American man and Thai wife lose 15.2 million baht in Hua Hin property fraud
An American man and his Thai wife are pursuing justice after being duped by a real estate firm into buying two plots of land and a house in Hua Hin, located in the southern province of Prachuap Khiri Khan, amounting to 15.2 million baht. Despite their investment, they have been unable to gain ownership of the property.
The couple, Patrick Flippin and Vipavanee Kaewmueangklang, sought help from the non-profit organisation Saimai Survive and appeared on a news programme on Channel 7 yesterday, February 5, to seek justice.
Patrick revealed on the programme that he first arrived in Thailand in 2005. He worked and lived in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok for five years before marrying Vipavanee in 2017. He later returned to the United States for work, intending to retire in Thailand with Vipavanee.
Vipavanee explained that she came across an advertisement for a real estate project on social media and became interested in purchasing a property because they were fond of Hua Hin.
The project allowed clients to buy a plot of land and build a house according to their own design. Vipavanee liked the concept and shared the information with her husband.
They then decided to pay a 100,000 baht deposit in 2022 to reserve two plots of land in the development.
Land sold to someone else
The couple returned to Thailand in 2023 to finalise the contract and related documents. The total area of the land was 403 square metres, and they chose to build a one-storey luxury pool villa.
The total price for the two plots of land and the house was 15.2 million baht, which the couple paid in instalments of 1 million baht per month. The payments were made directly to the real estate company, and they received receipts each month.
Last year, the company informed them that their house was ready for occupancy but later postponed the move-in date by two months, rescheduling it for July.
While awaiting the completion of the house, the couple repeatedly requested that the company transfer the land ownership to them. However, the company refused, stating that the transfer would only occur after the construction was completed.
Becoming suspicious, the couple conducted further investigations and discovered that the company had already sold the land to another person, identified as Ploy, under a sale agreement with the right of redemption.
Bounced cheques
The company failed to redeem the land within the agreed timeframe, resulting in ownership passing to the buyer instead of the company or the couple.
Upon learning this, the couple demanded a full refund for the real estate development. The company agreed and issued three separate cheques to the couple.
Unfortunately, two of them bounced, and the couple was unable to claim the money. The final cheque is due to be cashed on February 17, but they are doubtful they will receive the funds.
The couple filed a complaint against the real estate company over the bounced cheque but had not yet filed a complaint over the house and land issue.
In the latest communication, the company urged them to claim ownership of the house but they refused, as they do not legally own the land.
Ekkaphop Lueangprasert, the founder of Saimai Survive, expressed his concerns over the case, suspecting that the new landowner Ploy and the real estate company’s owner conspired to defraud the couple. Ekkaphop vowed to escalate the case to the relevant law officials to ensure justice is served.
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