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  • The Phuket property nightmare

    The Phuket property nightmare
    Jonathan Head
    25 September 2015

    WUNKnBA.jpg

    The sparkling seas and warm beaches of Phuket are a magnet for sun-seeking holiday-makers and, increasingly, for foreigners seeking a comfortable and cost-efficient retirement. More than 100,000 foreigners have settled on the island - though some now bitterly regret it.

    British expat Ian Rance and Irishman Colin Vard are now living almost penniless with their children on the outskirts of Bangkok as they struggle against overwhelming odds to recover properties they bought on Phuket. Both men lost all their investments through frauds that neither of them imagined were possible.

    "I'd made my money in England and had enough to retire I thought. I was looking for a place that was warm, a place that had some rule of law, where I could live in safety and peace," says Rance, a chartered surveyor and professional arbitrator from Hertfordshire, who arrived in Phuket in 2000.

    "When I came to Thailand on a trip to Australia it sort of seemed to fit the bill."

    In 2001 Rance met and married a Thai woman called Suda and went on to have three children with her. The prime minister at the time, Thaksin Shinawatra, had started a programme called "Thailand Elite", through which he hoped to attract wealthy foreigners to settle by allowing them to own small amounts of land, something not normally permitted under Thai law.

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    Ian Rance outside his former home in Phuket SzB4UQy.jpg
    The document with Ian Rance's forged signature JxzVzxc.jpg

    In desperation, in March this year Vard went with his two children into the central branch of a Thai bank he believes is connected to the fraud, and mounted a sit-down protest. He has done the same outside the police headquarters in Bangkok, blocking the traffic. Each time he has been promised a proper investigation.

    But after five years, there has been no visible progress. The Thai police have assured the BBC that they are working on his case. The deputy governor in Phuket also promised Vard and the BBC in February that his case would be taken up, but to date nothing has happened.

    Ian Rance has a new wife now, and they have a young baby girl. His main priority he says is to provide a proper home for the four children, and put them through school. With the boys' mother in prison, and his funds exhausted, this is a huge challenge. He cannot even consider returning to the UK, because of the requirements regarding income and savings, which in his case are now insufficient.

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    I asked him what he would say to those considering retiring and buying property in Phuket.

    "Don't. Don't come here. The system of law is nowhere near as strong as you think it is going to be, there is no protection for you, and there are gangs of people victimising you. The lawyers have very little in the way of ethics or professionalism."

    Thousands of foreigners have settled in Phuket without serious difficulties. But if things do go wrong, they may find it hard to get help from the police or the judicial system.

    bbc.com
    http://thailandchatter.com/showthrea...ll=1#post45112

  • #2
    Colin Vard comment on Phuket Wan

    http://phuketwan.com/property/thai-g...ruction-23269/

    From comment section September 28, 2015 11:31


    QUOTE This is how easy it is to loose your home or business on Phuket in just one working day.

    As dawn breaks your signature is forged on a document transferring your property valued at close to 30 million Baht to a corrupt land agent.

    The land agent does not have your land title deed because it is in your safe. No problem they simply go to the local police station and report that it has been lost or destroyed.

    Without questioning the corrupt police officer writes a report confirming the loss or accidental destruction of your land title deed.

    The land agent takes the police report and the counterfeit property transfer directly to the land office.

    The corrupt land office official who is obliged by law to inform the Anti Money Laundering Office in Bangkok of suspicious dealings does not question how a house valued at close to 30 million Baht has been sold for a sum closer to 1 million Baht.

    After lunch the land agent with the newly acquired land title deed goes to the local bank manager and applies for a loan of 15 million Baht using the stolen 30 million Baht property as security.

    The loan application in total contravention of all banking regulations is approved and that afternoon 15 million Baht cash is transferred to the land agents bank account.

    This is possible because the main beneficiary of the fraud is the bank manager himself.

    The land agent vanishes and fails to make a single loan repayment.

    The Bank in due course takes possession of your 30 million Baht property and the manager profits by 15 million Baht.

    You only discover what happened when the court orders you to vacate your home.

    The criminal court rules fraud but the civil court ruling defies the law and logic. You have lost your home.

    The bank instead of taking legal action against their manager retires him on full pension and sues you the rightful owner.

    Job well done Phuket! Corruption on the island is multi layered ingrained and impenetrable.

    Sadly many have not just lost their investments but their lives too. Phuket???s final solution is the islands greatest shame the uninvestigated, unsolved suspicious deaths of foreigners.

    Now I ask would you dare invest in Phuket?

    Solution? All properties bought and sold by foreign nationals in Thailand must be verified and stamped by their Consulate or Embassy
    END QUOTE


    Posted by Colin Vard on September 28, 2015 11:31
    Ward of Lore

    Comment


    • #3
      Not just a Phuket nightmare, the whole Fukien property scene is a nest of vipers.

      i was lucky and got the chanotes to the condo and house down jomtien way, and a mate eventually got his house chanote after 6 years waiting , as the arsehole developer had remortgaged it back to the bank.

      The best one for me though was the Ocean Tower deposits in Jomtien, roll up , roll up, lick em stick em let's be aviin em, but don't hold your breath while your waiting.

      Old Mr Rance there certainly gets things up far quicker than Thai property developers

      Comment


      • #4
        See Also :

        Jonathan Head : Defamation Suit for Reports on Fraud

        http://thailandchatter.com/showthrea...ports-on-Fraud
        http://thailandchatter.com/showthrea...ll=1#post45112

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