Land Office Requires Work Permit from Foreign Managing Directors

Work permits are required for foreign Managing Directors buying land, recording a Lease of more than three years or recording a mortgage on property owned by the Thai Company Limited (Co., Ltd.) which many foreigners use to buy property in Pattaya.

“The Land Office, thank God, right now does not require a work permit for foreign Managing Directors buying property so we can rest assured on purchases until the regulations become more stringent and include the necessity for a work permit in all matters relating to the land office,” said Drew Noyes of PAPPA Co., Ltd. which has a representative at the Banglamung Land office everyday on behalf of their clients.

“However, when it is time to sell, you must add a Thai Managing Director to your company recorded at the Department of Business Development so the Thai can sign the papers for the sale at the Banglamung Land Office and other Land Offices in Thailand. You do not need to be removed as Managing Director and you do not need a work permit in this case. We have helped many foreigners with property purchases, property sales, recording 30-year leases and mortgages to protect their investment in land and houses in Thailand,” The PAPPA Co., Ltd. Managing Director added.

Land Offices are regional and each is operated independently of the central government in some cases.

“What is true at one land office is not true at the others. They all have their own rules and it is important to deal with them day-to-day or check with them in advance to make sure what rules and laws are enforced against foreigners and which rules are not,” said Lalit Sadhvani of Property Management and Development Co., Ltd. on Pattaya Tai.