“Ownership Solutions for Foreigners in Thailand: Navigating Land and Property Ownership”
Admin
In principle, you can own a house, but not the land on which the house has been built. As a foreigner, the honest answer is that you can’t own land directly. This certainly does not have to be an obstacle. There are regularly used solutions, which are explained in a little more detail below. To make sure you get what you want, we highly recommend getting professional legal support: in the Hua Hin area, we recommend Legal Services in Hua Hin (https://www.legalserviceshuahin.com/) and for the Pai area, we recommend MJ& Co in Chiang Mai (https://www.facebook.com/mjandco.th/).
Lease
The most common approach is to lease the land, either in- or excluding the house. Once the land is purchased, either in the name of a property developer, a Thai friend or in the name of a partner, you can register a 30-year land lease. The wording of the lease is very important, so it is always best to contact a professional lawyer to help with this. The lease gives full rights to the land, including the option to sell the lease. Renewals are generally not automatic, but can be used for two renewals of 30 years each. The lease must be registered with the land office and attached to the title deed. The costs under the currently applicable rules are 1.1% of the total rental value.
Marriage to Thai people
Foreigners who are married to Thai can buy land, but they have no rights to the land and the land must be in the name of the Thai partner. As a foreign spouse, your name and passport will be registered during the sale at the country office, but it does not grant you any rights to the land and you may need to sign a statement stating that the money used belongs to the Thai partner.
Thai company
The last option is to form a registered company in Thailand. You still can’t own land, but your Thai business can. Thai law states that you can only own 49% of the company and the remaining 51% must be owned by Thai people. This requires a professional lawyer to help you set it up, while there are many factors to consider.
