New property law stuns foreigners

[desmond]

Bangkok (dpa) - Thailand's booming property sector has been thrown into confusion by a new regulation issued this month that requires all partly foreign-owned companies to prove the source of their funding before purchasing land, industry sources said Tuesday.

The new Interior Ministry regulation that went into effect on May 25 has already started to slow sales of housing estates in Thailand's popular seaside resorts, such as Pattaya, Phuket, Hua Hin and Samui Island, which have been specifically targeting well-to-do foreigners as vacation getaways or retirement homes.
Thanks
Desmond

[massagelondon]

of course, those who can't prove the origin of their money would be stunned - they would think Thailand is a paradise to launder the black market money same as Spain was (and still to some extend is) to the other Europeans.

if there is a slow down it means that the law was important to implement, was useful. And it is directed to 'property developers' laundering big bucks rather than a pensioner selling off his property in the cold country and moving with the money to a sunny place.

many holidaymakers would buy property in the hot countries not as an investment (or money laundering) but simply as a mean of having a second property to be used by themselves, relatives and friends in a prime tourist spot. For some those holiday homes might be even a source of income from renting out the property - but it's a secondary.