Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing "loopholes" for foreigners using Thai companies to own land. And let me just preface this by saying yeah, there aren't really loopholes, so let's get into this. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Nominee structures thrust into the spotlight. Quoting directly: "the recent Crackdown on alleged nominee structures linked to foreign land ownership on Koh Phangan has reignited debate over long-standing concerns in Thailand's property sector particularly in resort destinations popular with overseas buyers. Quote: "Several legal structures, loopholes and informal arrangements have existed for years in markets such as Phuket, Pattaya, Samui and Bangkok, often involving both foreign investors and Thai facilitators." 

Yeah, that's where I sort of take issue on this. Loopholes and the notion of legal structures - as we have discussed - there are narrow circumstances where corporate structures can own a company and a foreigner can be involved in them, but they are few and far between quite frankly. And the vast majority of these structures that many people have been set up with are not in line with Thai Law. And also, there is a major conflation and misunderstanding between the notion of a loophole and simple colour of law, frankly illegality. So it's not a loophole that one manages because it sort of happened sort of backwards: form a company - oftentimes it's all Thai; buy a piece of property, then add the foreigners later so that they are not scrutinized at the outset and then that person just sort of goes on down the road. That's not a loophole. I've discussed this in other videos, and I've discussed foreign nationals in Thailand talking about this stuff - inappropriately by the way - but the long story short of it is, and I remember going back into 2010-2011, there was an article in Bangkok Post at the time where they were talking about a special investigator had come in the Land Department. They were looking at corporate structures; they were looking at dissolving corporate structures, seizing land. Again that's possible; that remains possible. It has never been a loophole in Thailand that anybody can just buy a company and then use that company or own 49% of a company and then use that company to buy up whatever land they want. It has always been at best a workaround in certain narrow circumstances - again mostly under what I call the husband/wife shop house model, where you have got a husband and wife running a business. The husband, usually a foreigner, is on there for 49%. The wife is on there for 51%, and they are using the actual property to do business on. That is a pretty good example of one of the structures that over the years we have seen here in the office. When it is looked at the inspectors and things say, "yeah, yeah, we get what's going on there" and that fits within the appropriate parameters. That's not always the case though, by the way. It's fact dependent, circumstantially dependent, so again you need to kind of be aware of what's going on. 

Again, for those who get confused by this stuff and I understand how confusing it can be, if you are seriously looking at owning property in Thailand or trying to buy property or trying to get usage of property in Thailand, it is probably a good idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.