Thailand’s U-turn on land-for-foreigners plan leaves property sector unruffled

[BANGKOK] Thailand’s plan to sell land to foreigners was nixed just a fortnight after the news went public, and the sense is this issue won’t be revisited for a while, at least until after the next general election in May next year.

Foreign ownership of land is a notoriously sensitive political issue in South-east Asia’s second-largest economy. On Oct 25, when the cabinet agreed to consider a proposal by the Interior Ministry that would allow certain foreigners the right to purchase up to one rai (0.16 hectare) of land, it sparked an uproar in parliament amid accusations by the opposition that the government was “selling off the country”.

The draft regulation was withdrawn from the cabinet agenda on Nov 8, and this was supported by Thailand’s business community. Players in the property sector whom The Business Times spoke to say they are largely unruffled by the policy U-turn.