GENERAL questions from our clients and our answers   What is most important to think about before I buy a house or an apartment? To think properly about what you are looking for. Should it be an all year round, season or vacation living? What size do you need for family, guests and friends? Are you looking for an apartment or a house - with respective pros and cons? How big is your budget? What is most important about the location? Is it nearness to golf, to the beach or to an international school that's of value? Please write down your requirements and conditions on a paper and add and change until the picture is clear. Do I need to apply for a visa? As a Swedish citizen you automatically have a tourist visa valid for 30 days. You can also apply for a tourist visa that's valid for 60 days. The application is made in Sweden. This visa can also be extended in Thailand for another 30 days. More information can be found on the Thai embassy's home page. Don't forget that your passport must be valid at least six months from the day that you enter the country. How is the weather in Thailand? It's warm all year round, from a Swedish perspective. Otherwise Thailand has three seasons; summer from March to June, the rainy season from July to October and the cold season from November to February. The amount of rainfall is about the same as in Sweden, but in Thailand it often comes in short heavy falls. An hour later the sun is shining again. The average yearly temperature is about 28 degrees Celsius. Where can I find European food? At large hotels and in larger city's you can always find western food. Swedish favorites although are more difficult to find and can mostly only be found in common Swedish tourist areas. Is it expensive to buy a car or a motor bike in Thailand? New cars cost about the same as in Sweden and upwards, while pick-ups are somewhat cheaper. A good second hand car can cost 80-100 000 SEK. The most common standard motor bike cost about 6000 SEK. Is my Swedish drivers' license valid? No. Get an international drivers' license in Sweden before you go. Where do you recommend we stay? The taste, as for your needs and interests varies. Tell us what's important for you, and we can inform about areas that matches your desires, with its pros and cons. How is the hospital standard? The general standard is worse than in Sweden. There is however a number of private hospitals around Thailand that offers first class service. These are for the one who pays or have a valid insurance. Even private dentists hold a high international standard. The prices are lower than in Sweden. What TV-channels are there? Three Thai channels in the ground network. With a parabolic antenna or cable - TV you can find a number of English speaking movie-, news- and sport channels, as e.g. Discovery, CNN, ESPN Sport, Star Movies etc. Even SVT has a certain supply accessible in Thailand. Is Thailand a safe country to live in? Yes. Of course here's criminality as in all other countries, but if you practice normal precautions Thailand is as safe as, if not safer, than Sweden. Is my Swedish home insurance valid when I live abroad? Mostly you can buy a favorable addition to your Swedish insurance, alternatively buy a special insurance. Check with your company. During a longer stay abroad there are international insurances.   HOUSE questions from, mainly, our Swedish clients What is most important to think about before I buy a house or an apartment? To think properly about what you are looking for. Should it be an all year round, season or vacation living? What size do you need for family, guests and friends? Are you looking for an apartment or a house - with respective pros and cons? How big is your budget? What is most important about the location? Is it nearness to golf, to the beach or to an international school that is of value? Please write down your requirements and conditions on a paper and add and change until the picture is clear. May I as a Swedish citizen own a house in Thailand? Yes, it's allowed for a foreigner to own a house and lease the land the house stand on. This is a procedure that can be suitable when constructing a new house. Is it safe to lease land and house? Yes, it's safe. The lease contract is registered at the Thai authorities in periods of maximum 30 years a time. The lease where the property and/or the land is owned by private persons or, in some cases companies, can however be associated with risks. Why aren't there kitchens in all houses? In Thailand you eat out a lot more than in Sweden. Because of that not all houses are equipped with a kitchen. To install is however relatively cheap. Can I buy an own site? Yes, if you fulfill certain criteria. It is however unusual that foreigner fulfill these criteria and that's why we mostly intermediate lease sites to non - Thais. I have heard that you can launch a company that purchases what I want. It's true that you can launch a so called "Co,.Ltd." company that then buys a property. We however advise against doing this because it's illegal, at least if the company doesn't run any business in Thailand. Since June 2006 the regulation around above mentioned conceptions has been tightened considerably. The price levels of the houses you act as brokers for are how high compared to others? Generally all our objects are at a level that is equal to the average in Thailand for respective size, standard and location. We also have Thai customers so with other words these are the prices that the Thais themselves have to pay when the buy a home. When you compare, don't forget the size of the site, it's often equivalent to as much as half of the total price. What are we actually buying? What you buy is a lease contract. It's similar to that in Sweden and gives you full right to use the property. You can rebuild, sell the lease and lay out plantations and so on. In practice it works exactly as if the house and the site where your own property. How do I know what it says in all the documents and papers? Some of the documentation, contract of purchase, lease agreement, receipts etc are in Swedish already from the beginning. When it concerns other papers, above all from Thailand's equivalence to our "Central office of the Swedish national land survey", you will receive certified translations to Swedish so you know the meaning of these. What are the advantages with the lease you intermediate? The biggest advantage is the safety for you, especially because the lease is legal. Also all agreement texts are worked out for your safety, of course translated into Swedish, and we will explain everything you may find unclear. What happens when I have paid a down payment? First you will receive a receipt from us that we have received the amount. After that your down payment is deposited into a special ERA-account until the final transfer. This will protect your money in the same way as a client funds account in Sweden. Finally you will receive a copy of the contract of agreement with the seller's signature. What fees are added when I buy a lease? At all property businesses in Thailand a fee for an entry into the land register of 2.0 %, business tax of 3.0 % and also a taxation at the source of maximum 1.0 % is added. How these are divided is an agreement between the seller and the buyer. Can we build a terrace or a pool with our house? Yes. The conditions in our contracts allow all kind of construction as long as these don't strain the site. May I make up a will to give away my lease contract? Yes, all lease contracts with us can be bequeath, be sold or given away as a gift. Do you have any insurance? Yes. Just like Swedish brokers we have so called third party liability insurance. It can be used if we as brokers should make a mistake as professionals, and that mistake affects you as a customer. No other broker in Thailand has this insurance.    CONDOMINIUM questions Can I buy and own an apartment no matter what? Yes, in principle. However there are conditions that regulate how big part of the apartments in the current building that may be owned by foreigners. At the register of the purchase it's also necessary to prove that the purchase price comes from a foreign bank or something similar. What monthly fees do I have to pay? Just like in Sweden you pay a fixed monthly fee based on the apartment's size. That amount is used to cover common fees as e.g. the buildings maintenance, salaries to the service staff and so on. A kitchen is missing in many of the apartments you intermediate, why? In Thailand you eat out a lot more than in Sweden. Because of that not all houses are equipped with a kitchen. To install is however relatively cheap. Do I buy a share in a tenant's owner's society or what do I buy? Not quite. In Thailand a purchased apartment is seen as a permanent property, opposite from a property in Sweden. However you share the ownership in some common assets and also the land that the building stands on.

Even though every effort is made to assure that the information provided is as accurate as possible Oakfield Group (Thailand) Co.,Ltd.® disclaim any implied warranty or representation about it's accuracy, completeness or appropriateness for any particular purpose.