Thailand Properties Information, Own property in Thailand, Foreign ownership of Thailand properties

By law, land in Thailand can only be titled to a Thai citizen, but foreigners can legally own property in their own names by way of a 30 year lease that is legal and registered with the Thai government at the local Land Office. It can be renewed for an additional 30 years upon expiration of the first lease. Foreigners can also purchase condo's in their name if that's your thing but they are usually 3-10 times more than the average townhouse or home and condo's are only available in Bangkok and some of the largest cities in Thailand. If you want to be in a nice area and live permanently in Thailand, then you have to consider a townhouse or single home.

Some lawyers in the bigger cities offer services for foreigners to purchase property in their name by way of leases and you may wish to contact one if you would like to live in other parts of Thailand.

Lawyers have been advertising to setup a company for foreigners so they could purchse land through their company. Thai law states that a foreigner can only own up to 49% of a company and the 51% has to be owned by Thai persons. The lawyers would have the Thai partners sign over voting rights givng the foreigner 100% control. Then the foreigner could purchase land or a home in the company name. That was all fine and many foreigners wishing to reside in Thailand did that.....Until Now!
Read our important article on 'The End of Foreign Home Rights'
This is a must read article for anyone even thinking of moving to Thailand to invest and live.

Vehicles can be purchased by a foreigner in their own name without any problems. I have done this and bought a truck and a motorcycle in my name. All you need to do is have proof of where you live and you can get that from your embassy or the local Thai immigration office. A international drivers license is recognized here and if you hold a non-immigrant visa and have a valid drivers license from your own country you can easily get a Thai drivers license in one day. The first Thai license is good for one year. This is the same for Thais and the license cost is 100 baht, which is about $2.50 USD.