A FORMER MP/Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan warned that allowing foreigners to lease land for 99 years because they have so requested would only benefit real estate companies that are unable to sell 1.3 million condo units, TV Channel 7 said today (July 12).
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin recently moved to relax property regulations with one being allowing foreigners to lease land for 99 years, up to 30 years with an extension of another 30 years allowed but this is considered a private agreement between the parties involved.
The other relaxation would increase foreign quota in condo buildings from 49% of unit space to 75%. However the voting right will remain restricted to those buying units within 49% which will ensure that Thais have majority control at 51%. Those buying the units in the additional 26% would be doing so to only live in them.
In his commentary on Facebook Live yesterday, Jatuporn, a lecturer of the Faculty of Integration of the People, said the unsold condo units are worth 4 trillion baht, which is more than the annual national budget.
He see relaxation of property regulations as being a continuation of the push to implement the 10,000 baht digital wallet handout project which, he said, would lead to using digital money in form of tokens or something similar to trade in Hong Kong where there is no need to prove the source of money, whether it is grey money or not.
This means aside from real estate companies the country would not get anything, he added.
“This cannot happen, especially the digital wallet, even though the people are facing difficulties, but they have to be very brave because if they give away 10,000 baht and 3,500 baht is spent on buying goods, this would increase the country’s debts by 30,000 baht.
“In total we will owe as much as 1.8 trillion baht – and even our children’s and grandchildren’s generations would not be able to clear this debt even though the original cost was only 100 million baht,” he said.
Jatuporn pointed out that his opposition to the digital wallet handout scheme does not mean that he does not want the people to get extra money but that sees it as damaging the country with there being middlemen who will benefit from the scheme.
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Top and Front Page: Former MP/Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan. Photos: Naewna
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