Foreigners have been buying land in Thailand for decades by using nominees or proxies. Colloquial evidence suggests that these nominees are wives, girl friends or relationship partners. Generally, that has been considered a safe approach .. assuming the relationship will stay intact.
Problems surface when, for any number of reasons, the relationships
break down. While courts have made favorable rulings in favor
of a foreign spouse, the court decisions usually call for the
sale and division of monies. But one problem is that too
many foreigners had not done their due-diligence and/or properly
documented their expenditures relating to the property.
Recent comments made by the head of the Land Department point
out the dangers of using nominees
Land Department director Anuwat Meteewiboonwut, on a recent inspection tour to Phuket.
"If the Thai spouse has enough money to buy the house that
is fine, but if the Thai has no money and uses money given to
him or her by a foreigner to acquire property, that is against
the law. If we check and find out later that a Thai person
has been using money from a foreigner to buy land anywhere in
Thailand, we will revoke title deeds," Anuwat was quoted as saying in the Phuket Gazette
newspaper.
If you note the use of "a Thai person", you may
see that the concept applies to men as well as women. Those
could be persons in relationships, friends, etc. I have been
told on good authority that any use
of nominee to buy land is illegal.
Can the land department check all the records? Probably
not. The easiest to check would seem to be Thai women with
western family-names. Can your wife or girl friend pass
the financial resources tests?
If you want to risk getting caught in this issue, try flying under the radar.
