You will not own the land. Plan around that.
This is the page we wish someone had made us read first. We are a family, not lawyers. Every statement of law below names where we read it, and you should pay a Thai lawyer of your own before you sign anything.
Five things that are true whether you like them or not
- A foreigner cannot own land.
Marrying a Thai citizen does not change this. When a married couple buys land, it is registered in the Thai spouse’s name alone.2
- You will sign a paper saying the money was hers.
At the Land Office, the foreign husband signs a declaration that the money used to buy the land belonged to his Thai wife and not to him.2 Read that sentence twice before you wire the money.
- A lease is capped at 30 years.
You can lease land, including from your own wife. The longest term the law allows is 30 years, and a contract that says more is cut back to 30.3
- A lease that is not registered is worth three years.
Any lease longer than three years has to be registered at the Land Office. If it is not, it can only be enforced for three.1 3
- You can own the house without owning the ground.
A right called superficies lets a foreigner own the buildings on someone else’s land, and a spouse can grant it.2 A usufruct gives the right to use the land for up to 30 years or for life.4 The land officer can refuse to register one if he thinks it is a way around the land law.1
What that meant for us
Our house stands on land in Ploy’s village, in Ploy’s name. Ben owns none of the ground. He knew that on the first day.
That is the real decision in front of you, and it is not a legal one. You may be putting a large part of your savings into ground that belongs to your wife and, one day, to your children. If you would not do that with the paperwork exactly as it is, no lawyer’s structure will make you comfortable.
If you would, then do the paperwork anyway. A registered right costs little next to a house, and it protects the one who is not on the title deed.
Before you send any money
- See the title deed yourself, and have a lawyer check it at the Land Office. There are several kinds of land paper in Thailand and they are not equal.
- Walk the boundary with the neighbors present. We built our wall first for a reason.
- Decide, in writing, what happens to the house if the marriage ends or one of you dies. Have that conversation before the concrete, not after.
- Use your own lawyer, not the seller’s and not the builder’s.