Foreign ownership of land in Phuket,Thailand

Thai Land Law does not allow outright ownership of land by foreign nationals. Phuket, a well-known Thailand tourist destination, is facing a problem of acquiring land by foreigners. The objective of this study was to compile data on ownership of land by foreigners in Phuket areas and explore the types of ownership through which the land had been acquired. The purpose of this study was also to assess the nature of the problems of foreigners owning immovable properties in Phuket, and the impacts could further make appropriate recommendations. There were two types of foreign ownership of land in Phuket. The first type was legal ownership of immovable properties by foreigners, and the second were the cases that foreigners took advantage of the loopholes of the law to acquire but in fact owned and utilized land mostly in scenic beaches by using Thais as nominees. These nominees could either be their spouse, or employees of corporate bodies or legal entities. In some cases, nominees were actually employees of law firms which assisted foreigners to register as a Thai corporate body. However, the impact of foreigners owning immobile properties in Phuket can be both positive and negative. On the positive side, the local economies actually benefited foreigners owning immobile properties as this led to increasing economic growth and land utilization. The negative impacts on the other hand were mainly the loss of revenue of local governments from local taxes and duties, including land price distortion. Another negative dimension was the difficulties of the public sector to control the negative environmental impacts. From the economic perspective, the feasibility of declaring areas where there is a high concentration of foreigners owning immobile properties as special area should be explored. Finally, the establishment of a ＂governing council＂ to control and develop conditions to protect the environment and reduce the impact to communities as part of the package of investment promotion should also be considered.