One of the most memorable pieces of news in 2009 appeared on 24 August when The Bangkok Post announced that ?Foreigners own 90% of Phuket beach land?. The story created a backlash from Thai?s and expats. Numerous investigations and allegations followed but are we any closer to understanding the law with regard to foreign land ownership?

The Phuket Post interviewed the chief of the Phuket Land Office, Paithoon Lerdkrai, to find out how much or little we actually know.

What do you think of the the current land legislation?

The law was carefully made to be as tight as possible so that it couldn?t be abused, yet still people find ways to dodge and manipulate it. Unfortunately the law can not cover this.

Would you like to see anything changed?

The law cannot be changed that easy, for now I do not see any way to change the law.

Can you explain what is currently happening about the plots currently being investigated?

Before someone purchases land for a company, we check whether it is 100% owned by a Thai company or if foreigners have a share. If there are foreign shareholders we do a background check on them, including details concerning their occupation and income as well as for any Thai business partners that he/she may have. Based on this data we deduce how likely it is that they are nominees.

After the pre-investigation, in March of every year we run annual checks for the companies to check if there has been any transferal of shares since the initial investigation.

I believe there are approximately 1000 companies in Phuket that have nominees. We have investigated about 300 plots this year, yet have yielded no reports of illegal matters yet.

Do you think Thai people and foreign people know enough about the Thai law with regard to property ownership?

I think educated Thai people are aware of the legislation of land and property and the nominees certainly know enough to evade capture.

If properties are found to be illegally owned by foreigners, what is the likely outcome? What will be the punishment for the foreigner and the Thai nominee?

If that land is illegally owned by a foreigner, he will be commanded to sell the land within a given number of days. If he does not, the government will sell it for him. He
will then be given the money. If the foreigner and the nominee is discovered to have acted illegally, they may be sent to jail for up to two years and or fined up to 20,000 baht.

This year there are only 18 real estate projects (2169 plots) that have been registered, which is a 25% decrease on last year?s 25 projects (4264 plots). Condominiums however have
seen a steady increase in number. This is perhaps because foreigners can legally own condos. In 2007 there were three projects and 127 units registered, in 2008 there were 13 projects and 787 units registered and last year also saw a massive increase to 20 projects with 1178 units.

11,038 people have come to us regarding land matters like the transferral of land this past year.

Khun Paithoon also warned those who wished to buy land, housing or condos to make substantial checks in the validity of the property company in which they are buying into. Phuket attorneys, Phuket Real estate organisations, the Phuket land office and all related
organisations are now in a consultation process to try to solve this problem.

Phuket Land Office is located at 36 Damrong Road, Muang, Phuket 83000. Call 076-212 103. Fax 076-212 103