Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing changes to the land and building tax in Thailand. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Thai hoteliers say 'inflexible' land tax a burden. Quoting directly: "The robust tourism outlook anticipated for Thailand's upcoming high season is insufficient to offset the 7% contraction in foreign arrivals so far this year, says the Thai Hotels Association." Quoting further: "Many hotels failed to make a profit during the low season but they cannot temporarily close as they need a steady revenue stream to cover fixed costs such as the Land and Buildings Tax, THA President Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun said on Wednesday. Quote: "For any law, it's normal to have a revision after a certain period," he said.” Quote: "The current land tax has already proved to be inflexible in the face of changing conditions compared to the previous Household and Land Tax." Previously, hotels paid tax based on their revenue, but the current land tax requires them to pay a fixed rate based on the land appraisal value. Quoting further: "Mr Thienprasit said bringing back the Household and Land tax might not be necessary, instead, he suggested, the Ministry of Finance should consider a hybrid structure, tapping the strengths of both the old and current tax systems to help operators survive during difficult times."

Yeah, for anybody who has watched this channel with any frequency, you know I'm not a big fan of tax to begin with, so I’m not so sure if old and new combined is going to be good for much of anybody. But that being said, I suspect, especially with the state of the Tourism Sector that we have seen throughout this past low season, I have kind of speculated that I think based on the prevailing circumstances of the economies of the world plus things that have happened here in Thailand, most notably, frankly the last Government's efforts against Cannabis which I think kind of put a damper on the demand for the tourists that were coming in regarding that. That said, I made a video contemporaneously with this one where I get into that in more detail. Long story short, I think that's going to be reversed especially under this new Prime Minister. 

That being said, the point of this video is we could see a revision of the tax laws pertaining to land and buildings. If that was to occur, it could have an impact not only on folks who own commercial property, which isn't going to have a big impact on the foreign community, but it could have a major impact on the foreign community who own condos here in Thailand. As we have discussed in other videos it is possible for foreigners to own condos in Freehold or what we call Fee Simple Absolute in the American Common Law vernacular, or what the Thais call Chanote Title, they can own it outright. If there was a major change to the tax code here in Thailand regarding land and buildings, there could be some upshot benefits to the foreign community especially as it pertains to those who own condos. That being said, we will certainly be keeping people updated on this channel as the situation evolves.