As many foundations operate schools, or orphanages the possibility to own land is one of the key questions for them.
Under certain circumstances, a foundation may own property in Thailand. However, if a foundation has objectives that focus particularly or mainly on the benefit of foreigners, it may be deemed to be a foreign entity and may not own land in Thailand, referring to the Land Code, section 94 (4).
The Thai Foreign Business Act (“FBA”), A.D. 1999, prohibits foreigners from engaging in certain business sectors, including most of service businesses, without a Foreign Business License (“FBL”) or Foreign Business Certificate (“FBC”). However, the FBC will be granted swiftly for Americans, in most business areas, because of the US-Thai Amity Treaty of 1966, which gives exclusive rights and benefits to citizens of the USA who wish to establish a business in Thailand.
1. TM30 FORM
The TM30 form is an obligation for any house owner, possessor of a dwelling place or a hotel manager (“Hosts”) to declare a foreigner residing on his property (“Guest”) within 24 hours. This notification of residence, resulting from Section 38 of the Immigration Act (2522 B.E-1979) is now strictly imposed.
The Thai Land Code stipulates that – apart from a few exemptions – foreigners are not permitted to own land in Thailand. Many foreigners seeking to buy immovable property in Thailand, therefore, chose legal structures like leasehold, usufruct, or ownership of the property by a Thai company, to mitigate the restrictions. However, these legal structures have weaknesses and, if not set up properly, may even involve legal risks. To encourage foreigners to invest in property in Thailand, the Thai National Legislative Assembly on February 8th, 2019, passed the Sap-Ing-Sith Act. The Sap-Ing-Sith Act was published in the Royal Gazette on April 26th, 2019 and will come into effect on October 27th, 2019. The new law is aiming to encourage foreigners to invest in immovable property to boost the economy in Thailand. Requirements, as well as the rights and obligations of the Sap-Ing-Sith, are as follows:
In 2015, the Court of Appeal for Specialized Cases was authorized by the Establishment of the Court of Appeal for Specialized Cases Act B.E. 2558 to try and decide cases appealed from specialized courts. The adjudication process involves a forum of judges with specific knowledge and expertise in each area and will create uniformity in the appellate adjudication.
In previous posts, we have elaborated on the importance of preparing a will if you live in or own assets in Thailand.
One of the essential parts of such a will is the appointment of an administrator of the estate who has to manage all matters regarding the estate. The administrator can be appointed by will or by Court order under Section 1711 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code (“CCC”). The administrator is required to be a person of sui juris, which means a person with the age of 20 years or older, not of unsound mind or not adjudged quasi-incompetent, and not adjudged bankrupt by the court.
FRANK Legal & Tax hosted a seminar on BOI Promotion for Tech Startups, attended by a full house of businesspeople working in the tech and digital sectors in Bangkok.
The event provided an opportunity to explore BOI promotion related to the tech industry in Thailand and gave insights into the various BOI categories that are relevant to IT, software development and tech business.
Thailand’s hotel industry is one of the major economic sectors in the Kingdom, with more than 38 Million Tourists visiting Thailand in 2019. But still, a vast number of these accommodations is operated without licenses, or in violation of the law.
With the ministerial regulation by the Ministry of Commerce of June 25th, 2019, the following services provided by foreign-owned companies, to affiliated companies, are excluded from the obligation to obtain a Foreign Business License according to Schedule Three (21) of the Foreign Business Act.
The house registration book, “tabien baan”, is the official house or apartment address and resident registration booklet. The house registration book includes the personal information of the persons having their domicile or legal residence at the house or condominium unit in Thailand.
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