Under the Land Code, foreign individuals and companies are generally prohibited from owning land.
Condominiums may be purchased by foreigners subject to certain conditions being satisfied. Foreigners are free to own a building built on land owned by another person or to enter into a long term lease of real estate in Thailand.
Acquisition of land by foreigners
|
Foreigners may acquire land in Thailand in three cases:
| (1) |
Incentives under investment laws
Certain foreign owned businesses that are promoted by the BOI, have oil concessions under the Petroleum Act or are located in certain industrial estates, can receive permission to own land to carry on their business.
A BOI promoted business shall be permitted to own land in order to carry on the promoted activity to such an extent as the BOI deems appropriate, even in excess of the permissible limit under other laws.
In the case where the BOI promoted person is a foreigner under the Land Code and dissolves his promoted activity or transfers it to another person, he shall dispose of the land he has been permitted to own within one year of the date of dissolution or transfer, or the Director General of the Land Department shall have the power to dispose of it under the Land Code.
|
| (2) |
Inheritance
A foreigner may acquire land by inheritance as the statutory heir. In this case, the land devolved when combined with land already acquired cannot exceed that specified by law. For example, land for residential use cannot exceed 1 rai per household, land for commercial use cannot exceed 1 rai and land, for industrial use cannot exceed 10 rai,.
|
| (3) |
Investment for residential use
A foreigner that brings into Thailand not less than Baht 40 million of foreign currency to invest for at least five years can, subject to certain other conditions, own land of not more than 1 rai (equivalent to 1,600 square metres) for residential use. The other conditions include:
- Permission must be obtained from the Interior Minister.
- Money brought into Thailand shall be invested in one of the prescribed businesses or activities e.g. government bonds, property funds and BOI promoted businesses.
- The land to be acquired shall be located in Bangkok Metropolis, Pattaya City or Municipality, or in the area specified as a residential zone according to the law on Town and Country Planning and shall not be located in a military safety zone according to the law on Military Safety Zones.
|
|
Acquisition of land by a Thai company
A Thai company that has more than 49% of its registered capital held by foreigners or with foreigners constituting more than half of its shareholders shall be subject to the same land ownership restrictions as foreigners.
The Land Department may investigate the acquisition of land by a Thai company prior to its registration to check whether the company was established to acquire the land for the benefit of foreigners. In 2006, the rules for conducting such an investigation were expanded to include a review of the financial means of the Thai shareholders, where the Thai company has foreign shareholders or directors.
