We can interpret a single bid in two very different ways. It may suggest that most developers considered the site too expensive or too difficult. It may also show that one consortium saw enough scarcity value to pay a premium without the comfort of knowing that several competitors agreed. Perhaps the truth is somewhere inbetween.

What exactly did GuocoLand and Intrepid buy?

The Berlayar Drive site covers 25,263.2 square metres, permits a maximum gross floor area of 35,369 square metres and is restricted to five storeys. URA estimates that it can yield about 415 homes on a 99-year lease. The low-rise form, relatively small unit count and Greater Southern Waterfront location make it different from a typical high-density suburban Government Land Sales parcel.

URA’s tender-closing announcement confirmed that only one bid was received. Three days later, the award confirmed that the Government accepted it. The bid therefore tells us what this particular consortium was prepared to pay, but it does not establish a market-wide consensus.

The land price contains a scarcity premium

At approximately S$1,515 psf ppr, the land price is high enough to require the development to be a premium development. The site is near Labrador Nature Reserve, the waterfront and established Keppel Bay housing, while the five-storey height limit restricts the number of saleable homes that can be stacked onto the land. Buyers are likely to be offered a low-rise, landscaped and location-led product rather than a mass-market tower.

For context, the Bayshore Drive mixed-use site was awarded in July at S$14,243.83 per square metre of GFA, roughly S$1,323 psf ppr. Berlayar’s land rate is about 14.5 per cent higher. This is not a perfect comparison. Bayshore is much larger, mixed-use and subject to different design and infrastructure obligations. What this comparison shows is that Berlayar’s low-rise scarcity commanded a premium.

How the developer will be able to break even

Land cost per plot-ratio square foot is not the same as the final cost per saleable square foot. If saleable efficiency is roughly 85 to 90 per cent, the land allocation alone could be around S$1,680 to S$1,780 per saleable square foot. Add construction, professional fees, financing, marketing, possible variations and contingencies, and a rough break-even price could be around S$2,300 to S$2,600 psf. You add on the profit margin that the developer needs to make and the average launch price could be somewhere in the high-S$2,000s psf. Perhaps S$3,000 + psf even? Hey, property prices in Singapore are evergreen are they not?

Why only one bid?

The low-rise limit creates design appeal but also limits density. The site sits in a premium area, but the final homes must be priced against existing Keppel Bay projects and other future Greater Southern Waterfront supply. Construction and financing costs remain significant. Although interest rates are rather low at the moment. The developer needs to undertake the risk of construction and selling for several years.

If we were to consider the broader private market, we cannot just assume that every premium site guarantees a sell out. In 2Q2026, private-home prices rose only 0.5 per cent overall while market segments diverged sharply. A good site can command a premium, but buyers still need to compare unit size, layout, tenure, view and alternatives.

My verdict

The Berlayar Drive award shows real developer confidence in the scarcity of low-rise housing near the Greater Southern Waterfront. The size of the bid matters more than the number of bidders. But one bidder is still one bidder. It tells us what GuocoLand and Intrepid were willing to pay, not what every developer thinks the whole district is worth. Future buyers should judge the eventual project against its actual design and price, and apply the same questions that matter before making an offer, rather than simply buying into the Greater Southern Waterfront story. When buyers walk into the showflat, property agents will tell them the Greater Southern Waterfront story with much gusto. Just like how Tengah is the new up and coming area with limitless potential. Well, I digress. But then remember that the sales gallery is designed to make you commit to a purchase, not a place for you to go to for research.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl

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It is tempting to read both moves as the start of a broader easing cycle for Singapore property. However, we should pause and take a step back to understand what is really going on.

In my view, both changes reduce friction. But they operate in different markets, address different problems and retain important safeguards.

So then, is Singapore loosening its property rules? Yes, in two narrow places.

Is the Government trying to restart a property boom? The evidence does not support that conclusion.

What actually changed?

Let us begin with the HDB resale market.

From 28 July 2026, current and former private residential property owners no longer have to wait 15 months before buying a non-subsidised HDB resale flat without an HDB housing loan. This applies regardless of flat size.

Current private property owners must still dispose of all their private residential property interests in Singapore and overseas within six months after completing the HDB resale purchase.

The 30-month wait-out period also remains if they want to buy a subsidised flat, use HDB housing grants, buy a new executive condominium directly from a developer or obtain an HDB housing loan.

In other words, the Government has restored access to the open HDB resale market, while keeping the 30-month restriction for subsidised housing benefits.

The en-bloc change is different.

For collective-sale sites that will be redeveloped into 700 to 1,399 homes, developers now have six years to complete the project and sell all the units. For sites yielding at least 1,400 homes, they have seven years, although at least half the units must be sold by the end of the sixth year.

The 40 per cent ABSD on residential development land remains. Five per cent is non-remittable. The remaining 35 per cent is at risk if the developer misses the prescribed commencement, completion or sales conditions.

This is not an ABSD rate cut. In my view, it recognises that a very large project carries different execution and sales risks from a much smaller development. Selling all or even most of the units in a very large project is naturally more difficult.

The Singapore government is calibrating. Not stimulating.

So why make these changes now?

HDB resale prices fell by 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 and another 0.3 per cent in the second. At the same time, more flats are expected to reach their Minimum Occupation Period over the next few years and become eligible for resale.

That gives the Government room to remove a temporary restriction introduced in September 2022, after construction delays, a low-interest-rate environment and higher housing demand contributed to an imbalance in the HDB resale market.

The two quarterly declines amount to a cumulative fall of 0.4 per cent. That does not suddenly make resale flats cheap. What has changed is the direction and pace of the market, together with the supply outlook.

The supply figures are important. About 13,500 flats are expected to reach their Minimum Occupation Period in 2026, up from around 8,000 in 2025. The number is expected to rise further to 15,000 in 2027 and 19,500 in 2028.

At the same time, HDB plans to launch about 55,000 BTO flats between 2025 and 2027. More resale choices are therefore coming onto the market, while a strong BTO pipeline gives eligible buyers an alternative to paying ever-higher resale prices.

The Government says the en-bloc revision is meant to support large-scale redevelopment, rejuvenate sites and make additional housing supply available. In my view, the earlier framework did not sufficiently account for the longer construction programme, larger capital commitment and sales risk that come with a very large site.

If the rules discourage developers from bidding for those sites at all, the policy defeats the urban-renewal objective it was meant to support.

That is why I see both announcements as policy maintenance. One temporary restriction had served its purpose. One developer deadline was insufficiently proportionate to project size.

Neither conclusion requires us to believe that the whole property market needs rescuing.

The original rule was designed to shield HDB from excess liquidity

When the 15-month wait-out period was introduced in September 2022 as a temporary measure to moderate demand for resale flats, it served a clear purpose.

When the measure was introduced, construction delays, higher housing demand and a low-interest-rate environment had contributed to an imbalance in the HDB resale market. In my view, private property sellers with substantial sale proceeds represented additional purchasing power that risked pushing prices even higher.

The Government’s stated purpose for the wait-out period was to moderate demand for resale flats. My reading is that it also shielded the HDB resale market from excess liquidity at a particularly unsettled moment.

That context has now changed.

The resale price index fell in the first two quarters of 2026, while the MOP pipeline is expanding and HDB plans about 55,000 BTO flats between 2025 and 2027. In my view, this makes the removal timely. A rule that was useful during a period of excess demand need not remain indefinitely after the balance of the market has shifted.

In my view, removing it allows this group of buyers to return and provide a measure of support to the resale market as it cools.

The effect, however, will not be evenly distributed.

I expect a private home owner who is right-sizing to enter the HDB market with different priorities from a typical first-time buyer. After selling a private property, this buyer may place a higher value on space, location, lease balance and the ability to move in quickly. That could direct more purchasing power towards five-room flats, executive flats and higher-quantum units in mature or well-connected estates.

Does that mean the overall HDB resale index will surge? Not necessarily.

The returning buyer pool is only one part of a large market. More resale supply is coming as the number of flats reaching MOP rises. The 30-month restriction on subsidised purchases remains. The Government has also cautioned that the global economic outlook remains uncertain, which can make households more cautious.

But averages may conceal what happens at the top end. The overall resale index can remain stable while selected flats attract more offers and set new price records.

This is the part of the policy change I would watch most closely. Not whether every HDB flat rises, but whether the premium for scarce, large and well-located flats widens.

There may also be a secondary effect on rentals. Households without alternative accommodation may previously have needed to rent during the 15-month gap. Allowing them to move directly into a resale flat could remove some of that temporary rental demand.

Removing the wait-out period is reasonable, but not costless

My view is that the wait-out rule had become too blunt.

The Government acknowledged that the wait-out period caused inconvenience and disruption to some private home owners with genuine housing needs. A family could be trying to reduce its mortgage, free up retirement funds, move closer to children or shift from a condominium to a larger HDB flat that better suits its needs. In such cases, forcing the family to rent for 15 months imposed a real cost without creating a new home.

Removing the rule restores mobility across the housing ladder. It may also bring more private resale homes onto the market when right-sizers dispose of their existing properties.

However, restoring mobility and preserving HDB affordability are not automatically the same thing.

My concern is that private property owners are returning to a public housing resale market where affordability remains sensitive. Although these buyers cannot immediately access grants or an HDB housing loan, additional purchasing power can still affect the price paid for a resale flat.

The safeguard is therefore not the absence of an impact. The safeguard is that the impact should be limited by supply and concentrated in a narrower segment.

If premium-flat prices accelerate sharply while the broader index stays calm, policymakers should not hide behind the island-wide average. They should examine the segment that the rule was originally designed to influence.

That would not mean the removal was a mistake. It would mean a targeted policy deserves targeted monitoring.

Longer en-bloc timelines help, but price still decides the deal

My reading of the en-bloc change is similarly measured.

The Government said the longer timelines are intended to support large-scale redevelopment, rejuvenate sites and make additional housing supply available. In my view, a developer should not be forced to launch 1,500 units too aggressively merely because the tax clock is running. Giving such projects more time is logical.

But the revision does not fundamentally change project economics.

Developers remain subject to a 40 per cent ABSD, including a 5 per cent non-remittable component, and must meet commencement, completion and sales conditions to retain remission of the remaining 35 per cent. In assessing the project economics, I would still account for the land purchase, construction costs and the uncertainty of the future sales market.

Above all, the reserve price still has to make sense.

The extra time has value. The danger is that owners treat that value as a reason to raise—or refuse to reduce—their asking price. If every dollar of risk relief is capitalised into the land price, the developer is no better off and the sale still does not happen.

The longer deadline can reopen the conversation, but realistic pricing will determine whether a deal closes.

The policy is necessary for some mega sites. It is not sufficient.

Buyers should not assume the concession will make new homes cheaper

There is another leap in logic worth avoiding.

If developers face less ABSD timing risk, will the eventual homes be cheaper?

Not automatically.

In my view, part of the benefit may be passed back to the existing owners through a higher land bid. I would still expect developers to account for construction and financing costs, competing projects and what buyers are willing to pay when pricing the new units.

The public benefit is more indirect. The Government says the framework is intended to facilitate site rejuvenation and make additional housing supply available. Over time, a more diverse land supply can also reduce dependence on Government Land Sales sites alone.

That is worthwhile. It is simply not the same as promising lower launch prices.

My view

I do not read these changes as a U-turn on cooling measures.

The HDB announcement removed one temporary eligibility restriction, while the en-bloc announcement adjusted one developer ABSD timeline. In my view, these targeted changes do not amount to a general relaxation of Singapore’s cooling, credit and housing-supply framework.

For the HDB market, the benefit is greater flexibility and a broader pool of demand at a time when substantially more flats are becoming eligible for resale. The risk, in my view, is renewed price pressure in larger and premium resale flats.

For the en-bloc market, the benefit is lower execution risk. The obstacle remains the gap between what owners hope to receive and what developers can prudently pay.

In my view, there is no benefit to Singapore in engineering a steep correction in home prices. A disorderly fall would damage confidence, household balance sheets and the broader economy. The more sensible objective is a market that cools without collapsing.

To those who have property agents telling them to hurry buy HDB properties as prices will rise due to an increase in buyers should then ask the same property agents whether by the same logic, the rule takes away buyers from the private property market and hence private property prices should fall.

I cannot know whether this was the Government’s explicit intention. But against the rising housing-supply pipeline and the Government’s warning of an uncertain global outlook, I read the removal of the wait-out period as consistent with a softer-landing approach: allow enough demand to support an easing market, while keeping the main cooling, credit and supply controls in place.

Both changes are defensible. Neither is a reason for buyers, sellers or en-bloc owners to become less realistic.

The rules may have changed. The price still has to make sense.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl Lum

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The headline number is 0.5 per cent. Singapore private home prices rose again in the second quarter of 2026. If you are selling a property, that is probably the number you will repeat. If you are buying, it is the number someone will repeat to you.

But what exactly rose?

According to the final figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), landed property prices rose by 2.5 per cent in the second quarter. Non-landed property prices fell by 0.1 per cent.

That is a 2.6 percentage point difference between the two segments. Put them together and the overall index increased by 0.5 per cent.

Sounds like the whole private property market went up? Well, not quite.

The headline is correct. It is also incomplete.

Let us be clear. The URA did not get the number wrong. The overall private residential price index increased from 218.3 in the first quarter to 219.4 in the second quarter. That works out to a 0.5 per cent increase. The pace was slower than the 0.9 per cent rise in the previous quarter.

The problem comes when we take an island-wide index and use it to describe every property as though the market moved in one direction.

It did not.

Landed prices had fallen by 0.4 per cent in the first quarter. They then rose by 2.5 per cent in the second quarter. Non-landed prices did almost the reverse. They rose by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter and slipped by 0.1 per cent in the second.

So then, if you own a condominium and someone tells you that private home prices rose by 0.5 per cent, does that automatically mean your unit became 0.5 per cent more valuable? No. The non-landed index actually moved slightly lower. Even that non-landed number is too broad to price a particular unit.

URA itself states that private residential prices are not uniform and vary from project to project. That may sound obvious, but it is often forgotten when a headline number is convenient.

The non-landed market was split as well

Now look at the regional numbers for non-landed properties.

Prices in the Core Central Region, or CCR, increased by 1.8 per cent. Prices in the Rest of Central Region, or RCR, fell by 1.2 per cent. Prices in the Outside Central Region, or OCR, fell by 0.1 per cent.

The difference between the CCR and RCR was 3 percentage points in one quarter.

This is why I do not think buyers should keep repeating the line that the CCR is weak while the mass-market regions are always the safer bet. That may be the popular narrative for a period of time. It is not something that we should focus when we are investing in property.

In this quarter, the CCR rose while the RCR and OCR fell. In another quarter the positions may reverse. The point is not to declare that the CCR has permanently returned or that the RCR and OCR are now poor investments. The point is that the market is segmented. Your conclusion should depend on what you are actually looking at.

A one-bedroom unit in the CCR, a family condominium in the RCR and a landed home do not have the same buyer pool. They do not face the same supply. They do not even move according to the same sub-index. Why then should one headline be used as the answer for all three?

What does the URA index actually measure?

The URA property price index is not a simple average where all transacted prices are added together and divided by the number of sales.

URA uses what is called a stratified hedonic regression methodology. In plain English, it tries to control for differences in the properties sold, including attributes such as age and unit size. The price movements are then aggregated using fixed weights covering five quarters.

This is sensible. Imagine one quarter with many small new units sold and another quarter with more large resale units. A simple average price could move merely because the mix of homes changed. The methodology tries to reduce that problem.

However, the index is still meant to show a broad trend. It is not a valuation report for your property.

If you want to know whether a particular unit has risen in value, you should look at transactions in the same project, then compare similar unit sizes, floors, facing, condition, tenure and transaction dates. If there are few comparable transactions, accept that the answer will be less certain. Do not fill the gap with an island-wide headline just because it is available.

A busy market can still have softer prices

There is another interesting point in the second-quarter data. The market recorded more transactions.

Resale transactions increased from 3,225 units in the first quarter to 3,813 units in the second quarter. That is an increase of about 18.2 per cent. Total transactions, excluding executive condominiums, rose from 5,413 to 6,148 units, or about 13.6 per cent.

Yet the non-landed price index fell by 0.1 per cent.

More sales do not automatically mean prices must rise. It can mean buyers and sellers were more willing to meet. It can also reflect the mix of projects and regions transacted. The official data gives us the result. It does not give us permission to invent one neat cause for every movement.

This is where property commentary often becomes too convenient. When prices and volumes rise together, people say demand is strong. When volumes rise but a segment softens, the same people may simply ignore the volume or switch to another explanation.

My stand is simpler. Read the numbers together and be honest about what they do not prove.

The supply story is not a one-line answer either

URA reported 42,472 private residential units, including executive condominiums, in the supply pipeline with planning approval at the end of the second quarter. Of these, 15,810 units remained unsold. There were another 18,153 unsold units without planning approval, including the 4,745 units on the confirmed list of the Government Land Sales programme for the second half of 2026.

URA expects about 60,600 private residential units, including executive condominiums, to be completed in the coming years. About 25,900 are expected by 2028 and about 34,700 from 2029 onwards.

Does this mean prices must fall? No.

Pipeline supply is not the same as keys being handed to buyers tomorrow. Sites need to be sold, planned, launched and built. Demand and the type of homes supplied will matter as well.

But it also means we should be careful when someone says property prices must keep rising because Singapore simply has no supply. The Government has been releasing a high and steady supply of private housing. The full-year 2026 confirmed-list supply is 9,320 units, more than 50 per cent above the annual average over the past decade.

Scarcity can be true for a specific product or location. It is less useful as a blanket explanation for the entire market.

So what should a buyer do with the 0.5 per cent number?

Use it as the start of the question, not the answer.

1. Identify the correct segment. Are you looking at landed or non-landed property?
2. If it is non-landed, identify the region. CCR, RCR and OCR moved in different directions in the quarter.
3. Look at the project and comparable transactions. The broad index cannot price your unit.
4. Separate market activity from price direction. More transactions do not guarantee broad price increases.
5. Consider upcoming supply, but be realistic about when that supply will actually reach the market.
6. Work out whether the property makes sense for your finances and holding period without assuming that a quarterly index will repeat itself.

The last point is the most important. If the investment only works because you assume the overall index will keep rising every quarter, then the investment case is weak. A property has to make sense based on the price paid, the financing cost, the holding period, the realistic rental or own-use value, and the pool of future buyers.

My view is that the 2Q2026 data is not a crash signal. It is also not a clean bull-market signal. It is a picture of a divided market where landed homes and the non-landed CCR moved up while the RCR and OCR softened.

The 0.5 per cent headline is accurate. Just do not mistake the headline when pricing your property. Or even when offering on a property.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl Lum

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So what is this new 3-million-baht Investment Visa?

It is an extension of stay granted one year at a time and is renewable annually. As this is an extension of stay based on investment, it is designed strictly for the holder to reside in Thailand. It does not grant the holder the right to cork or conduct commercial activities in Thailand.

What law provides for this visa?

Two statutes/ orders provide for this visa. Namely:

a. the Immigration Bureau Order No. 237/2568; and

b. the Immigration Bureau Order No. 238/2568.

The latter order provides for the 12-month extension and lays out the eligibility criteria, the required 3-million-baht investment threshold and the document requirements.

When did this visa start?

The immigration orders came into force on 1 October 2025.

Are there any ambiguities?

To date, the freehold condominium purchase route is well understood and in force. However, as of the time of writing, the authorities are still clarifying the requirements for leasehold and rental pathways for the visa.

Do you need an agent to apply for this visa?

No. You do not need an agent to apply for this visa. There are many companies online who tout their services as “agents” for the visa. However, anyone is permitted to apply for this on their own. The possible benefit of engaging such an “agent” would be that they would be more familiar with the process and perhaps some documents may be better understood in Thai. Hence if you do not understand Thai, you may benefit from such a service.

The market is currently flooded with “agents” charging high “membership” or “service” fees. These fees may come with some additional perks like airport pickups. However, there is no requirement to use an agency to apply for this visa. The process primarily requires you to obtain a Certification Letter verifying your investment, which is administered through Thailand Longstay Service Co., Ltd. under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Once you have this Certification Letter, together with the relevant bank and property documents (like the Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) Form showing funds came from overseas, and the property title deed in your name), you can process the paperwork independently.

Some Thai property agencies or developers may assist their buyers in applying for the 3-million-baht Investment Visa. If you are buying or bought a property through a Thai property agency or Thai developer, you may check with your sales agent if they do provide such a service.

A word of caution when you see “agents” promising guaranteed immediate results or trying to sell you fast track packages using loopholes. These are not advised and to date, I cannot find any “agent” who can fast track the application process. The fastest way to apply would be to have all documents ready and respond promptly when the authorities reach out to you for clarification. There are also “agents” who can claim to be able to obtain an FET Form without the need for funds to come from overseas. This is not legal. Moreover, you would not want to jeopardise your application by submitting something an untruth.

The application procedure

Please note that there may be some changes in the future. This is accurate as of the day of posting. The application is

Step 1: Property purchase and Thai ownership compliance

Finalise the purchase of your freehold condominium worth at least THB 3,000,000. The funds must be transferred from overseas. You will also need to verify that your ownership of the property is compliant (i.e. within the foreign quota limits).

Step 2: Obtain Certification Letter from Ministry of Tourism and Sports

This is done by submitting the property documents, bank forms and a copy of your passport to Thailand Longstay Service Co., Ltd (TLS). There is a one-time membership fee of THB 4,000 and an annual service fee of THB 27,000. They will obtain the Certification Letter from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports on your behalf.

Step 3: Obtain the 90-day visa

With the Certification Letter, you can obtain an initial 90-day Non-Immigrant ‘B’ (Investment) permit from the designated immigration office.

Step 4: Obtain the 12-month extension

Before the expiry of the 90-day permit, you will need to return to immigration to file for the full 12-month extension (this will be facilitated by TLS). This extension is renewable as long as the property is maintained under your name.

Documents required

Personal Documents:

Completed TLS operator application and visa support forms.

Full passport scan (every single page, including blanks). The passport must have at least 6 months of validity remaining.

Passport-format photos.

If applying for dependents later: Marriage and/or birth certificates (must be translated into Thai and legalised or certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or your embassy).

Property and Financial Documents:

Foreign Exchange Transaction Form (FET Form): Issued by a Thai bank, proving the THB 3,000,000 was transferred from a foreign source in a foreign currency specifically for purchasing real estate.

Sale and Purchase Agreement

Chanote Title Deed: Must be registered in your name at the Land Office. (For Bangkok properties, the transfer must have been registered on or after October 1, 2020).

House Registration (Tabien Baan): The yellow or blue residency book for the property.

Land Office Transfer Receipt: The official government receipt showing property transfer fees were paid.

Occupancy Verification Photos: Three specific photos of you at the property:

Standing in front of the building façade (with the building name clearly visible).

Standing at the unit entrance (with the room number legible).

Standing inside the living area of the unit.

Seller’s Documents:

If buying from a Thai individual: A copy of their Thai ID card and their house registration.

If buying from a developer or company: Current company registration documents and the shareholder list (BOJ5 form) proving the company is majority Thai-owned (over 50%).

Timelines to take note of:

TLS Verification Processing (Step 2): Takes approximately 7 to 10 business days.

The “15-21 Day Rule”: When you go to Immigration for your initial 90-day permit (Step 3), you must have at least 15 to 21 days of permitted stay remaining on your current tourist visa or visa exemption. If you have less than that, Immigration will likely reject the application and force you to do a border run to get a fresh entry stamp.

When to Start the Process: Because TLS takes up to two weeks to issue the Ministry Certification, applicants should initiate the TLS submission at least 30 to 45 days before their current Thai visa expires.

Visa Issuance: The 90-day permit is usually issued on the same day as your Immigration appointment. The 12-month extension processing time varies by the specific immigration office but is finalised within the initial 90-day window.

Summary of the 3-million-baht Investment Visa

The target audience is foreigners looking for a long-term, renewable residency option by purchasing a condominium worth at least THB 3,000,000. The condominium must be a freehold condominium and the money must be transferred from overseas in a foreign currency. The Thai bank must issue a FET Form. The condominium must be completed as only when a condominium is completed, will you obtain a title deed with your name on it. Before a condominium is completed in Thailand, the buyer will only have a beneficial interest in the future unit. There is no title deed with the buyer’s name on it. As this is one of the documents required for the application of this visa, the condominium you are using for the application needs to be a completed condominium.

The advanced option would be…

The Long Term Resident Visa under the Wealthy Global Individual option. Please see my previous article for details.

In a nutshell, to qualify as a Wealthy Global Individual, you must:

• Have assets of at least USD 1 million
• Have an annual income of at least USD 80,000 for the past 2 years
• Make an investment of at least USD 500,000 in Thai government bonds or Thai property or a combination of both

The main benefits of this Long Term Resident Visa over the 3-million-baht Investment Visa are:

1. 10 year validity
2. Reduced reporting (annual reporting vs 90-day reporting)
3. Tax benefits in the form of exemption on foreign-sourced income

Please note that these procedures and guidelines may change. It is important to check with the relevant authorities at the point of application for the latest procedures and guidelines.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl

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If you have ever attended any of my webinars, you would have seen this particular slide.

This is a Venn diagram which I created. I usually talk about these four factors as things investors should apply their minds to when looking to invest in a certain city. In such instances, investors would be comparing various cities when looking at buying an overseas property. For example, a Singaporean may be considering whether to purchase a property in London, Australia, Thailand or Vietnam. In this case, what is his method of comparison? What metric should he peg one country against another?

I broke this down into 3 columns which essentially are 4 essential factors to consider. These are the same exact 4 factors that a rational buyer would consider when deciding whether to purchase property in that jurisdiction.

The 4 factors are:

1. Whether the country has a robust legal system
2. Whether there is a prevalent resale and rental market
3. Whether there is economic growth
4. Whether the country is socially and politically stable

Factor 1: Whether the country has a robust legal system

When I use the word robust, I am referring how well the legal system in the country is able to react to disputes. In other words, whether property buyers and owners have legal recourse to matters. If a buyer purchases from a developer and the developer does not deliver on its promise. For example, in the event that the property delivered is not what was promised like if the unit is smaller than what was stated in the sales and purchase agreement. In such an instance, can the buyer take the developer to court and if he can, will it be restrictively high? Or will it be difficult to sue the developer?

Then there is the consideration as to whether contracts in a certain country hold any weight. If a landlord enters into a contract with a tenant, will parties respect the contract. If one party breaches the contract, will the recourse be effective. Can the court in that jurisdiction grant the remedies that the other party seeks. It may be in the form of damages or specific performance.

When you are thinking of legal matters, you would also need to consider whether foreigners can actually hold property in their name. It would be a lot safer for the property to be held in your personal name rather than having to set up complex trust structures to own properties. For example, foreigners are not allowed to own properties in Indonesia. In such cases, an Indonesian company would be set up and the foreigner would own a certain number of shares of the company with the rest being held by one or more local nominees. The Indonesian company would then own the property. This, to me, raises many concerns. Most notably would be if the nominees decide to stake a claim in the property. Such an arrangement is also to circumvent certain restrictions which were put in place to restrict foreign ownership. It is not clear whether such arrangements would hold in court. Therefore, when purchasing properties, it is important, to me, that the title deed bears your own name.

Factor 2: Whether there is a prevalent resale and rental market

When we enter into an investment, we need to consider whether there is an exit strategy. It is easy to say that you will hold the property for a certain number of years before selling it off. However, a property is extremely illiquid. Even in a very vibrant property market, you will need time to sell the property. It is not like stocks where you can go to the stock market and get a sale done very quickly.

In this case, before you make a purchase, you will need to think of the platform which you will be selling your property on. It may not be you who will be selling off the property. It may be your agent who is doing the selling. However, you should know what are the platforms available that can reach out to prospective buyers.

If you are looking to collect rent on your property, you will need to ensure that there is a market for tenants and landlords. You should see signs of this market on property platforms. A simple example of this would be what we have in Singapore in the form of PropertyGuru. Therefore, as for overseas purchasers, you will need to see whether the property market which you are entering has a PropertyGuru equivalent. A platform that actively has new listings with older listing being taken up gradually.

Factor 3: Whether there is economic growth

Property prices move in tandem with economic growth. This is because the local demand for property is typically the main driver for property prices, not overseas buyers. Yes this can be a revelation and a shock to some but it is true as the sky is blue. I have heard many buyers remarking that the local Thais do not have the money to purchase condominiums. However, the truth could not be further from the truth. The locals purchase way more properties than the foreigners. There is good reason for them to do so as well. They see it as a good hedge for inflation. It is not uncommon for an upper middle class Thai family to own multiple properties.

Therefore, you must look at whether there is economic growth in the country. An extreme would be Burma or Ukraine. War ravaged countries hare little economic growth and prospects. This is one of the main reasons why property prices in these countries are not rising.

Economic growth presents itself in many ways. A simple way to measure would be to look at the country’s reported gross domestic product (GDP). However, this number is usually indicative of how the economy has performed and not an indication of how it will perform. We need to know that there will be economic growth in the future to predict if there will be a possibility that the overall wealth of the country will rise and consequently, property prices will move in the same trajectory.

Look out for whether the country is open to trade. Is it part of some greater plan? Like how Thailand, namely Bangkok is in the centre of China’s One Belt One Road initiative and hence has a mega rail network in place to be a conduit for Chinese goods and services to the rest of South East Asia.

Other countries should have such plans as well. Consider them wisely and decide whether this is something that would aid in the wealth creation of that country. Not every government in the world is as wealthy as Singapore’s. Spending on big ticket infrastructure projects will typically yield healthy returns in the future. Look out for such plans from these governments.

Factor 4: Whether the country is socially and politically stable

Social stability refers to when a country is collectively stable. It has a fixed set of norms and is unlikely to change. When you are looking to invest, a socially stable environment is more ideal than one that is not socially stable. Imagine a situation where the society is unstable. One where there is racial unrest and general distrust among certain groups in society. In comparison, a socially stable society is one like Singapore where various races live harmonously together. Social norms are well developed and in general, there is little to no civic unrest.

Political stability refers to the stability of the ruling party or government of the day. To have political stability is to allow the ruling party to follow through with their plans for the country. Imagine one government coming up with certain policies and plans to advance the economy and then losing the next election. The next government then reverses on the policies and goes in a totally different direction.

Social stability and political stability do not need to move in tandem. For example, Thailand can be said to be very socially stable. There is a general acceptance of foreigners in the country. Buddhism is the main religion with religious freedoms granted to other religions. The various races live harmoniously together. However, Thailand is extremely politically unstable. It changes government extremely frequent. In such a situation, one can argue that even though the government changes frequently, the consideration should be whether the general direction of the governments that follow veer in a similar direction as the ones that came before.

There are other factors which I did not consider 

Those 4 factors, in my humble opinion, should form the backbone of your thought process when investing in overseas properties. They are other factors but these factors which I will postulate are not universally applicable. One such factor is proximity to your place of residence. For example, after comparing Bangkok and New York, I may decide that New York is a better property investment destination. However, because it is far away from my place of residence, Singapore, I will not consider it because I am not someone who likes to travel such long distances to deal with my property if ever I needed to. Another consideration would be communication. While some people may pick London over Bangkok because the mode of communication in the UK is English, this may not be a consideration for someone who understands Thai.

Therefore, while there are other factors for consideration, I would urge buyers to stick to my first 4 factors before moving on to any additional factors. Those 4 factors can and should be applied by every buyer looking to invest in an overseas property. It applies to any individual of any nationality resigning in any country who is looking to purchase properties outside of his or her country.

In closing, I cannot stress the fact that every investment comes with a certain level of risk. Buyers need to understand these risks. Naturally, as you are not a resident of the country which you are investing in, overseas property investment is usually frought with a higher degree of risk. However, knowing what to look out for can aid a buyer to mitigate such risk.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl

The post Four factors to consider when investing in overseas properties appeared first on Daryl Lum's Blog.

It was posted on the 23rd of October at 11:21 pm on CNA’s website.

My displeasure with this statement is two-fold.

My first gripe is that this comes less than a week after Norwood Grand sold 84% of its units at an average per square foot price of SGD$2,067 at its launch. Why did these analysts not make this comment before the launch? Did this analysis come to mind within the last week?

My next gripe is that the statement assumes that the commercial property market is disconnected from the residential market. Is it not the case that the property market moves in general tandem? The investment landscape in Singapore is very limited. Our stock market, the SGX, provides little promise for strong returns. It is a bourse for traditional blue chip stocks with little to no IPOs on the mainboard (I believe there was only one IPO this year). So then Singaporeans and Singapore residents typically overweight property in their investment portfolio. Our property market is not always driven by fundamentals but in many instances, investors are flocking in for fear of missing out. The notion of “better buy now if not prices will be more expensive in the future” is very prevalent. Gone are the days when property buyers buy a property because the property fits their needs. Instead, property purchases are driven by the thinking that one can make a handsome profit in the future. Property agents, property agencies and developers know this. When a commercial property is mooted to a property buyer, it will always be “This is a good investment because you can get [a certain] yield” and “You can sell it off at a certain profit in the future”. Usually, the reasons are because of location, transportation, and growth plans from the government, namely the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). And almost all of these factors for growth and prospects are similar to if a residential property was the point of contention. So my question is, if the reasons for why you would buy a commercial property and residential property in the same area, say Woodlands, are similar, why pass the comment that commercial properties in Woodlands have to remain competitive to deal with competition from Johor but then nothing is said about residential properties in the same area?

Sounds contradictory? Well, it is contradictory. The basis for you making the statement that Johor commercial rents are low and hence commercial rents in Woodlands need to be commensurate such rents should apply to residential properties. One group of individuals who should have knowledge of this statement before they make the purchase would be the buyers of Norwood Grand.

My stand is this: We do not know what the future holds. Properties in Woodlands may eventually accelerate and the average per square foot price of Norwood Grand may eventually rise significantly above the average per square foot launch price of SGD$2,067. Buyers would be able to make healthy profits even after deducting interest costs, stamp duties and agent fees. However, for analysts to comment in such a manner where their position on the investment potential of properties in Woodlands shifts over the course of a few weeks or possibly even days is really strange. If businesses can choose to move to Johor if rents are cheaper, so can workers. In fact, shifting a worker from a residential property in Woodlands to Johor is much simpler than shifting an office, factory or warehouse from Woodlands to Johor. Imagine the impact it would have on all staff, suppliers, vendors and clients. The company will also have to deal with a new regulatory environment and also trade in a different currency. Remember this, we are always focusing on the ease of connectivity between the two countries to validate our decision to invest in places like Woodlands and Jurong. People move bilaterally. Easy connectivity does not mean solely that people from Malaysia will find it easier to come to Singapore to work. It can also mean that people in Singapore will find it easier to enter Malaysia to work.

My question to these analysts: So which is easier? For a company to shift its operations from Woodlands to Johor or for a worker living in Woodlands to shift his residence from Woodlands to Johor? Especially if that worker is a Malaysian.

Let us now consider whether such a statement is in line with what has constantly been reported.

Median resale prices for HDB flats have climbed the most in heartland areas over the past two and a half years. Woodlands and Sembawang being the towns with the greatest increases.

There are HDB flats in Woodlands being sold for over a million dollars.

Now the question is whether we can segregate HDB price increases from the private residential market. My answer to this question is that the HDB and private residential market should be moving very much in tandem. Since the introduction of the draconian additional buyers’ stamp duties (ABSD) on foreigners, the number of foreigners purchasing private residential properties has slowed to a trickle. It is essentially non-existent. As for HDB flats, it is for Singaporeans and Singapore PR couples. Therefore, the group of people purchasing HDB flats and private residential properties are essentially the same. If HDB flat prices are rising, private residential prices should be rising correspondingly.

Now if commercial property prices move in tandem, or at least track to a large degree, private property prices, then would commercial property prices not be on an uptrend as well? Why then the sudden warning that commercial property rents need to be competitive to match those in Johor?

I just think that such a comment is uncalled for and if there is a basis for such a comment, that basis should similarly apply to residential properties. If so, then would property prices in Woodlands be overpriced? SGD$2,067 per square foot for a 99-year leasehold condominium? Just for discussion’s sake, an SGD$2 million loan at 3% interest for 20 years would come up to a monthly repayment of SGD$11,092 per month. How much are individuals paying for their mortgages or rents across the causeway?

Here is an article from ChannelNewsAsia: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/today/big-read/johor-property-market-remains-hot-singapore-buyers-have-their-work-cut-out-making-right-investment-big-read-4363096

So does it still make sense?

Yours sincerely,

Daryl

The post Conflicting reports by analysts and news sources do not help property buyers appeared first on Daryl Lum's Blog.

As ECs, at launch, are public housing, therefore, purchasers will need to form a core family nucleus to purchase an EC. A core family nucleus is formed by the core members. The core members are the applicants and occupiers who enable the household to qualify to purchase and own an EC under one of the eligibility schemes. All core members must be the applicants, remain as applicants and occupy the EC during its minimum occupation period (MOP). If their names are removed, the household will be ineligible to own that EC unit.

For example, a household consists of a husband and wife and two children. The husband and wife are the core members as the EC was purchased under the husband and wife or spouse scheme.

Let us break the EC application into steps.

Step 1: Consider your eligibility

Eligible Households

The household must have one of the following groups as its core members to be eligible to purchase an EC

1. Fiance and fiancee
2. Husband and wife
3. Parent and child
4. Siblings (must be orphaned and single)
5. Two or more singles (up to four)

Citizenship requirements

For fiance and fiancee, husband and wife and/or parent(s) with child(ren), orphaned siblings

• One party must be a Singapore Citizen.
• There must be at least another Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident (PR).

For two or more singles

• All singles applying jointly for the EC must be Singapore Citizens.

Age

• All applicants must be at least 21 years old.
• For singles who are applying jointly, they must all be at least 21 years old.

Income ceiling 

The total monthly income of all persons listed in the application must not exceed SGD$16,000.

Ownership and/or interest in property in Singapore or overseas (excluding HDB flat)

All applicants and occupiers in an EC application

• must not own or have any interest in any local or overseas private residential property; and
• may only apply for an EC 30 months after disposing of their private residential property.

If you purchase an uncompleted property, be it local or overseas, you do not have ownership of the property as the property is uncompleted. You only have a beneficial interest in that property. If you want to apply for an EC, you must not have such interest.

Ownership and/or interest in HDB flat

If an applicant owns or has an interest in an HDB flat, that flat must be disposed of within 6 months of the completion of the EC purchase. The disposal date refers to the legal completion date.

Resale levy (if applicable)

If one or more core member applicants have taken a housing subsidy, he or she will be considered a second-timer and will need to pay the applicable resale levies. If any core member has taken more than 1 housing subsidy, he or she will not be eligible to apply or be listed as a core occupier in the EC application.

Step 2: Obtain an in-principle-approval (IPA)

If you fulfil the eligibility criteria, you will next need to get an IPA from the bank. This is in essence the bank telling you that it will grant you a mortgage to purchase the property you intend to purchase. Do note that if your financial situation changes, for example, you changed your employment, then you will need to obtain a new IPA as the IPA was issued based on your previous employment.

Step 3: Submit your application to purchase an EC

You will submit your application and documents with the developer of the development which you intend to purchase. You will be given a ballot number to select a unit of your choice on the day of the launch.

Step 4: Selecting a unit on the day of the launch

You can still back out if you eventually do not want to continue the purchase. If you intend to book a unit, you will have to issue a cheque with an amount equivalent to 5% of the purchase price of the unit. The developer will grant you the Option to Purchase (OTP).

It is at this point that you will need to decide whether you intend to be on the Normal Payment Scheme (NPS) which is progressive payments or under the Deferred Payment Scheme (DPS). This is because there is a price difference. If you select DPS, the purchase price is usually 2-3% more expensive.

Subsequently, you will receive the Sale and Purchase Agreement which you will need to sign and return to the developer.

These documents will be submitted by the developer to HDB for review. At this point in time you will need to make an application to the CPF board if you intend to use your CPF monies to make payments towards your EC.

For DPS, you will not need to make payment on anything after the initial 20%.

For example, if the bank agrees to grant you a loan of 50% of the purchase price, when the property obtains its TOP and 65% of the purchase price is due, you will need to fork out 30% in cash and the other 35% can be covered by the bank loan. (This is because the first 50% needs to be paid by the purchaser before the remaining bank loan kicks in. Here, there was already an initial 5% + 15% paid when the OTP was granted and upon signing of the S&P.)

An additional example, if the bank agrees to grant you a loan of 60% of the purchase price, when the property obtains its TOP and 65% of the purchase price is due, you will need to fork out 20% in cash and the other 45% can be covered by the bank loan. (This is because the first 40% needs to be paid by the purchaser before the remaining bank loan kicks in. Here, there was already an initial 5% + 15% paid when the OTP was granted and upon signing of the S&P.)

For NPS, you will need to make payments progressively. The point at which your bank loan kicks in is also dependent on the amount of loan that the bank is willing to extend to you. For example, if the bank is willing to loan you 60% of the purchase price, you will need to make payments on the first 40% before the bank loan kicks in. In this case, referring to the chart below, you will need to make payments up to the completion of the reinforced concrete framework. After which, the bank loan will be disbursed progressively. When the bank loan is disbursed, you will only pay instalments on the amount disbursed. So if the first disbursement is at the point where the brick walls are completed, your bank loan is based on that 5% of the purchase price. Consequently, your instalments will be based on this 5% over the tenure granted and not the full 60%. Therefore, your instalments start small and gradually increase when the property is completed.

Credit: The design team at Little Big Red Dot

My take:

Considering the fact that the difference is about 2-3% of the purchase price, I would go for the Normal Payment Scheme (NPS) over the Deferred Payment Scheme (DPS). That 2-3% is about half the price of the stamp duty that you will need to pay for the property purchase. While it is very common for individuals to opt for DPS on the pretext that they can put that money to work in other forms of investments, the truth is that Singaporeans typically only have one investment and that is their property. Moreover, purchasers of ECs cannot make any private property investments. Be it locally or overseas, residential or otherwise. If you look at the comparison closely, you are only deferring 40% of the payments. At the point the development obtains its TOP, the bank loan will start. Additionally, as I mentioned, the instalments are only on the disbursed amount. If you consider a 5% disbursement on a $2 million loan over 20 years, at a 3% interest rate for a 25-year loan tenure, the monthly instalment is $474.

A 3% difference in that $2 million works out to be $60,000. Hence, selecting DPS merely defers your instalments of hundreds up to a few thousand over a year or so in exchange for you making a purchase on that same property for a few tens of thousands more.

Personally, it does not make sense to me.

But that is just my take.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl

The post The Normal Payment Scheme and Deferred Payment Schemes for Executive Condominiums appeared first on Daryl Lum's Blog.

Let us consider this example: A Malaysian would like to purchase a THB 7 million condominium in Bangkok

There is a 30% downpayment for the condominium.

The Malaysian would need to pay THB 2.1 million for the condominium to Bangkok. However, he cannot make this payment in baht but rather, he has to make this payment in a foreign currency. His obvious currency of choice would be the Malaysian ringgit.

So he goes on to a currency conversion site like XE currency and checks the exchange rate and this is what he sees.

As of 9th July 2024, the exchange rate is 1 Malaysian ringgit to 7.73 Thai baht. If he wants to transfer THB 2.1 million exactly, he would need to transfer 271,513.45 ringgit to the developer’s Thai bank account.

However, this is the rate that XE Currency is offering. When the ringgit reaches the developer’s Thai bank, it will be converted based on the rate at the Thai bank. This rate can be higher or lower than XE currency. Moreover, the money will only reach the developer’s Thai bank in perhaps a day or two. The rate would be different. There is also the issue of bank charges for the telegraphic transfer. In short, it is close to impossible for him to make a transfer that will equate to the developer receiving exactly THB2,100,000. Since the developer requires exactly THB 2,100,000 and no less, the only option would be to transfer a bit more. The issue is how much more?

The Malaysian would know the bank charges on his end, i.e. his Malaysian bank. However, he may not know the bank charges over at the developer’s end. Yes, the bank charges can be found on the bank’s website but different types of accounts may have different charges for telegraphic transfers. Therefore, the prudent thing to do in my opinion would be to buffer for 5% more. In this case, I would advise the Malaysian purchaser to transfer at least 105% x 271,513.45 = 285,089.12 ringgit. In fact, I would round it up to the nearest thousand and advise that he transfer 286,000 ringgit.

The question that results from this would be, “How then are excess monies paid accounted for”?

The answer to that would be that excess monies can be rolled over to the next time the purchaser needs to make another payment. In this case, when the condominium is completed, the developer will require the purchaser to make the final 70% payment of the THB 7 million. The purchaser can offset the previous excess payments in this payment. However, I would still recommend that the purchaser makes the transfer without considering the previous excess payment. The excess payments can be consolidated and then returned to the purchaser when he or she collects the keys to the property. This is in the form of a cheque which can then be banked into a Thai bank account.

At every stage of the transfer, the developer will provide an update in table form as to how much money has been paid. Therefore, there will be a record as to the excess monies that were transferred.

This is an example using a property I purchased. It was some time ago and hence the payment schedule for this development consisted of quite several transfers. I thought that this would be a good illustration of how organised the schedule provided by a developer is. Do note that the payment schedule these days is a lot less complex. It is usually two transfers of 15% with one final transfer of 70%.

The table above was sent to me via email every time I made a transfer. From there I could tally the excess payments I made and eventually, the developer returned the excess amount to me in the form of a cheque. I banked it into a Bangkok Bank account. I opened that bank account using the sales and purchase agreement of the condominium. This is what happens when foreigners purchase a condominium from Thailand.

I cannot say that this is the norm for all property developers. However, I have dealt with just about all major property developers in Bangkok and this is how they deal with all foreign purchasers and money transfers. This is the reason why I have always reiterated that foreign buyers should be making Thai property purchasers from established developers. The process is well settled and communication is extremely organised and easy to understand.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl

The post How will I know how much foreign currency to pay for my Thai property? appeared first on Daryl Lum's Blog.

The best visa for most would be the Long Term Resident Visa

This requires a proper understanding of the tax code in Thailand to know why I made that statement. When you are in your retirement years, one of the considerations has to be capital preservation. There were changes in the interpretation of the Thai tax code recently. The major change would be that a Thai tax resident’s income derived from employment or business from abroad or from assets located abroad is subject to tax when this income is brought back into Thailand. An individual is a Thai tax resident if he or she is physically located in Thailand for more than 180 days. So long as that individual is in Thailand at any point of the day, that will be considered as one day that he or she is physically located in Thailand. For example, if an individual leaves Thailand at 1201 am, then that person will be deemed to be in Thailand for that day even though he or she is in Thailand for a minute. This is the same if that individual lands in Thailand at 1159 pm. Even though that individual is in Thailand for one minute of that day, that will be considered as one day that he or she is physically in Thailand. This is why we never advise clients to leave it to the very last day to leave Thailand to not reach the 180-day limit.

An example of this affecting a foreigner who is a Thai resident would be a Singaporean who realised capital gains on investment and would like to bring those monies into Thailand. In Singapore, capital gains are not taxed. However, the Thai tax code will tax capital gains and starting from 1st January 2024, capital gains from abroad that are brought into Thailand by a tax resident will be taxed. The Singaporean who is residing in Thailand because he is a retiree and has moved to Thailand to retire would be affected by this. If he had remained in Singapore, he would not have to pay capital gains tax on his Singapore investment gain. However, now he would have to pay capital gains tax in Thailand on his Singapore investment gain. It would not be ideal for him to leave the money outside of Thailand because he is living in Thailand. He needs to use this money for his retirement.

There is, however, a visa that provides for an income tax exemption for income derived from employment or business from abroad or from assets located abroad when this income is brought back into Thailand. This is the Long Term Resident Visa and the three categories under this visa which qualify for this exemption are Wealthy Global Individual, Wealthy Pensioner and Work from Thailand Professional.

Retirees or wealthy individuals will likely bring their money from their home country into Thailand. Also, it is difficult for a retiree to bring all their money into Thailand before becoming a tax resident (and hence subjecting themselves to the Thai tax code). This is because there might be retirees who may want to try retiring in Thailand for a year or so before committing to the country long-term. Hence retirees usually have investments outside of Thailand. By the time they choose to liquidate their investments and move their monies into Thailand, they would have already become Thai tax residents and would be subject to the Thai tax code. Therefore, with the advent of the Long Term Resident Visa, a foreigner who can qualify for it should apply under this scheme rather than the usual retirement visa. This also puts paid to the Thai Elite Visa, although I do suspect that amendments will be made to that visa to put it in line with what the Long Term Resident Visa offers.

The best medical facilities are in Bangkok

While Thailand offers many retirement cities, the best medical facilities are still in Bangkok. In fact, in a recent Newsweek ranking of the best hospitals in Thailand, the top 17 hospitals are all located in Bangkok. While it is still possible to live outside of Bangkok and travel to Bangkok as and when medical treatment is required, most retirees will choose to live in Bangkok for ease of access to these medical facilities.

This is an important consideration when investing in Thai property as medical tourism is huge for the country. Be it for rent or sale, properties in Bangkok will always avail themselves to a class of individuals who want to use these properties as a place to live while they seek medical treatment within the kingdom. Bumrungrad International Hospital is listed within the world’s best hospital list by Newsweek. This hospital is located in the Nana and Asoke area and is one of the reasons why properties in that area have a steady demand from tenants. If you have never been to a top-class medical facility, I implore you to do a full body medical checkup at Bumrungrad International Hospital to understand the standard of medical care in Bangkok. It is a very cost-effective way to get a full body check-up at a world-class medical facility. When you are there, you can observe the number of foreigners who are patronising the hospital for medical services.

Immovable property in Thailand has to be dealt with with a Thai will

The concept of lex situs applies to immovable property. The law of the land will deal with the immovable property that sits on that land. If you are looking to acquire property in Thailand, do note that you will need to do up a will in Thailand to deal with the distribution of that property upon your demise. For example, a Japanese cannot will his Thai property in his Japanese will. He will need to do a separate will in Thailand to deal with his Thai property. If there is no Thai will done, the property will be distributed in accordance with Thai intestate succession laws. Retirees who purchase Thai properties need to make a Thai will. On top of that, if retirees decide to spend their final days in Thailand, upon their demise, they will need assistance with executing their will as such matters will need to be dealt in Thailand.

This is where they should have points of contact in Thailand who are familiar with not only dealing with Thai wills but who are also familiar with dealing with Thai properties. In most cases, the property management company should be able to deal with these matters for their clients. A property management company is usually engaged when the owner of the Thai property is not residing in Thailand and would need someone in Thailand to manage and deal with property related matters. The property management company should be notified as to the existence of the will and its contents. A good property management company would assist the deceased’s beneficiaries with the transfer of the property to his or her name. Therefore, it is important that the Thai property owner not only does a will, he or she informs the property management of the existence of the will and its contents.

It becomes a bit more tricky when the property owner is residing in the property that he or she purchases. This is the case with most retirees. Therefore, there is little to no communication with a property agent if the property owner is residing in his or her own property. This is different when a property is being rented out and there are renewals and rental payments. There is often constant communication between the property owner and the property management company. Retirees who live in their properties do not have this communication. The best thing they can do is to inform someone that they can trust to handle their matters when they pass on.

Tax matters

In just about every visa application, the applicant needs to produce a police certificate to state that the individual has not been convicted of an offence in Thailand. Tax offences are still offences. Therefore, one of the ways in which a foreigner can be convicted of an offence is to breach the Thai tax code.

There are broadly two categories of taxes. Personal income taxes and corporate taxes. If the Thai tax resident owns a property, then he or she will need to pay property taxes. Do note that if an individual is collecting rental income from his property, that is classified as personal income if the property is under his or her personal name. If the property is held by a Thai company, then that Thai company will need to include that rental income as corporate income taxes. Property taxes are taxes that are paid because an individual is holding a property. This tax needs to be paid irregardless of whether the property is rented out or not. It is paid because the property is being held by an individual or a company.

It is important to have a proper tax advisor or at least a property management company that can help you with such tax filing related matters.

Reporting

Despite obtaining the relevant visa that allows an individual to reside in Thailand, he or she needs to adhere to the reporting requirements. These are the requirements for an individual to report to the relevant immigration offices. The visa holder needs to do this reporting to maintain the relevant visa. There are immigration specialist companies that will aid the visa holder to do the reporting on his or her behalf. All they need to obtain is a power of attorney to do the reporting on their behalf.

This reporting requirement can be quite strict. If it is not adhered to, there may be fines which the visa holder has to pay. In the worst of cases, the visa may not be renewed.

If you are looking to retire in Bangkok, it would serve you well to know these few pointers. It is important that as a foreigner we do not fall foul of any Thai laws. Negligence is still an offence and is not a valid excuse to constitute as an exemption.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl

The post I would like to retire in Bangkok, what do I need to take note of? appeared first on Daryl Lum's Blog.

SHORT TERM VISAS (Less than 1 year)

Tourist visa

The most common type of visa is the tourist visa. This visa is for tourists who want to visit Thailand for leisure. For some foreigners holding certain passports, they have the luxury of visa-free travel. In reality, it is not visa-free because a visa will still be issued on the spot at the Thai immigration counter by an immigration officer. The term visa-free travel means the foreigner does not have to apply for a visa before arriving in Thailand. For example, nationals from Malaysia, Singapore and China do not have to apply for a visa ahead of their arrival in Thailand. They will be issued a visa on arrival in Thailand. The issued visa is up to 30 days. For some nationalities, this limit is shorter. For example, nationals from Burma will be issued a 14-day visa on arrival. Moreover, this visa-on-arrival is only if they arrive by air travel.

90-day visa

This is not a tourist visa. This is usually a visa that you need as a prelude to applying for a longer 1-year visa. The 90-day visa only allows you to enter Thailand once. The application for the 90-day visa is done in your home country. For example, if you are from Malaysia, then you will need to be in Malaysia when making the application.

You will apply for this 90-day visa as a precursor to applying for the following visas:

1. Non-immigrant B visa or Thailand Business Visa
   This visa is applicable if you want to work or conduct business in Thailand
2. Non-immigrant O visa (retirement) or Retirement Visa
   This visa is applicable if you are above 50 years old and want to retire in Thailand
3. Non-immigrant O visa (Thai spouse) or Marriage Visa
   This visa is applicable if you are married to a Thai national. This allows you to live in Thailand.

The steps to applying for the 90-day visa are as such:

1. Prepare all the required documentation for the application.
2. Submit the documents to the Thai Embassy or consulate in your home country and pay the application fee.
3. Collect your visa when it is approved (typically about 10 working days). You can enter Thailand after collecting the visa.

The documents and eligibility criteria are:

1. A valid passport with at least 6 months of validity
2. Your travel itinerary
3. Proof of finances (bank statement or latest pay slip from your employer)
4. (If you are applying for a non-immigration B visa) A valid work permit
5. (If you are applying for a non-immigration O visa (retirement) or retirement visa) Be at least 50 years old and produce a bank statement showing at least 800,000 THB (or equivalent)
6. (If you are applying for a non-immigrant O visa (thai spouse) or marriage visa) A valid marriage certificate

LONG TERM VISAS (1 year or more)

Retirement Visa

The retirement visa has the following benefits and features:

1. 1 year uninterrupted stay in Thailand
2. The retirement visa is renewable annually
3. The ability to exit and re-enter Thailand
4. The ability to renew the retirement visa without having to leave Thailand

The documents and eligibility criteria are:

1. Must be 50 years old or older
2. Have a valid foreign passport
3. Proof of residence in Thailand (6-month rental contract or ownership of Thai property)
4. Meet one of the following financial requirements:
   a) Place THB 800,000 as a security deposit (This must be done at least 2 months before the application)
   b) Have a monthly income of THB 65,000
   c) Have a combination of both a) and b)
5. Have proof of 4.
   a) Proof of the security deposit (A copy of the bank book with a local bank showing the deposit)
   b) A letter from the Thai embassy verifying the income of THB 65,000
   c) A combination of both a) and b)
6. A Police Clearance Certificate (to show that you do not have any criminal record in Thailand)
7. Medical Certificate.
8. A copy of your health insurance in Thailand with a minimum coverage of USD$100,000
9. Any other documents

(Items 6, 7 and 8 are not required if the application is done in Thailand)

If the application is done from outside of Thailand:

Step 1: Apply for a 90-day non-immigrant O visa (retirement) with the nearest Thai embassy in your country of residence
Step 2: Travel to Thailand and remain in Thailand for at least 60 days
Step 3: You can apply for the Retirement Visa in the final 30 days of your 90-day non-immigrant O visa (retirement)

If the application is done from within Thailand:

Step 1: Have a valid tourist visa or visa exemption while in Thailand
Step 2: Have a Thai bank account
Step 3: Apply for the non-immigrant O visa (retirement) with the Thai Immigration Office
Step 4: Apply for the Thai Retirement Visa

Dependent Retirement Visa (spouse)

This visa is applicable for spouses of individuals who are holding retirement visas. This allows the spouse to also retire in Thailand even though he or she has not reached the age of 50. If he or she is above the age of 50, he or she can apply for a retirement visa.

The Dependent Retirement Visa has the following benefits and features:

1. It is renewable on an annual basis
2. It is valid so long as the marriage is valid and will be cancelled if the marriage has ended
3. Both parties will require a passport with at least 6 months of validity

The documents and eligibility criteria are:

1. Must be legally married and remain legally married to maintain the Dependent Retirement Visa
2. Marriage certificate
3. The retirement visa holder will need to produce documentary proof that he or she can support his or her spouse

To maintain your Retirement Visa and Dependent Retirement Visa

1. Report to the Thai Immigration Office every 90 days. If you leave the country, the 90-day count will start from zero. The reporting can be done in person or you can appoint a professional to do the reporting on your behalf. You will need to provide them with a power of attorney to do so. The reporting can be in person at the Thai Immigration Office or via mail or online
2. If you choose to leave Thailand, you will need to obtain a re-entry permit. You can do so at any immigration office or just before you leave Thailand
3. You need to renew your Retirement Visa every year. You will need to have the appropriate funds in your bank account (the criteria when you applied initially) at least 3 months before proceeding with the renewal
4. You are not allowed to work in Thailand

5-year Retirement Visa

If you are very sure about Thailand being your retirement destination, you can acquire the 5-year Retirement Visa.

The 5-year Retirement Visa’s main difference when compared to the usual Retirement Visa is that it allows the individual to reside in Thailand for up to 10 years instead of just 1 year. It can only be renewed once for a total of 10 years.

The documents and eligibility criteria are:

1. Must be 50 years old or older
2. Must be a national of one of these countries: Japan, Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Canada, the USA
3. Have a valid foreign passport
4. Meet one of the following financial requirements:
   a) Have a deposit of at least THB 3 million or equivalent in your bank account
   b) Have a deposit of at least THB 1.8 million or equivalent in your bank account and an annual income of at least THB 1.2 million or equivalent.
5. A Police Clearance Certificate (to show that you do not have any criminal record in Thailand)
6. Medical Certificate to show proof that you are not suffering from any of the following: any drug addiction, elephantiasis, leprosy, tuberculosis or syphilis.
7. A copy of your health insurance in Thailand with a minimum coverage of THB 400,000 for inpatient care and THB 40,000 for outpatient care.
8. Any other documents

To maintain your 5-year Retirement Visa

1. Report to the Thai Immigration Office every 90 days. If you leave the country, the 90-day count will start from zero. The reporting can be done in person or you can appoint a professional to do the reporting on your behalf. You will need to provide them with a power of attorney to do so. The reporting can be in person at the Thai Immigration Office or via mail or online
2. Maintenance requirement for the first year: Maintain at least THB 3 million in the individual’s bank account or at least THB 1.8 million and an annual income of THB 1.2 million.
3. Maintenance requirement for the second year onwards: Maintain at least THB 1.5 million in the individual’s bank account.
4. Report to Thai immigration annually to provide an update on the individual’s qualifications.
5. The individual is not allowed to work in Thailand.

Marriage Visa

This visa is for individuals who are legally married to a Thai national. This visa allows the individual to live in Thailand and is a route towards permanent residency in Thailand.

The Marriage Visa has the following benefits and features:

1. It is a 1-year extended stay visa
2. It is renewable on an annual basis
3. There is no need to obtain a re-entry permit when flying in and out of Thailand during the visa period
4. The Marriage Visa holder can apply for a Thai work permit and work in the country for a Thai company (This makes job hunting easier as the employer will only need to deal with your work permit application without the need to deal with your visa)

The documents and eligibility criteria are:

1. Must be legally married and remain legally married to a Thai national
2. Marriage documents (the relevant marriage certificate)
3. Proof of residency in Thailand (can be the individual’s address or his or her spouse’s address)
4. Proof of a deposit of at least THB 400,000 in a Thai bank account. This needs to be there for at least 2 months before the application
5. Proof of a monthly income THB 40,000 in the form of a letter from the foreign embassy from the individual’s nationality
6. Any other required documents

The application process:

Step 1: Acquire a 90-day visa.
Step 2: Apply for the 90-day visa to be converted into a 1-year Marriage Visa. This application can only be done in the final 30 days of the 90-day visa.

Thailand Elite Visa

The Thailand Elite Visa is a long-term tourist visa. The visa is managed by the Thailand Privilege Card Company Limited. The Thailand Elite Visa allows certain affluent and high-earning foreigners to obtain a long-term multiple-entry visa to live in Thailand for up to 20 years.

The documents and eligibility criteria are:

1. Must not be a national from the following countries: North Korea, Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Central Africa, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Algeria, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen.
2. Must be a holder of a valid foreign passport
3. There is no age limit for this visa
4. Must have not been sentenced to imprisonment for any offence in any country (an exception if the offence committed is due to negligence)
5. Not a bankrupt
6. Must not be of unsound mind

To maintain The Thailand Elite Visa

1. Report to the Thai Immigration Office every 90 days. If you leave the country, the 90-day count will start from zero. The reporting can be done in person or you can appoint a Thai Elite staff to conduct this reporting on the individual’s behalf.

The types of memberships:

Gold (5-year) THB 900,000
– Valid for 5 years

Platinum (10-year) THB 1.5 million
– Valid for 10 years
– 5-year multiple entry tourist visa, renewable for another 5 years
– THB 1 million for additional family members

Diamond (15-year) THB 2.5 million
– Valid for 15 years
– 5-year multiple entry tourist visa, twice renewable for another 5 years
– THB 1.5 million for additional family members

Reserve (20-year) THB 5 million
– Valid for 20 years
– 5-year multiple entry tourist visa, thrice renewable for another 5 years
– By invitation only

Thailand Business Visa

This visa is for individuals who want to launch a business or start-up in Thailand. This is also for those who want to look for employment within Thailand.

The documents and eligibility criteria are:

1. Hold a valid passport with at least 6 months of validity
2. Complete the Non-immigration B Visa application form
3. Submit a recent (no longer than 6 months) passport-sized photograph
4. Submit proof of finances (THB 20,000 income for sole applicant and THB 40,000 income if applying with family)
5. A copy of the travel itinerary

Long-Term Resident Visa

The Long Term Resident Visa is a 10-year visa aimed at attracting talented foreigners to relocate to Thailand on a long term basis. This visa allows such foreigners to live and work in Thailand. It comes with many incentives and benefits.

There are 4 categories

1. Wealthy Global Individuals
2. Wealthy Pensioners
3. Work from Thailand Professionals
4. Highly-skilled Professionals

How to qualify as a Wealthy Global Individual

• Have assets of at least USD 1 million
• Have an annual income of at least USD 80,000 for the past 2 years
• Make an investment of at least USD 500,000 in Thai government bonds or Thai property or a combination of both

How to qualify as a Wealthy Pensioner

• Be at least 50 years old
• Have a passive income of at least USD 80,000 per annum at the time of application
• Applicants with a passive income below USD 80,000 but above USD 40,000 may be eligible if they make an investment of at least USD 250,000 in Thai government bonds or Thai property or a combination of both
• Employment income will not be considered

How to qualify as a Work from Thailand Professional

• Have an annual income of at least USD 80,000 for the past 2 years
• Applicants with an annual income below USD 80,000 but above USD 40,000 may be eligible if they have a Master’s degree or above, own any intellectual property or have a company that received Series A funding
• The employer of the applicant must be a publicly listed company on a stock exchange
• If the employer is a privately held company, the company must be operational for at least 3 years with a combined revenue of at least USD 150 million in the past 3 years.
• The applicant must have at least 5 years of experience in his or her relevant field over his or her past 10 years of employment.

Key benefit of Wealthy Global Individual, Wealthy Pensioner and Work from Thailand Professional with the Long Term Resident Visa:

These individuals are entitled to income tax exemption for income derived from employment or business from abroad or from assets located abroad when this income is brought back into Thailand.

How to qualify as a Highly Skilled Professional

• Have an annual income of at least USD 80,000 for the past 2 years
• Applicants with an annual income below USD 80,000 but above USD 40,000 may be eligible if they have a Master’s degree or above in science and technology or special expertise relevant to employment in Thailand
• The minimum income requirement is waived if the individual is applying to work in government-run institutes of higher learning, research centres, specialised training centres or government agencies
• The skill of the professional must correspond to one of the targeted industries of the Thai government
• The applicant must have at least 5 years of experience in his or her relevant field or have a PhD in the relevant field or work for a Thai government agency

Key benefit of Highly Skilled Professionals with the Long Term Resident Visa:

These individuals are entitled to a discounted personal income tax rate of 17%. In comparison, Thailand’s regular personal income tax rates range from 5% to 35%.

SMART Visa

This visa program was launched on the 1st of February 2018. This provides individuals with a proper road map to secure a visa through either employment, investment or starting a business in certain targeted industries in Thailand.

The targeted industries are:

1. Automotive
2. Electronic
3. Affluent Tourism
4. Agriculture, food and biotechnology
5. Automation and robotics
6. Transportation and logistics
7. Petrochemical and chemical
8. Digital technologies
9. Medical
10. National Defense
11. Direct and significant supporting industries for the circular economy
12. Aviation, aerospace and space
13. Human resource development in science and technology
14. Environment management and renewable energy
15. Management of Technological Innovation and Startup Ecosystem
16. Targeted technological development
17. International Business Center (IBC)
18. Alternative dispute resolution

The SMART Visa has the following benefits and features:

1. The individual can reside in Thailand for up to 4 years
2. Yearly reporting to the Thai immigration office instead of the usual 90-day reporting as with other visas
3. The ability to bring family members into Thailand on a non-immigration visa
4. The ability to work in any of the targeted industries without a work permit
5. The SMART Visa is a multi-entry visa. There is no need to apply for a re-entry permit to go out and re-enter Thailand.

As the requirements of the SMART visa are complex, I would advise potential applicants to refer to the Board of Investment, Thailand’s website on the SMART visa. This is the website: https://smart-visa.boi.go.th/smart/.

The main benefit, among others, in my opinion, is the yearly reporting instead of the usual 90-day reporting as with other visas. This particular visa is not as popular as it was expected to be.

Destination Thailand Visa

This visa will be implemented in June 2024. However, as of the time of writing, this visa has yet to be implemented. I will update this article when the Thai government is issuing this visa.

Many articles call the Destination Thailand Visa the Digital Nomad Visa. However, the actual name of the visa is Destination Thailand Visa. The reason this visa is called the Digital Nomad Visa is because the visa allows its holder to legally work remotely for international companies and clients while in Thailand.

How to qualify for the Destination Thailand Visa

• Be at least 20 years old
• Provide documentary proof that the individual has at least THB 500,000 in his or her bank account
• Provide documentary proof that he or she is employed (alternatively, the individual may apply for the Destination Thailand Visa to do one of the approved activities)

Approved activities:

• Muay Thai lessons
• Thai cuisine lessons
• Educational purposes
• Attend seminars
• Sports
• Medical treatment
• Foreign talent
• Art and music-related events

The Destination Thailand Visa has the following benefits and features:

1. The visa can be extended once for up to 180 days. The visa application fee is THB 10,000
2. The visa allows its holder to legally work remotely while in Thailand for international companies and clients
3. The visa holder can bring along his or her spouse and any children below the age of 20
4. The visa is available to 93 foreign nationalities

Please note that if the visa holder wishes to change to another visa, his or her Destination Thailand Visa will be cancelled. Moreover, while the visa holder can legally work remotely while in Thailand, he or she cannot work for a Thai company requiring a Thai work permit.

Conclusion

The more popular visas are the retirement visa, the Thailand Elite Visa and the Long Term Resident Visa. I believe that the Destination Thailand Visa will be very popular due to it allowing the visa holder to legally work in Thailand.

If you are looking for advice on how to relocate to Thailand, please consult an experienced immigration company that deals with Thai visa applications.

Yours sincerely,

Daryl

p.s. At the time of writing, I own and manage a real estate company in Thailand that specialises in dealing with Bangkok properties. My Thai company also deals with visa applications for individuals who are looking to relocate to Thailand. I also maintain a web portal InvestBangkokProperty.com where we list the various new project launches in Bangkok. The purpose of this blog article is to try to provide a comprehensive overview of the various visa options available to foreigners.

The post An overview of the various Thailand visas available to foreigners (June 2024 update) appeared first on Daryl Lum's Blog.