Ownership of land in Thailand is governed by the Land Code BE 2497 (1954), the Civil and Commercial Code, Land Reform for Agriculture Act BE 2518 (1975) and the regulations set forth by the Ministry of the Interior.
Although Thai law stipulates that a foreigner may not own land in Thailand in his name, he has the right of ownership of buildings only. If a foreigner wishes to purchase land in Thailand to build a property, he has 2 options: 1. The land is purchased on a 30-year leasehold with an option to extend the lease for further 30 year periods. Possession of the land is assured by virtue of the fact that property occupies the land. The lessor cannot seize the property upon expiration of the lease, as the property is separate from the land. In order to be enforceable, any lease for a period longer than three years must be registered at the Land Department, which involves payment of a registration fee and stamp duty based on a percentage of the rental fee for the whole lease term. The original registered lease remains in force and effect even if the property is sold. Both parties can contractually agree to renewals, but this right can't be registered at the Land Department. 2. If a foreigner is going to operate a business in Thailand then he may purchase the freehold of the land through his Thai Limited Company. The land will be owned by the Thai Company, not by the individual. Limited Liability Company - this form of purchasing property is the most popular with foreign investors as the Articles of Association can be varied to allow greater protection for foreign minority shareholders where majority Thai ownership is required under the Alien Business Law.
Thai law requires that 51% of the shares be held by Thai juristic persons, however, any company with more than 40% foreign interest that purchases land will be investigated by the Central Land Office in Bangkok (under section 74 of the Land Code) to ensure that the company has not been organized in an attempt to circumvent the prohibition against foreign ownership of land. This results in the foreign ownership of the company being limited at 39% (only if buying land), but with the recommended changes of the Articles of Association, the foreigner can be the only director of the company, and the only person of the company who can commit or bind the company in any contractual dealings (buy or sell land and house), effectively giving the minority shareholders control over the company.

LAND TITLES
There are many different types of land titles in Thailand, the majority of which do not allow the legal right to build a house on that land. At Manora Company Limited Hua Hin we only recommend one title: CHANOT
(Land Title Deed) is a certificate for ownership of land. A person having their name shown on the deed has the right to the land and can use it as evidence to confirm the right to Government authorities. This land has been accurately measured using GPS to set the area and boundaries of the land. The boundaries of the land are indicated by numbered posts. Any legal acts may be done immediately, as per the right of ownership. Land partition of more than 9 plots must be carried out according to the Land Allotment Law, Section 286.

HISTORY OF LAND OWNING LAW IN THAILAND
In the beginning, i.e. the Sukhothai era, most of the land in Thailand was in the possession of the people, who reserved the right to individually use said land and to transfer it to their heirs.
Later, in Ayuthaya and Ratanakosin era, the land was owned by the Kings. The people had to request a royal grant in order to obtain land.
At present, the possession of land has to be in accordance with the principle land administration laws. There is the supervising Land Department and some land is still controlled by other governmental authorities, such as the Forestry Department, which is responsible for the management of land in forest zones, Sor. Por. Gor. is responsible for land in reformed land zones, District Offices and Municipalities (Or. Bor. Tor) look after public land zones. All land under the control of these government departments have no effect as to the rights of people who owned land before the government appointed the land as a forest, public or reformed zone. The law has o retrospective effect on the individual's rights to land under the law before it became a forest zone. That individual person still maintains its right to the land.

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF RIGHTS TO PRIVATE LAND
The first is the right of possession (Possessoary right), i.e. people who possess and use the benefit of land will have the right to possess such land under the Civil and Commercial Code.
The second is ownership by a person who has a title deed and documents concerning the land.

Sor. Kor 1
is a notification form of possessed land. There is a certificate to show the right to the land. This maintains existing rights.
Notification of Sor. Kor 1; on December 1954, the government advised all land proprietors to notify such possession to the government as per form Sor. Kor 1.

After it was proven that such a proprietor had possessed the land legally and used the benefit of the land, then the government would issue Nor. Sor. 3 or Nor. Sor. 3 Gor as evidence. Nor. Sor. 3 and Nor. Sor. 3 Gor are legal certificates provided that any name shown on the title is a person who has the right to the land (according to the principle law). This right will be recognized by the law and can be used as evidence in any dispute with an ordinary person or the government. Por. Bor. Tor 6
is evidence by the issuance of a tax number for the purpose of paying tax for using the benefit of the land. Such land has not yet been assessed as to the person's right to possess such land. In the event that there is not title for the land, then it may be land in a conserved forest, public land or land which existed under Sor. Kor 1, Nor. Sor 3, Nor. Sor. 3 Gor or a title deed. Any of these titles must have a Por. Bor. Tor 6 as tax must be paid, the same as any land without a title. Purchase of such land is possible by handing over the possession of the land to the buyer along with the tax nuber. The right to the land under Por. Bor. Tor 6 can not be used as evidence in any dispute with authorities. Sor. Por. Gor 4-01
is an allotment of land from the land reformative committee, and under no circumstances may this land be bought or sold. It may be transferred to heirs only. Nor. Sor. 3
is an instrument certifying the use of land issued by the government to the proprietor of land not a possessoary title, i.e. it is confirmed by law that a person holding Nor. Sor. 3 has the legal right to possess the land. This land title can be used as a legal document or to use the benefit of the land as an owner. Nor. Sor. 3 is a floating map with no parcel points. It is issued for a specific plot of land and it is not connected to other land plots. This causes problems in verifying the land area. Any legal acts must be publicized for 30 days.

Nor. Sor. 3 Gor
is a legal land title with the same legal basis as Nor. Sor. 3.
The difference being that Nor. Sor. 3 Gor has parcel points on the map, and is set by using an aerial survey to set the points and the land area. It is possible to verify a nearby land area. It always uses the same scale of 1:5000. There is no need to publicize any legal acts, and it is possible to partition (divide) the land into smaller plots. Land Title Deed (Chanot)
is a certificate for ownership of land. A person having their name shown on the deed has the legal right to the land, and can use it as evidence to confirm the right to government authorities. The title deed has been issued by using GPS to set the area and boundaries of the land, which is a very accurate method. Any legal acts may be done immediately,
as per the right of ownership. Land partition of more than 9 plots must be carried out according to the Land Allotment Law, Section 286.