Benjamin, a serial property investor, narrates his first Thai property purchase.
By Benjamin Thang
Owning a piece of Thailand is different from just owning a box of compressed air as in the case of a condominium which foreigners are entitled to buy, subject to 49% maximum foreign ownership quota in a condo development. Foreigners can also own a piece of landed property such as bungalows, villas and terrace houses but can only lease the land for a maximum of 30 years, renewable for another 30 years’ lease upon expiry, if provided for in the Sale & Purchase Agreement (SP A). The maximum renewable term however is 90 years, according to a Thai lawyer I consulted.
Armed with this knowledge, I decided to get myself a decent house or villa at an area close to the beach in Southern Thailand.
It wasn’t difficult at all. The few property websites in English Language had properties that were within my affordability – below 2mil Baht. For that amount, you could get at least I 20metres of land area with built up of up to 200 metres if 2 storeys high.
