thegrogmonster Posted January 25 Posted January 25 (edited) Hi all, After some information from married members that have wives who have bought houses and/or land in Thailand. I married my wife back in 2002 and I bought her a townhoues on Pattaya darkside and it is in her name. Since then she has bought a few pieces of land around her village in Udon Thani as well as built her Mum a house. All these properties are not in her name as she keeps on stating she cannot put them in her name because she is married to me and I need to go to the Land department and sign some paperwork first. She just recently bought a house on the darkside after selling a block of land and settlement was 2 weeks ago. Her brother has lived in our townhouse since 2002 and the wife always planned to give it to him once she bought another place for us. So the day before settlement they go to the Land department and transfer the townhouse to her brother. Then the next day is settlement day for the house but the Land department won't put the house in her name as the required paperwork her lawyer sent me to sign is not correct. The wife even paid $330 in Australia for a local lawyer to witness all the papers I signed. So she had to put the new house in her brother's name. 2 weeks ago he owned no property and now has 2 places in his name. So my question is have married member's wives been able to buy land without you having to get involved? I find it hard to fathom that she keeps on buying property that is not being put in her name. Apart from the townhouse none of the other properties have involved any money from me. I think the wife is being very naive putting all the properties in the names of family members. I was still fuming a bit about the house purchase but was calming down. She is in the village at the moment and video called me yesterday showing the family having a good time catching fish in a dam on one of her blocks of land. I couldn't remember seeing this dam before so after asking a few questions apparently she bought the land a couple of years ago and put it in her sister's name. I had had a few beers at this stage so I blew my stack and hung up on her. Anyone able to offer any information. Apparently we now have to wait a couple of years and then I have to visit the Land department offices in Pattaya and Undon Thani and sign some forms and then the properties can be transferred into her name. I would just prefer to live a simple life without all this bullshit. Edited January 25 by thegrogmonster 6
Captain_B Posted January 25 Posted January 25 2 hours ago, thegrogmonster said: Hi all, After some information from married members that have wives who have bought houses and/or land in Thailand. I married my wife back in 2002 and I bought her a townhoues on Pattaya darkside and it is in her name. Since then she has bought a few pieces of land around her village in Udon Thani as well as built her Mum a house. All these properties are not in her name as she keeps on stating she cannot put them in her name because she is married to me and I need to go to the Land department and sign some paperwork first. She just recently bought a house on the darkside after selling a block of land and settlement was 2 weeks ago. Her brother has lived in our townhouse since 2002 and the wife always planned to give it to him once she bought another place for us. So the day before settlement they go to the Land department and transfer the townhouse to her brother. Then the next day is settlement day for the house but the Land department won't put the house in her name as the required paperwork her lawyer sent me to sign is not correct. The wife even paid $330 in Australia for a local lawyer to witness all the papers I signed. So she had to put the new house in her brother's name. 2 weeks ago he owned no property and now has 2 places in his name. So my question is have married member's wives been able to buy land without you having to get involved? I find it hard to fathom that she keeps on buying property that is not being put in her name. Apart from the townhouse none of the other properties have involved any money from me. I think the wife is being very naive putting all the properties in the names of family members. I was still fuming a bit about the house purchase but was calming down. She is in the village at the moment and video called me yesterday showing the family having a good time catching fish in a dam on one of her blocks of land. I couldn't remember seeing this dam before so after asking a few questions apparently she bought the land a couple of years ago and put it in her sister's name. I had had a few beers at this stage so I blew my stack and hung up on her. Anyone able to offer any information. Apparently we now have to wait a couple of years and then I have to visit the Land department offices in Pattaya and Undon Thani and sign some forms and then the properties can be transferred into her name. I would just prefer to live a simple life without all this bullshit.
Captain_B Posted January 25 Posted January 25 I recently bought a house in my wifes name but had to countersign papers at the land offive with my passport photocopied. Also same procedure for land bought in Roiet province. It has been no problem. 1
KWA Posted January 26 Posted January 26 Never bought anything but read many times about the requirement to sign paperwork to say something along the lines of none of the money for the purchase had come from the falang, even if it has. 1 2
thegrogmonster Posted January 26 Author Posted January 26 8 minutes ago, KWA said: Never bought anything but read many times about the requirement to sign paperwork to say something along the lines of none of the money for the purchase had come from the falang, even if it has. That's what I did and the Australian lawyer was quite concerned that I was stating I would have no claim on marital property. Not sure why the paperwork that I had completed under the instruction of the Thai lawyer was not accepted by the Land department. Maybe I needed to be present to pay my own donations to the Thai bureaucracy. 2
Aqualung Posted January 26 Posted January 26 20 hours ago, thegrogmonster said: Hi all, After some information from married members that have wives who have bought houses and/or land in Thailand. I married my wife back in 2002 and I bought her a townhoues on Pattaya darkside and it is in her name. Since then she has bought a few pieces of land around her village in Udon Thani as well as built her Mum a house. All these properties are not in her name as she keeps on stating she cannot put them in her name because she is married to me and I need to go to the Land department and sign some paperwork first. She just recently bought a house on the darkside after selling a block of land and settlement was 2 weeks ago. Her brother has lived in our townhouse since 2002 and the wife always planned to give it to him once she bought another place for us. So the day before settlement they go to the Land department and transfer the townhouse to her brother. Then the next day is settlement day for the house but the Land department won't put the house in her name as the required paperwork her lawyer sent me to sign is not correct. The wife even paid $330 in Australia for a local lawyer to witness all the papers I signed. So she had to put the new house in her brother's name. 2 weeks ago he owned no property and now has 2 places in his name. So my question is have married member's wives been able to buy land without you having to get involved? I find it hard to fathom that she keeps on buying property that is not being put in her name. Apart from the townhouse none of the other properties have involved any money from me. I think the wife is being very naive putting all the properties in the names of family members. I was still fuming a bit about the house purchase but was calming down. She is in the village at the moment and video called me yesterday showing the family having a good time catching fish in a dam on one of her blocks of land. I couldn't remember seeing this dam before so after asking a few questions apparently she bought the land a couple of years ago and put it in her sister's name. I had had a few beers at this stage so I blew my stack and hung up on her. Anyone able to offer any information. Apparently we now have to wait a couple of years and then I have to visit the Land department offices in Pattaya and Undon Thani and sign some forms and then the properties can be transferred into her name. I would just prefer to live a simple life without all this bullshit. As long as she's not using your money let her get on with it as confusing as it may be.
thegrogmonster Posted January 26 Author Posted January 26 3 hours ago, Aqualung said: As long as she's not using your money let her get on with it as confusing as it may be. I agree with what you are saying but I pay for all the bills at home. I hope that with her money if she is building her wealth in Thailand that at least the properties would be in her name. Years ago her brother bought land off the uncle and built a house on it. The land was never transferred into his name. Later the uncle's family wanted the land back so the house ended up being demolished and cows put on the land. 4
CampariO Posted January 31 Posted January 31 (edited) On 1/26/2026 at 10:46 AM, thegrogmonster said: That's what I did and the Australian lawyer was quite concerned that I was stating I would have no claim on marital property. Not sure why the paperwork that I had completed under the instruction of the Thai lawyer was not accepted by the Land department. Maybe I needed to be present to pay my own donations to the Thai bureaucracy. It's best to sign the document presented by the land registry office in person. When we bought our house, we weren't yet married. While I was waiting at the land registry office for the transfer of ownership, an employee saw me and gave me this document to sign, which stated that I would have no rights to it whatsoever. In other real estate transactions, my then-girlfriend went to the office without me. After we got married and wanted to buy a condo in her name, the seller's incompetent lawyer—who lived abroad—gave me the wrong document to sign. On the day of the transfer of ownership, I was also abroad, and the transfer didn't go through. I would have had to go to the embassy to sign the correct document and have my signature certified, which was impossible for me. The next time we made a purchase, I was present at the district office, signed the document, and that was that. Edited January 31 by CampariO 2 2 1
thegrogmonster Posted January 31 Author Posted January 31 13 hours ago, CampariO said: It's best to sign the document presented by the land registry office in person. When we bought our house, we weren't yet married. While I was waiting at the land registry office for the transfer of ownership, an employee saw me and gave me this document to sign, which stated that I would have no rights to it whatsoever. In other real estate transactions, my then-girlfriend went to the office without me. After we got married and wanted to buy a condo in her name, the seller's incompetent lawyer—who lived abroad—gave me the wrong document to sign. On the day of the transfer of ownership, I was also abroad, and the transfer didn't go through. I would have had to go to the embassy to sign the correct document and have my signature certified, which was impossible for me. The next time we made a purchase, I was present at the district office, signed the document, and that was that. Thank you. 1 1
Zambo Posted Friday at 12:01 PM Posted Friday at 12:01 PM My understanding is that a few years ago Thai women married to foreigners could not buy land (so also not a house) but that was relaxed - from my experience sometime before 2009 The new law was that foreign wives can buy and own land but their husbands cannot. That is why the land office makes husbands sign a document that they accept that they are not owners of the land/house (this becomes important during divorce or death of the foreigner) There are workarounds such as "company ownership" but that would be subject to any Thai law amendments or clarifications. 1
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