The key facts

  • Thai authorities began demolishing 22 structures in a Phuket forest reserve on November 8, including a Russian man's villa
  • The buyer claims the plot near Freedom Beach had been openly offered as private property for years
  • The seller and other suspects deny the fraud allegations

The demolition began on November 8

A Russian man named Andrei said he lost 16 million baht — roughly 39.4 million rubles — after buying a plot near Freedom Beach in Phuket. According to him, the seller passed off land belonging to a state forest reserve as private property, and his nearly completed two-story villa with a pool, which he had been building for his family, was included in the list of structures slated for demolition. This was reported, citing the Thai TV channel Nation TV, by Life.ru.

What happened at the site

Thai authorities began the demolition on November 8. The list included 22 structures located on the territory of the forest reserve, and the Russian man was present at the site when the work began. As Andrei himself recounted, plots near the beach had been openly offered for sale or rent for years: signs stood along the road, and placards on the property indicated that the land was privately owned — this, he explained, is what convinced him the deal was legitimate.

The money and accountability

Andrei intends to try to recover at least part of the money he spent, but according to him, the seller and other suspects deny the fraud allegations. The buyer himself believes that such incidents undermine investors' trust in Phuket real estate. This is not the first land deal case on the island: earlier, Life.ru reported that Thai police detained a Russian man during an investigation into the purchase of plots through shell companies.