Thailand Property Guide

Home on the Chao Phraya River Bangkok

Thailand Property

The first and most important question asked when inquiring about ownership of property in Thailand is quite simply, can foreigners own the land on which a home is built. The answer is equally simple. Although foreigners may purchase their dream home outright, they cannot own the land on which the property is built. The land is however available on a 30 year lease agreement.

At first this may seem a little strange to most of us but it's not all necessary doom and gloom especially if you have fallen in love with the beauty of Thailand and would perhaps like to retire in this heavenly piece of paradise.

There are of course legal routes in which to secure the rights to use the land and build your dream villa or home. One method is to purchase land in the name of a Thai national which could be either a Thai spouse, a Thai business partner or any other Thai you may know to trust.

You would then lease the land from your Thai partner or trusted friend for a period of 30 years with a further option to extend for an additional 30 years. I have heard that you could possibly even extend this to a total of 90 years but this has not being confirmed as yet. Just remember to be especially careful when dealing with any kind of property purchases in Thailand.

A second option is to start a Thai company in which you retain 49% of the shares and then purchase the land through the company. A point to mention here is that your Thai business partner would therefore retain possession of the land as his name would appear on the title deeds. You would then need to enter into a new agreement to lease the land from your business partner. Are you beginning to see the big picture here as this unfortunately is the Thai way.

If in any doubt there is a third option for your consideration and that is to perhaps purchase one of any number of the luxury condominiums located around the country. This would be the same as purchasing property under a sectional title agreement for which no lease is required. You would therefore not own the land on this property anyway.

Beautiful home in Pattaya

Thailand Property

I have a very good friend from South Africa who runs a business in Bangkok and owns an apartment in the city. He also bought a house in Chiang Mai which he shares with his Thai wife. Although he purchased the house himself, he could only retain 49% of the total property shares. His wife therefore retains the greater share of the property including the land. He would then have entered into a 30 year lease agreement for the land from his wife. The lease clause is a necessary consideration when thinking of purchasing property in Thailand

You may only want to consider purchasing property in Bangkok if you lived and worked there for some time but there are some amazing homes to buy at all the major hot-spots. I have personally seen some beautiful homes in the sea-side resorts in Pattaya, Phuket and Hua Hin.

Every time I come here, I divide my time around trying to put in so much of everything including looking at the property markets.

Thailand Property

Pattaya and Hua Hin

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