in the leasehold contract, that $25k is the total consideration against 4 x 30 year lease terms – so the foreigner in theory is paying in advance for the 4 x 30 year lease terms up front.

After the 120 years is up, the foreigner may then still continue to renew the lease, provided that the irrevocable option of renewal was present in the original leasehold contract.

Hmmm, that helps me, though I don't know what a GBP is. Can anyone explain the yellow book, what that is and what it means. I have one, it settles residence questions, not sure what else it's good for.

FYI - 'New draconian laws to DEPORT foreigners who own land illegally'.

http://seattle99.wordpress.com/2012/06/ … illegally/

Rhonn its up to each individual the level of risk he is willing to take.  For me that is owning a condo that can be registered in my name and nothing else.

Your questions remind me of a book written by a professor from one of the US Ivy League schools back in the 1950's.  I cannot quote what he said exactly but it was something like . . . If you go into business with a Thai and there is money to be lost it will not be the Thai that loses.

In reference to info sent by property agency I would be very careful and make sure you fully understand all aspects of any deal you might be considering.

Again I refer you to website below because it seems to be the best for providing useful info I have found.  Please take the time to read through that website.

http://www.samuiforsale.com/

Remember that many people in Thailand with something to sell will tell you whatever is necessary to make a sale.

GBP stands for Great Britain Pound.

The yellow book is for foreigners and like you said shows your place of residence.

Take a look at this site  http://www.thailawonline.com/en/propert … -blue.html   and you will know what I know.

Not too much advice, but a few things. Not having a circle of reliable friends when I arrived (in a foreign country), I was quickly pegged by vultures, I lost about $10,000 needlessly simply because I couldn't speak Thai and maneuver out of trouble - the issue was not having a permanent visa and a shipment of personal effects, even though that was easily fixed by a border crossing, but I wasn't able to get that done, yeah, I know, why not. I wouldn't come here again unless I did the permanent visa first, and I'd be sure to get that before I came the next time unless I had good friends to help me out. The second item, of course, is having reliable friends. For me, it's important that I personally met Christ in 1981. To most people, this is that old religious nonsense, but you'd be better off listening to those who tell you that the born again experience is vivid and literal, not the adoption of a set of beliefs. Aside from that, owning or even patronizing a bar would be a bad choice in my view. There's no end of trouble where alcohol is found, and nobody there ends well, but of course, you can't tell anybody anything. In the states, my life and job was overrun with perverts, alcoholics, drug users and generally people of low achievement but fixed in self delusion and often malicious intent. By retiring, I'm able to distance myself from those miseries, and in Thailand it's easier for me to find people with common interests and ambitions. I'm 64 now, too, not a young age, and not being retired is not exactly an option for some of us, yet, of course, retirement isn't an option without a pension for support. I'm just sharing my own views, of course. People will do what they will. Eventually, I remarried in Thailand to a fine lady of considerable social prestige, which also ensured an end to former troubles, though marriage can bring about new and more serious problems for those unlucky enough to have made a bad choice. I wasn't aware beforehand that Thailand was blessed with such adorable and available women. I strongly disapprove of those who see any opportunity in that, but like the very beautiful places to go and see, these are things to appreciate about Thailand.