REAL ESTATE NEWS BULLETINS 2007

  WE HAVE UP TO DATE NEWS ABOUT LAND ISSUES AND PROPERTY ISSUES IN THAILAND

CB Richard Ellis Thailand urges property buyers not to panic
The Thai branch of international real-estate and property-investment firm CB Richard Ellis has urged foreign property owners and prospective buyers of Thai real estate not to panic or abandon their interest because of proposed changes to the Foreign Business Act.
It says they should focus on foreign quotas for condominium ownership and leasehold properties developed by well-known and established companies.CB Richard Ellis Thailand managing director Aliwassa Pathnadabutr said the proposed changes might affect large foreign investments in property projects and the construction industry but not private investment in a second home in Thailand.The company has looked carefully at the "real effect" of the government's proposals in conjunction with major law firms and has considered the psychological affects and the perceptions of both foreign businesses in Thailand and foreign purchasers of Thai property, she said.The danger of the proposals is that they might be seen as a rejection of foreign investment, with large potential losses for both the real-estate and the construction sectors of the economy. They might also be viewed as poor public relations on the part of Thailand internationally.Aliwassa said her company's first piece of advice to all clients is that the proposals are not yet law.Second, a detailed reading of the proposals shows them not to be as harsh as the headlines have presented them. Most businesses that will be redefined as foreign will be largely unaffected and allowed to continue, with time to amend their structure if necessary.Therefore, she said, most office tenants should not be affected, although demand from incoming tenants might well be reduced.

The Nation Jan 16th 2007

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Central bank to relax rules on foreign loans for real investment
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) will soon relax its draconian withholding measure for companies in Thailand that borrow foreign loans to finance their investment, said governor Tarisa Watanagase.Some criteria would be applied to identify foreign borrowing for investment, including companies' hedging for currency risk.She said the central bank is discussing with commercial banks to find ways to distinguish between inflows for the real investment and hot money flocking in for currency speculation. "The method" of bringing in the money is the way to differentiate the purpose of the inflows, she said.  The Nation

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Procedures for non-resident accounts to be decided today DARANA CHUDASRI Local bank executives will meet today to finalise operating procedures for handling foreign capital inflows into non-resident baht accounts (NRBA).

Bordin Unakul, the chairman of the Custodian Club and a senior executive at Bangkok Bank, said custodians would begin opening NRBAs for offshore clients this week. Local custodians want to ensure that operating procedures meet a single standard, particularly in terms of how NRBAs and special non-resident securities accounts (SNS) are handled. "The Custodian Club wants to make sure everyone is using the same procedures, with no exceptions or case-by-case waivers," Mr Bordin said. "We will comply with the principles set out by the Bank of Thailand. Funds can only be transferred from SNS accounts to NRBAs." Custodians agreed to establish dedicated accounts to track foreign inflows in a compromise worked out with the central bank last month to accommodate investment into the equity market. Funds held in NRBAs will be subject to the 30% reserve rule announced by the central bank on Dec 18 last year, while SNS funds will be exempt. Both accounts will be capped at 300 million baht. Many banks and custodians began setting up SNS accounts for overseas clients last week. The central bank plans to monitor fund flows to both account types on a regular basis to ensure full compliance with the 30% reserve rule, which was imposed to deter speculation on the baht. Mr Bordin said Bangkok Bank had already set up SNS accounts for around one-third of its foreign clients. Under the Dec 18 rule, foreign inflows into the fixed-income market are required to set aside a 30% deposit held interest-free at the central bank. The deposit will be refunded after one year, with shorter-term investments subject to a 10% penalty. Investments in listed securities, property and foreign direct investment are exempted from the reserve rule.

Bangkok Post

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Return to Don Muang is common sense

The news that Don Muang airport will reopen for non-connecting flights represents yet another common-sense decision by the present government. Complaints by Iata that this will prevent Bangkok from becoming a regional air hub should be taken with a pinch of salt. Look at London (Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted) and New York (Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark). The belated rail link to Suvarnabhumi will run to Makkasan which, as a rail centre itself for many years, can surely be connected to Don Muang if necessary. The shortage of passenger space in the vast Suvarnabhumi airport could be eased by replacing many of the King Power Duty Free shops with passenger facilities. The present difficulties of Suvarnabhumi spring directly from decisions by the last government. As investigations continue into the financial dealings of its leader, his family and his cronies, an old saying is brought to mind: "Too many crooks spoil the broth."

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Monday January 29, 2007
Foreigners warned on land Krirk-krai: Resorts not in Thai hands source: Bkk Post

Foreign investors holding property through shell companies using Thai nominees have been warned to restructure their holdings or face prosecution. "Foreigners using shell companies to buy housing across the country are violating two laws. One, the Land Act that forbids foreigners from holding land and two, the Foreign Business Act by using nominee structures. I recommend that they restructure," Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet told foreign journalists at a dinner talk on Friday. Under Thai law, he pointed out, foreigners can only own land if they have businesses promoted by the Board of Investment, under the Industrial Estate Act or with written permission from the Interior Ministry. "Look around you - all the land in Samui, Phuket and Koh Chang is in the hands of foreigners. They cannot take the land away but there's a sense of nationalism and therefore they should restructure," a combative Mr Krirk-krai said in response to questions from foreigners. The resort islands of Phuket and Samui have been the focus of foreign investors who have snapped up million-dollar villas as second or retirement homes, but the imminent changes to the Foreign Business Act have begun to keep investors, developers and buyers at bay. It is expected that among those to be hurt the most by the new rules will be companies selling villas to foreign buyers, as any foreigner will need to set up a company with at least a 51% Thai shareholding. To comply with the amendments, companies will need to change from freehold to leasehold contracts. Market experts believe the villa-for-sale market in resort destinations will suffer as a result. Mr Krirk-krai also said that the government would likely look at ways to plug the loopholes under which companies use Non Voting Depository Receipts (NVDRs) to circumvent FBA-mandated restrictions on foreign ownership. "I will make sure that over the next three or four months we will plug this loophole," he said. NVDRs are issued by Thai NVDR, a subsidiary of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, to foreign investors who have bought shares in listed companies that are already up to their foreign-ownership limits.
NVDR holders are entitled to full economic rights, including dividends and rights issues, but are not allowed to vote, except on motions involving delisting. Voting rights are automatically restored if the NVDRs are sold back to Thais. Mr Krirk-krai said the military-installed government was in a rush to resolve this issue because abuse of the laws was a key reason for the fall of the previous government.
"It's not that we are backtracking from globalisation and not welcoming foreign investors, but what we want is good quality investors, not just any investors," he said. "If the investors cannot observe one or two laws that are similar to those in other civilised countries, then we should not care about them."