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Crackdown on Phuket condo owners confirmed


webfact

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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

You can still rent out a condo monthly, just not daily.

Given that farang cannot own more than 49% of any condo block, Not sure were the 90% comes from.

you are correct about the 49 51% rule however in Phuket they have circumvented this by the 51 % being bought in a thai company name or leased instead of freehold when I say 90% farang owned I am refering to Phuket only some maybe in girlfriends name etc but in the end its farang money that purchased the property.

Its not only phuket, thai company or girlfriend ownership is all over thailand. In Phuket its mainly Russians isnt it ?

No matter the ownership, All condos "can" be rented out monthly, and the rental return is often very good, 5%-10% return on purchase price.

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Been going on for years. Wonder why the crackdown now?

Many wrongs have been going on for years and even decades that past elected governments did not fix.

But this government has started fixing issues since two years ago.

Fixing issues that are more in their and other hiso's interests you mean?

No it's very much in the interests of condo owning farangs not to have their homes used as a cheap rate hotel.

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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

You can still rent out a condo monthly, just not daily.

Given that farang cannot own more than 49% of any condo block, Not sure were the 90% comes from.

you are correct about the 49 51% rule however in Phuket they have circumvented this by the 51 % being bought in a thai company name or leased instead of freehold when I say 90% farang owned I am refering to Phuket only some maybe in girlfriends name etc but in the end its farang money that purchased the property.

Its not only phuket, thai company or girlfriend ownership is all over thailand. In Phuket its mainly Russians isnt it ?

No matter the ownership, All condos "can" be rented out monthly, and the rental return is often very good, 5%-10% return on purchase price.

I suppose you could rent the property out for a month even if the customer only stays there for 2 weeks I suppose the contract is important not the price
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I had this idea of renting a few condos in Bangkok on AirBnB.

I went to see a few nice condos and before I entered to inquire about the price there was a notice from the management at the front door warning potential AirBnB "guests" that this is a condo and not a hotel and by Thai law guests and owners could be fined, arrested and prosecuted by entering the premises illegally.

Yes, a bit harsh, but then again if I bought myself a condo to live in, I wouldn't want different bums making noise and using the facilities I paid for.

So, bring on the crackdown.

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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

Seeing as a condo building can only be 49% owned by foreigners, your 90% claim sounds like a bit of an exaggeration.

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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

I believe the foreign quota is 49%. Are you suggesting further crackdowns?

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I had this idea of renting a few condos in Bangkok on AirBnB.

I went to see a few nice condos and before I entered to inquire about the price there was a notice from the management at the front door warning potential AirBnB "guests" that this is a condo and not a hotel and by Thai law guests and owners could be fined, arrested and prosecuted by entering the premises illegally.

Yes, a bit harsh, but then again if I bought myself a condo to live in, I wouldn't want different bums making noise and using the facilities I paid for.

So, bring on the crackdown.

I have heard stories of the police going door to door in Bangkok condos checking if the people are renting and how long for etc great if you are on holiday and get arrested or fined
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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

agree with you there. renting out property is one of the few ways of making an income in thailand. i bought 2 houses and chopped them into apartments to rent out short term. what a head ache. then tried monthly rental, slightly better but still not worth the small returns. sold up in the end and now only buy property back in nz. management company does the work for me and i get my rents out of my atm card here in thailand. not sure if this crack down will really make much difference here however as it will most probably be short lived.

What you mention, is exactly what they are trying to stop. Dividing a house into rooms and doing short term rentals.

A 1m baht condo can be rented for 10k a month. thats well over a 10% return.

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Been going on for years. Wonder why the crackdown now?

Many wrongs have been going on for years and even decades that past elected governments did not fix.

But this government has started fixing issues since two years ago.

This is not a government. Its a military junta. This country is still under military rule.

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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

You can still rent out a condo monthly, just not daily.

Given that farang cannot own more than 49% of any condo block, Not sure were the 90% comes from.

you are correct about the 49 51% rule however in Phuket they have circumvented this by the 51 % being bought in a thai company name or leased instead of freehold when I say 90% farang owned I am refering to Phuket only some maybe in girlfriends name etc but in the end its farang money that purchased the property.

Its not only phuket, thai company or girlfriend ownership is all over thailand. In Phuket its mainly Russians isnt it ?

No matter the ownership, All condos "can" be rented out monthly, and the rental return is often very good, 5%-10% return on purchase price.

that is if you can rent it out. Have a friend who has a house and condo which he rents out, both vacant for months now.
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So, bring on the crackdown.

I have heard stories of the police going door to door in Bangkok condos checking if the people are renting and how long for etc great if you are on holiday and get arrested or fined

I'm not saying it hasn't happened. It may even be real police, and not some fake scamsters.

But without a link to a published story, I believe about 25% of the stories I hear making the rounds in Thailand. And I don't claim to know which 25%...

Still, I'd be reluctant to believe the popo are arresting and fining the guests themselves. Unless they're doing something else to draw scrutiny, like brewing up meth, printing up credit cards, or experimenting with explosives. Plenty of those stories can be searched up.

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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

You can still rent out a condo monthly, just not daily.

Given that farang cannot own more than 49% of any condo block, Not sure were the 90% comes from.

you are correct about the 49 51% rule however in Phuket they have circumvented this by the 51 % being bought in a thai company name or leased instead of freehold when I say 90% farang owned I am refering to Phuket only some maybe in girlfriends name etc but in the end its farang money that purchased the property.

Its not only phuket, thai company or girlfriend ownership is all over thailand. In Phuket its mainly Russians isnt it ?

No matter the ownership, All condos "can" be rented out monthly, and the rental return is often very good, 5%-10% return on purchase price.

that is if you can rent it out. Have a friend who has a house and condo which he rents out, both vacant for months now.
your correct this enforcement leaves an already shallow market dry.
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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

My understanding was that it does not stop you renting it only means you need to be properly licensed. That means the renters will need to actually pay taxes and follow safety regulations.

Happy days! But that is a multi barbed hook in Thailand if one looks at another official procedure. Firstly, the second you raise your hand to do the right thing and register will be the day you are investigated and your application rejected for any number of reasons (invented if need be) placing you squarely in their cross hairs and now sitting with a property that is neither saleable (virtually nothing is in Phuket) and now not able to generate any form of income from the dead weight hanging around your shoulders. If they clarified for people what was needed and made the process fair open and completely transparent I am sure many many owners would be more than happy to comply. However as many have already guessed, this is not about that, its about shutting these units down so that Hotels have free reign to charge what they like to guests without any form of competition. I would love to here from anyone who has been able to successfully register their units as a Hotel and the process and costs involved.

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The 49/51 percent Thai ruling is not always accurate as the Thai 51 percent ratio has many Thai company owned units where both the condo unit and the company that owns it are controlled by foreign people. I welcome the enforcement of this law that protects residential condo owners from short time renters.

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This comes up every other year. Next will be that farangs who purhased a home with a thai company will lose them. Then all the guys who cant afford to buy one will write I would never buy a house here. Followed by zillions of questions by guys wanting info on setting up Thai companies to buy a house.......The never ending cycles.

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This comes up every other year. Next will be that farangs who purhased a home with a thai company will lose them. Then all the guys who cant afford to buy one will write I would never buy a house here. Followed by zillions of questions by guys wanting info on setting up Thai companies to buy a house.......The never ending cycles.

Good point about the full circle.

Given the multitude of news articles about Thai people losing their investment to dodgy land papers and fake titles (not to mention the Drummond blogs about shady foreign land swindlers that put the Thai swindlers to shame), I've come to believe that the Thai law preventing foreigners from owning the controlling interest in land is a kindness that has probably saved expats $$ billions in snookering.

I've even toyed with the idea of buying a condo or 3 to rent to tourists through AirBNB. Not any more...

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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

I don't think this applies to single owners doing a 3 month sublet for instance.

It says "on a daily basis", which implies hotel type rentals to suit a short term changing clientele.

A company with a single unit and 3 or 6 month occupancy by the owner, subletting long tern to others

is not a daily rate rental such as a hotel, but a sublet.

Of course this could be interpreted by the officer on the ground as he sees fit,

depending one if he likes or dislikes the owner, or how much their tip is.

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This comes up every other year. Next will be that farangs who purhased a home with a thai company will lose them. Then all the guys who cant afford to buy one will write I would never buy a house here. Followed by zillions of questions by guys wanting info on setting up Thai companies to buy a house.......The never ending cycles.

Good point about the full circle.

Given the multitude of news articles about Thai people losing their investment to dodgy land papers and fake titles (not to mention the Drummond blogs about shady foreign land swindlers that put the Thai swindlers to shame), I've come to believe that the Thai law preventing foreigners from owning the controlling interest in land is a kindness that has probably saved expats $$ billions in snookering.

I've even toyed with the idea of buying a condo or 3 to rent to tourists through AirBNB. Not any more...

As I have mentioned before the so called government needs to change the law so that the lawyers who most people take there advise from are made responsible for their legal advise. The lawyers not only promote the waus to get around the law but actually make money setting up these Thai companies. Make the lawyers pay with imprisonment for advising people how to break the law and actually promoting it then you will see that this will stop investors having a false sense of security. And maybe change the law so that foreigners can get 99 year leases or min 50 so the law is clear and there is no need to try all these illegal methods. This would also stimulate the property market giving safety to investors.
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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

"90% of condo owners are Farangs"blink.png

Impossible otherwise 90% of most condo buildings would mathematically be owned by farangs, the law does not allow it smile.png

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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

"90% of condo owners are Farangs"blink.png

Impossible otherwise 90% of most condo buildings would mathematically be owned by farangs, the law does not allow it smile.png

please read the other threads then you will understand exactly how this is not only possible but factual with regards to Phuket tourist areas maybe not so much in Phuket town
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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

"90% of condo owners are Farangs"blink.png

Impossible otherwise 90% of most condo buildings would mathematically be owned by farangs, the law does not allow it smile.png

please read the other threads then you will understand exactly how this is not only possible but factual with regards to Phuket tourist areas maybe not so much in Phuket town

Sorry, not correct. Your statement is far from factual.

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I would love to here from anyone who has been able to successfully register their units as a Hotel and the process and costs involved.

About 6 months ago, all 'known' owners of short-rental condos, guesthouses and small hotels were invited to a meeting at Thalang Amphur offices to discuss this requirement - that all such properties be properly registered as hotels.

There were more than 50 owners present, but only myself and 1 other guy as non-Thais.

Many of the property owners admitted to renting out condos on Airbnb.

The Amphur explained that they would help everyone to correctly register their property as a hotel,and to upgrade the old guesthouse licences to a hotel licence.

For my property, I submitted a few documents to upgrade from guesthouse to hotel, and this process was managed efficiently by both the Amphur and local OrBorTor offices.

To date, they have not asked me to pay 1 baht for this admin work :)

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I would love to here from anyone who has been able to successfully register their units as a Hotel and the process and costs involved.

About 6 months ago, all 'known' owners of short-rental condos, guesthouses and small hotels were invited to a meeting at Thalang Amphur offices to discuss this requirement - that all such properties be properly registered as hotels.

There were more than 50 owners present, but only myself and 1 other guy as non-Thais.

Many of the property owners admitted to renting out condos on Airbnb.

The Amphur explained that they would help everyone to correctly register their property as a hotel,and to upgrade the old guesthouse licences to a hotel licence.

For my property, I submitted a few documents to upgrade from guesthouse to hotel, and this process was managed efficiently by both the Amphur and local OrBorTor offices.

To date, they have not asked me to pay 1 baht for this admin work :)

was your property a guesthouse or a condo??? Do you own the freehold or is it leasehold or does it not make a difference.
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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

"90% of condo owners are Farangs"blink.png

Impossible otherwise 90% of most condo buildings would mathematically be owned by farangs, the law does not allow it smile.png

please read the other threads then you will understand exactly how this is not only possible but factual with regards to Phuket tourist areas maybe not so much in Phuket town

So only 10% of Thai people are condo owner? If you say so! To be honest being not a condo owner my self I do not care, but it would means 40% of condos would be owned by farangs through Thai companies?

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Its not only phuket, thai company or girlfriend ownership is all over thailand. In Phuket its mainly Russians isnt it ?

No matter the ownership, All condos "can" be rented out monthly, and the rental return is often very good, 5%-10% return on purchase price.

Not a chance of 10% return. 5% would be more realistic IF good occupancy. Right now occupancy is terrible here in many parts of Phuket.

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This is another nail in the coffin of the Thai property market. Most people who buy condos in Phuket buy for investment purposes if you are not allowed to rent them out why would you buy. Lets face it 90 percent of condo owners are farang so its just another slap on the face for farangs.

"90% of condo owners are Farangs"blink.png

Impossible otherwise 90% of most condo buildings would mathematically be owned by farangs, the law does not allow it smile.png

please read the other threads then you will understand exactly how this is not only possible but factual with regards to Phuket tourist areas maybe not so much in Phuket town

So only 10% of Thai people are condo owner? If you say so! To be honest being not a condo owner my self I do not care, but it would means 40% of condos would be owned by farangs through Thai companies?
ok let me clarify I have been in the Phuket property market for 15 years nearly all developers who build in the tourist areas target only foreigners in 15 years the only Thais that I have sold to are spouse or girlfriends of foreigners. Thai people of course buy condos but mainly in town or they buy houses normally not beach front villas there are exceptions of course. If I am not mistaken a year or two ago there was a statement from the Phuket government that suggested that the majority of phuket land / property near to or on the beach was directly or in directly in the hands of foreigners I am not sure if this is true or not but it would not surprise me. If the market was Thai driven then why is the market so flat at the moment.
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