With purchase of property usually being one of the most significant decisions an individual can make it is of course wise to be sure of exactly where your money is and how safe it is at all times. This is especially true of purchasing In a foreign country where they will undoubtedly have different customs, culture practices and not to mention laws. Whilst like most countries Thailand is by an large full of wonderful people (probably more so than other countries!) there are of course a small minority that are willing and able to take advantage of other people. It is not uncommon to find people who have lost their entire property investment whilst dealing with what they believed to be reputable companies, usually with down payments completely disappearing.

One point of note here to people new to Thai property laws is that foreigners cannot legally own land in Thailand. One option to get around this is to create a business and make it incorporated this would still require signatures of various Thai people and furthermore the business ownership laws may change also. The second easier option, if you have a long term Thai national as a partner (that is 1000% trustworthy, no that is not a mistake with the extra 0!). They are then able to own the land and you can obtain a long term lease on the dwelling. Whoever lives longer clearly keeps the property.

As in other countries the use of escrow to protect property buyers and sellers can be used but certainly is not always the case. An escrow is a compilation of money or administrative paperwork involved with the purchasing of a property which is held until the completion of the deal. However this is far from the norm and the constantly changing political landscape in the Land of Smiles (Thailand) can make things far from straightforward.

Introducing escrow payments to Thailand has been far from easy. One main reason given for this is the fact that land developers often require the deposits to physically develop the site to start with and also it does appear that they escrow may contradict other longstanding Thai laws. However this would appear to be a short-sighted view as having full escrow laws introduced would clearly increase consumer confidence and lead to more sales long term.

As the continuing demand for apartments, housing and so on in Thailand continues to increase so do the numbers of companies that are willing to take your money and run. So, please be fully aware of what you are going into try and get impartial advice, being in the country and using sources that have been recommended to you by people who have safely and successfully used their services is always a good starting point. This especially true whilst Thai laws, currencies and political landscape continue to fluctuate. Always look after number one.