The real estate business in Thailand over the last twelve months has been somewhat of a “trying time”. Land prices have increased slightly, valuable hillside land seems to be disappearing at a steady rate, and now so called agricultural farmers are getting in on the act. I have consulted with a small number of potential land investors in need of legal advice regarding Sor Por Gor 4-01. It seems that these buyers are open to the idea of signing on the dotted line to take “possession” (if that is the right word) of the land. So the question remains “what is Sor Por Gor 4-01 title”? and most importantly can it be transferred? To put it in simple terms under the Sor Por Gor Land Reform Committee, the committee allots land to poor farmers and issues a Sor Por Kor land ownership document. This type of ownership (for want of a better word) cannot be bought, sold, or pledged as collateral for a bank loan. In other words, this land is only useful to the farmers themselves, and it can only be transferred to their heirs.
It now seems that the new Abhisit government is looking at ways to reform the current programme (which in my personal opinion desperately needs change). The general idea behind the Sor Por Gor 4-01 is that if poor farmers could pledge their most valuable asset to local banks then they risk the possibility of repossession if they default. Past governments wanted to avoid the risk of losing agricultural farm land to local Thai banks and thus can up with the ideal of the Sor Por Gor title. It really protects the agricultural mass produce rather than the farmers themselves who in most cases need to use their land as collateral for bank loans to improve their business i.e. fertilizer, seeds, machinery, local labor, reliable water and electricity supply, livestock.
In fact there have been at least two cases in Phuket alone where cash rich families have Sor Por Gor 4-01 title to at least 90 rai of prime land. During the court hearing it was clearly evident that these families were not “poor” by any means and certainly not struggling farmers trying to make a living. The land title was revoked and given back to the Land Reform Committee.
If we look back at previous governments, former prime minister Samak, wanted to rent out unused government land for a very small fee per rai instead of distributing Sor Por Kor titles. Former prime minister Thaksin wanted poor farmers to have full ownership (i.e. chanote), but this scheme never took off, and was left in a state of limbo until he was ousted in 2006.
So in essence the idea of the Sor Por Kor title is for poor local farmers only, and should not be seen, or used as a vehicle by foreign investors, cash rich Thai families, or developers, to take advantage of what seems like a “land grab” and complete disrespect for poor farmers and the spirit of the law behind the Land Reform Committee.
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