Duensing Kippen Tax and
Law
It is a common misunderstanding that foreigners are per
se restricted from owning land in Thailand. One of the most interesting
exceptions from the restrictions of foreign ownership of land in Thailand
has been enacted for foreigners who bring at least Thai baht forty million
equivalent into Thailand for certain prescribed investments. Such foreigner
may apply for freehold ownership of up to 1,600 square meters of land under
the rules, procedures and conditions prescribed by Section 96(bis) of the
Land Code (as amended by the Land Code Amendment Act No. 8 (1999)) and in
the 2002 Ministerial Regulation issued under the Act.
To apply, a foreigner must submit an application (the
“Foreigner 4 Form”, available at any local land office) together with the
following documents:
(1) A copy of the applicant’s passport;
(2) Evidence of the not less than Thai baht forty million
Prescribed Investment, in any of the following formats:
(a) a letter of investment confirmation from a seller of
bonds of Thai Government, bonds of the Bank of Thailand, bonds of a State
Enterprise or bonds of which the Ministry of Finance secures the capital or
interest; and/or
(b) a letter from the Asset Management Company confirming
that the applicant has invested in a prescribed mutual fund relevant
Securities and Stock Exchange, and law and evidence of investment in such
fund; and/or
(c) evidence showing that the applicant has invested in
the share capital of a juristic person who is granted investment promotion
under the relevant investment promotion law; and/or
(d) evidence of engaging in an activity that is entitled
to investment promotion under the relevant investment promotion law;
(3) Evidence of bringing a foreign currency into
Thailand, or the withdrawal of the money from a foreign currency account or
from a non-resident Thai baht account for the investment (note: evidence of
investment in any one or combination of (1), (2)(a) - (d) and/or (3) may be
provided as long as total amount invested is Thai baht forty million or
more);
(4) A letter of confirmation certifying that the land the
foreigner wishes to own (the “Land”) is located within a prescribed
“residential area” from the relevant authority who oversees town and country
planning where the Land is located;
(5) A letter from the Ministry of Defense or from the
agency concerned, confirming that the Land is not located in a military
safety zone; and
(6) A map showing the location of the Land.
The application documents must be submitted at the
Relevant Land Office which has jurisdiction over the land the foreigner
wishes to own. The decision to grant the permission will then be made by the
authorities delegated such responsibility by the Minister of the Interior.
Any such ownership grant however is subject to the
certain conditions:
(1) the grantee shall maintain the Prescribed Investment
for a continuous period of not less than five years as from the date of
registration of ownership of the Land (the “Investment Period”) and shall
submit evidence of such to the Relevant Land Office once a year, for five
consecutive years.
(2) the grantee shall utilize the land for residential
purposes and in a way that is not contrary to the public interest or local
customs.
(3) the grantee shall inform the Relevant Land Office
within sixty days as from the date of utilization of the land for
residential purposes.
(4) the grantee shall facilitate the Relevant Land Office
in supervising the use of the land to ensure that the utilization is in
accordance the prescribed conditions.
(5) if the grantee withdraws the Prescribed Investment
before the end of the Investment Period, the grantee shall inform the
Relevant Land Office of such withdrawal within sixty days.
(6) if the grantee does not comply with (1) - (5) the
Director General of the Department of Land shall have the power to order the
grantee to dispose of the land within a period of not less than one hundred
eighty days and not more than one year, failing which the Director General
shall have the power to dispose of the land.
(7) the grantee shall utilize the land for residential
purposes within two years as from the date of registration of ownership of
the land. If the grantee does not do so, the Director General shall have the
power to dispose of the Land.
