Three numbers get quoted constantly, and almost nobody can use the first two
Forty million baht is the investment a foreigner must bring in under section 96 bis of the Land Code to apply for permission to acquire land for residence.
One rai is the maximum area by that same route, and it needs the Minister's permission.
Forty nine per cent is the share of the total unit floor area in one condominium building that foreigners may own between them.
The third number is genuinely usable by a great many people.
The first two are used by almost nobody, because the conditions are heavy and each case needs individual approval.
So for a Thai family with a foreign spouse, none of those numbers decides anything.
What decides it is a single document that has to be signed on transfer day, and plenty of couples never learn it exists until they arrive at the land office.
The principle that comes before everything else
Section 86 of the Land Code provides that a foreigner may acquire land only by virtue of a treaty, and subject to the provisions of the Land Code.
In practice that means a foreign national cannot own land in Thailand unless a law opens a specific door.
Marriage to a Thai national is not one of those doors.
That sentence is where the whole subject starts, and it is where most people misunderstand it.
Because what marriage really creates is not a foreign right in the land, but a question about whose money bought it.
The Thai spouse can buy, but one document has to be signed
A Thai national with a foreign spouse can buy land in their own name.
But before registration, both must confirm in writing together that all of the money the Thai national is using is the personal property of the Thai national alone.
Not marital property, not jointly earned property, and no part of it owned in any share by the foreign spouse.
This is a Department of Lands procedure, not the habit of one particular officer.
And there is a detail few people know: the rule applies to a foreign spouse whether or not the marriage was registered.
A couple who have lived together for ten years without registering are therefore not exempt from this step, as many assume.
What to do when the spouse is not in Thailand
This comes up constantly, because the foreign partner is often still working in their own country.
The route that works is for them to give the statement to a Royal Thai Embassy, a Thai consulate, or a notary public in that country.
The officer records the statement in a certification letter confirming that the money the Thai national is using is their personal property, is not marital property, and that the foreign spouse holds no ownership share.
The Thai national then presents that letter to the officer at the land office on the day of registration.
The thing to plan for is time, because in some places the overseas step takes weeks, and the document may need further layers of certification.
Couples who have already paid a deposit without allowing for this are the ones scrambling in the final week.
What that document actually means
This is the part of the article to read most slowly.
Signing that letter is not a paperwork formality. It is the foreign spouse confirming that they hold no ownership share in that land.
Which means that on a later divorce, the land is the Thai spouse's personal property, not marital property to be divided.
Plenty of couples sign it without reading, assuming it is a standard form everybody signs.
It is true that everybody signs it. What it does is not a small thing.
Couples who talk about it plainly beforehand do not meet that feeling at the counter, in front of the officer and the people queueing behind them.
Nominees, and why that is the worst route of all
The advice people give is to have a Thai national hold it, or to set up a Thai company with Thai shareholders holding on your behalf.
Both have the same problem: they conceal who the owner really is.
The Land Code provides powers to investigate and to order the disposal of land a foreigner has acquired unlawfully, and sets penalties for those holding on their behalf.
But the risk that actually materialises in daily life is usually not the officials.
It is the nominee.
- The nominee dies, and the land passes to their heirs, who agreed nothing with anybody.
- The nominee has debts, and creditors enforce against that land.
- The nominee sells it to a third party acting in good faith.
- The nominee changes their mind, and the foreigner holds no document they can sue on without exposing their own unlawful position.
The last is the real trap, because going to court to claim something the law prohibited from the start does not end well.
Concealed transactions are covered in detail in simulated transactions in land dealings.
The routes that are genuinely lawful for the foreign partner
Thai law does not close every door. It only withholds ownership of land.
What it does allow is real, and has been in use for a long time.
Owning the building separately from the land. Under Thai law a house and the land it stands on can have different owners, where the building was erected under a registered right.
In practice that means the building permit in the foreign partner's name, on land held under a lease or a superficies, which makes the house genuinely theirs.
A long lease. Section 540 of the Civil and Commercial Code prohibits a lease of immovable property exceeding thirty years, and reduces any longer term to thirty years.
The point to be clear about is that an agreement to renew for another thirty years is not enforceable in the way the original lease is, because renewal means making a fresh contract.
Sellers in the market talk about thirty plus thirty plus thirty, which sounds like ninety years. In law it is thirty certain years plus two rounds of hope.
A usufruct, which can be registered in the foreign partner's name and gives the right to use and take the fruits for the holder's lifetime.
The limitation is that it ends on the holder's death, so it cannot be passed to children. Details are in what a usufruct gives and what it costs.
A superficies, giving the right to own a building or structure on somebody else's land, which is the instrument that fits building a house most exactly.
The difference between the two is set out in right of habitation against superficies.
A condominium unit. Foreigners may own units provided that together they hold no more than forty nine per cent of the total unit floor area in that building.
This is the most straightforward route, and the reason so many foreigners choose a condominium over a house.
What to check before paying is whether that building still has foreign quota left, which the juristic person can tell you.
What happens on divorce, and on death
On divorce, land bought with a certification that it is the Thai spouse's personal property belongs to the Thai spouse.
A house built by the foreign partner under a registered superficies remains theirs, because it is a separate thing.
Which is why registering the rights correctly at the outset matters more than people think while everything is still happy.
When the Thai spouse dies, the foreign spouse can be an heir in law, but being an heir and being able to hold title to land are different questions.
In practice a foreigner who receives land they cannot hold must dispose of it within a period fixed by the Director-General of the Department of Lands.
So the value reaches them, but the land itself does not stay with them.
Couples who plan ahead usually register a usufruct for the foreign partner at the time of purchase, so that they can remain in the house for life even if the land must change hands.
When the foreign partner dies, a usufruct ends. What happens to a lease depends on its wording, which should be settled clearly on the day it is made.
Five things to do before paying anything
One, decide clearly who will own what. The land in the Thai partner's name, the house in whose name, and in what form the foreign partner's rights will exist.
Write it out as a list before speaking to anybody, because somebody who cannot yet say what they want will be offered what the seller wants to sell.
Two, have the certification letter ready before transfer day, especially where the foreign partner is abroad. Allow time for the embassy or notary and for any further layers of certification.
Three, have a lawyer who did not come from the seller read the contract, because a lawyer the seller recommends is there to close the deal, not to keep you safe.
Four, register every right on the same day as the transfer, rather than coming back for it later, because coming back later needs consent again, and it may no longer be available.
Five, inspect the land itself, not just the nationality question: boundaries, access, zoning and expropriation corridors, checked as in how to check for an expropriation corridor.
The fifth is the most forgotten in deals involving a foreigner, because everybody is so occupied with the nationality rules that nobody inspects what is being bought.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy land after marrying a Thai national?
A foreigner cannot hold title to land, and marriage does not change that. The Thai partner may buy in their own name, with both parties confirming in writing that the money used is the Thai partner's personal property.
We never registered the marriage. Does the document still apply?
Yes. The procedure applies to a foreign spouse whether or not the marriage was registered, which is where many couples are caught out.
My spouse is overseas. What then?
They give the statement to a Royal Thai Embassy, a Thai consulate or a notary public in that country, which is recorded in a certification letter and then presented at the land office on registration day.
What am I giving up by signing it?
You are confirming that the foreign spouse has no ownership share in that land, so it is the Thai spouse's personal property and not marital property to be divided on divorce.
Can a Thai person hold it for me?
That conceals ownership, which the law gives powers to unwind and penalises. In practice the bigger risk is the nominee dying, running up debts, selling, or changing their mind.
Can a foreigner own the house without owning the land?
Yes, where it is built under a registered right such as a superficies or a lease, with the building permit in their own name.
Is thirty years plus another thirty real?
A lease of immovable property may not exceed thirty years, and a longer term is reduced to thirty. An agreement to renew is a promise requiring a fresh contract, not an automatically continuing right.
If my Thai spouse dies, does the land come to me?
You may be an heir but cannot hold title, so the land must be disposed of within a period fixed by the Director-General of the Department of Lands. Couples who plan ahead register a usufruct at the time of purchase.
In short
- A foreigner cannot hold title to land, and marriage does not change that.
- The Thai partner may buy, with a joint written confirmation that the money is their personal property.
- The rule applies whether or not the marriage was registered.
- If the spouse is abroad, use an embassy, consulate or notary public, and allow time for it.
- Signing that document confirms the foreign partner holds no ownership share.
- Nominees are the worst route, because the damage usually comes from the nominee rather than the authorities.
- Lawful routes are owning the building, a thirty year lease, usufruct, superficies, and a condominium within the forty nine per cent quota.
- A lease cannot exceed thirty years, and a promise to renew is not an automatic continuation.
- Register every right on transfer day rather than coming back for it later.