Yes, bought villa in Phuket. You are correct as such about the land issue. You can own the building on the land and lease the land for 30 years. There has been a lot of media coverage about this recently, the law has not changed, they are making sure everybody is following the rules. Whatever you buy you need a good lawyer who can explain how you can protect your investment. With condos, farangs can own 49% of them although how this works if you want to sell in the future I'm not sure. You might have to sell to a thai. Again use a lawyer, Sunbelt Asia seem to be the best in Bangkok and other areas such as Chaing Mai. If you want to rent it out make sure you pick a popular tourist area or one that will attract farang long term contracts. Apartments are very popular in Phuket at the moment, there is a lot of development especially on the east coast.

We found buying there not especially difficult, lawyers jargon goes over your head sometimes but we bought a resale property on finished development so worked on basis that number of other people had checked everything already before we did so if conned we'd have company!

For the future keep your eye on Vietnam or for safer bet with less travel Dubai, especially for a long term investment.

It does seem at the moment that any country beside the UK or US that Brits buy in seem to have property problems. Perhaps somebody does not want the money leaving!!

With condos, farangs can own 49% of them although how this works if you want to sell in the future I'm not sure

I hadn't thought of that!
Thanks for the advice Deb
(having not long returned from Vietnam there is definitely huge potential there)

Fiona are you rich? you seem to be interested in investing in a lot of places, a few weeks ago you were looking at Lithuania and now Thailand. Or do you just start the topics to create interest? Deb (above) seems to own a lot of properties all over the globe too

No Jacky
I am not rich! Just pension planning! As a matter of interest- we have now put down a deposit in a Vilnius apartment. We can't afford anything else immediately but like to plan ahead and keep tabs on the markets.( We have returns coming to us shortly from a couple of other investments we made so you never know......)

Fiona

Know someone selling very nice villa in Phuket!! As you say lot of people buying property as pension, makes life much more interesting. If you are doing it for that reason I would recommend at least one property in Dubai, a long term rental one, you are paid the years rent beforehand (no refunds if they leave) and no tax, returns are running at approx 10% of purchase price dependant on where it is.

Deb
I was put off Dubai with stories of so much development that people were not renting out easily.I did not therefore investigate further. By that time I had decided on looking at emerging markets where the outlay is small compared to other places and so I could "split" my investment in more than one country. I think Thailand would be interesting next but just not too sure yet. Also, I have land banked in Brazil which is about to give me a 200% profit so really I should be looking there for property as well. Just one problem- no money!!!!

Fiona events this week have demonstrated one of the things to look for in any country you may considder investing in. Do they have a stable political set up?? I am not saying this Thailand coup is going to be bad and dare say could have been a lot worse. But any country where you are liable to get dramatic reversal of government or policies carries a certain risk for the investor. one to look out for dont you think.