On June 26, a number of Thai media sources said that the government led by Thai Prime Minister Saita previously proposed to amend the "Property Rights Law" and the "Condominium Law", that is, to extend the long-term rental time for foreigners and increase the ownership of apartments held by foreigners from 49% to 75%, aiming to enhance the purchasing power of foreigners who prefer to buy apartments in Thailand.
Thai media said that criticism and opposition to the revision of the law are endless, for reasons such as: amending the law is like "betraying the country", giving foreigners the right to compete with Thai people to buy real estate, and Thai people with relatively low purchasing power will be at a disadvantage in the field of housing purchase.
In response, 18 real estate associations across Thailand jointly signed and issued a statement to prove the need to change the law and demonstrate the potential of expatriates in terms of purchasing power, which can help Thailand's overall economy achieve rapid recovery. Specifically, it is as follows:
1. There is no content that allows foreigners to hold land, and there is no need to worry that amending the law is equivalent to "selling the country";
2. It only involves the extension of the lease period, which is beneficial to the Thai landowner and the ownership remains with the Thais;
3. It will help Thailand standardize the supervision of foreigners for the first time, and levy purchase fees, land and property taxes on foreigners;
4. Expatriates pay a higher tax rate than Thais, and this part of the income can be formed into a fund to provide permanent support for low- and middle-income people to own housing. At the same time, the same model as the Petroleum Fund could be used to cap the purchase price to reduce inequalities in access to housing;
5. It is possible to set up rules and regulations for the residence of foreigners to ensure the regulatory status of Thai people as "masters" and to reduce the impact on other businesses in the long run;
6. On the premise of not selling the land, the Thai "landlord" can earn income from long-term leases to Thai-foreign investors, and can flexibly set the lease time limit to ensure that the investment scale is consistent with large, medium and small projects;
7. This will be an opportunity to restructure the real estate business in Thailand, which will be able to support the structure of the Thai economy in the long term and ensure transparency; It can also allow foreigners to legally hold real estate in Thailand, attracting expatriates with professional knowledge and skills to work in Thailand to help Thailand's long-term development.
At the same time, the 18 associations also pointed out that in addition to the benefits of expatriates, the Thai people will also reap many direct and indirect benefits. As such, the 18 associations will support Prime Minister Saita in order to establish a sustainable real estate business structure that allows for accurate, honest and transparent regulation of expatriate residence, as well as the best interests of the country's economy, society and people.