Transcript of the above video:

We are getting into the whole issue of whether or not these Thai Nominee Companies that have been used to hold land constitute what we would call a "loophole". I did another video on this kind of topic in the past, called out a foreigner here in Thailand who shouldn't have been commenting and dispensing advice on Thai legal matters, especially as it pertains to land. That person, other people, have constantly called this whole practice of nominee structures owning Thai property a "loophole"; it was never a loophole. It was colour of law on a certain level, because it would be affirmatively set up using structures that can be created, but if it's toward an illegal end, that's not a loophole, that's just a violation of the law that hasn't been caught yet.

That said, I wanted to get into this after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, and note that the writer on this is actually the South China Morning Post. So I'm not going to basically hang the albatross if you will around the Bangkok Post's neck for getting this whole terminology wrong. Hey, South China Morning Post, learn the difference. This hasn't ever been a loophole, this isn't a loophole, okay? In the past, due to the fact that there weren't the tools in place to quickly and efficiently basically ascertain what the underlying purpose behind these structures was, just because that didn't exist in the past and people were getting away with something, does not make something a legal loophole. There is a big, big difference. That said, quoting directly, again Bangkok Post  bangkokpost.com, and the writer is South China Morning Post, article titled: Thai property crackdown: Foreign buyers hit pause on villas as nominee loophole closes. Well again it's not a nominee loophole. Nominees have been affirmatively illegal for nearly a quarter of a century in Thailand to the best of my recollection. That said, quoting directly: "Thailand's Crackdown on a loophole that effectively bypasses its restrictions on landownership." It never did that. That's an inaccurate description of what was happening here. It was circumventing Thai Law via a colour of law mechanism that once analyzed, would be deemed illegal, but they did not have the capacity especially on a large scale, to analyze those structures in real time in order to ascertain their illegality and thereby disallow them. And what we are seeing is the aftermath of that by the way. So anybody that was "oh well this, no it changed". No, it was affirmatively on the books. I've been doing these videos forever and people have hated me for it, but it's because I'm telling the truth and when it hits the fan, it's going to be the people that detrimentally relied on people that put them into a bad legal structure that are going to be hurt most for it. It's going to be the public, lay people. So let's get the terminology right South China Morning Post. It is not a loophole, and it wasn't something that allowed bypassing of restrictions. It is an illegal structure; that is why they are being seized; that is why you are seeing detentions. 

Let's quote again: "Thailand's Crackdown on a loophole that effectively bypasses its restrictions on landownership by foreigners, is causing prospective buyers to delay purchase decisions on luxury villas and resort destinations such as Phuket and Koh Samui, according to agents. Bangkok has stepped up its scrutiny of business and property ownership in the country, with the Department of Business Development flagging 11,426 companies on Koh Phangan and Koh Samui where foreigners hold stakes, accounting for nearly 68% of all registered firms on the two islands." Wow! 68% of all registered corporations on the two islands. I've made a video on that, and just how big a deal that is. Quoting further: "which are districts in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani, according to local media reports. The DBD has also identified more than 7,000 businesses suspected of using illegal nominee structures, mainly in the real estate tourism and hospitality sectors. The Crackdown aims to zero in on entities that use a Thai national as a dummy shareholder to comply with the law restricting foreign shareholding to a maximum of 49%. Under such unscrupulous arrangements, the Thai shareholders would claim property ownership on paper but had no tax history to back up the claim. As of early this year, Thai Authorities had prosecuted more than 850 companies for financial damages involving lost revenue of over 15 billion Baht." 

Clearly authorities in Thailand are taking this seriously - I've noted this in other videos - but really the purpose of this video is to reiterate something here. This is not some legal technicality. The illegality of nominees has been clear in black letter law for some time now. Meanwhile, the clear black letter law regarding restriction of foreign nationals from owning property in Thailand has been clearly on the books for quite some time now. Again, just because people got away with something in the past, does not make something a legal loophole. A legal loophole is a legitimate, albeit possibly technical legal posture of something that is in fact affirmatively legal. What we are talking about here was never a loophole. It was just people getting away with something that was affirmatively illegal. So there's a big difference there between those two things. 

I think it's important to point that out especially for folks who in the future may be looking at these types of structures for themselves, and as a result may want further insight and guidance in order to ascertain whether it is something that they want to involve themselves in. Because again, as I'll get into in other videos I will make contemporaneously with this one, there are other structures besides these that will get you what you want, where basically you want to be able to have a house in Thailand for all intents and purposes. There are other ways of doing that, for example just off the top of my head, leases and Usufructs. Superficies as well; bifurcation of title can work - I will talk about that in other videos. 

But long story short, the notion that this whole anti-nominee push is going against something like a "technical loophole" that is very much a misnomer.