Effective from September, foreigners will be able to buy up to 0.16 hectares of land in Thailand for residential purposes if they meet certain requirements, said Government Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana today (Friday).
Land ownership in Thailand by foreigners is intended to attract pensioners, the wealthy, foreigners who want to work from Thailand and specialists who want to work in the country, he said.
Basic requirements include a minimum investment of 40 million baht for at least three years in businesses in the kingdom or in an Infrastructure Fund in accordance with the Trust for Transactions in Capital Market Act B.E. 2550 (2007).
Thanakorn said that the Land Department is in the process of drafting guidelines and regulations pertaining to land ownership by foreigners, which are expected to be ready before September.
He also said that the government hopes that this measure will increase the number of foreigners owning residences in Thailand to about one million, which will increase foreign investment by about 800 billion baht and land tax revenue by about 270 billion baht.
Regarding the transaction fees for land or a condominiums worth not over three million baht, which has been cut from 2% to 0.01% since January 18th, Thanakorn explained that this reduction is only applicable to Thai citizens.
