By virtue of the provision in Section 15 of the Act on Land Code Declaration B.E. 2497 and 96 Bis of Land Code with amendments by the Act on Amendment of Land Code (issue no. 8) B.E. 2542 which is the Act having some provisions concerning restriction of right and freedom of persons, in which Section 29 in addition to Section 35, 48 and Section 50 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand has prescribed it can be done by virtue of the legal provisions, the Minister of Finance issues the ministerial regulation as follows :
Clause 1 The aliens wishing to acquire land as living quarter without relying on the treaty provision specifying to have ownership in real estate, must bring money to invest in business or venture in any of the following categories :
(1) Buying Thai government bond, Bank of Thailand bond, state enterprise bond, or bonds of which Ministry of Finance guarantees capital or interest.
(2) Investment in real estate mutual fund, real estate mutual fund for rectifying problem in financial institution system or mutual fund for rectifying problem in financial institution system which have been established under law governing securities and securities exchange.
(3) Investment in share capital of juristic person being granted investment promotion under law governing investment promotion.
(4) Investment in business proclaimed by the Board of Investment to be eligible to apply for investment promotion under law governing investment promotion.
Volume 119, Part 7 A Government Gazette 18th January 2002
The investment amount in the business or venture under paragraph one must not be less than forty million baht and such investment shall be maintained for not less than five years.
Clause 2 The land acquired by aliens under Clause 1 must be located in Bangkok Metropolitan, Pattaya City or municipal area or located in area specified as living quarter area under law governing town planning and must be outside military safety area under law governing military safety area.
Clause 3 Application for permit of land acquisition under Clause 1, shall be submitted as per Form Tor 4 annexed to this ministerial regulation to the competent officer under Section 71 together with document and evidence stipulated in Form Tor 4.
Clause 4 When the competent officer under Section 71 considers, upon receiving the application together with document and evidence under Clause 2 and has them verified, that the documents are all right and the applicant is an alien under principle to acquire land under Clause 1, the officer shall forward the related document and evidence to the director general for proposing to the minister.
Clause 5 When the minister has considered with order whatsoever, the competent officer under Section 71 shall inform the result of consideration in writing to the license applicant by sending to his residence in Thailand as stipulated in the Form Tor 4.
Clause 6 The permitted applicant must utilize that land for own living quarter and family with no contradiction to moral, tradition or good ways of life of the community in that locality.
Clause 7 The permitted applicant must inform land utilization as living quarter to the competent officer under Section 71 for acknowledgement within sixty days from the date starting land utilization.
Clause 8 Having been informed in writing from the competent officer under Section 71, the permitted applicant is obliged to suitably facilitate the competent officer to oversee land utilization to be in line with principle and condition specified by law.
Clause 9 If the permitted applicant withdraws the investment in the business or venture under Clause 1 prior to the end of investment term under Clause 1 paragraph two, he must inform the competent officer under Section 71 in writing within sixty days from date of investment withdrawal.
Land-Ownership rights for aliens
Land Code Amendment Act (no. 8)
Published in the Thai Royal Gazette on the 18th May 1999
The following had to be added to Section 96 Bis and Section 96 Ter, under Chapter 8: Prescribing Land Right of Alien, of the Land Code:
Section 96 Bis. The provision relating to alien to acquire the land by virtue of the convention under Section 86, paragraph one, shall not be enforced to aliens who brought money to be invested in the amount as prescribed under Ministerial Regulations, which is not less than Forty Million Baht, by acquiring the land for residence by not more than one Rai, and must be approved by the Minister, The acquisition of land by the alien under paragraph one shall be according to the criteria, procedures and conditions as prescribed under mInisterial REgulation, for which the Ministerial REgulation shall have the essence as follows
(1) Category of business which the aline has invested shall be beneficial to the economics and social of the ocuntry, or being the operation which the Board of Investment has announced to be the operation which can apply for promotion of investment under the Law on Promotion of Investment.
(2) The period of time for maintenance of the investment shall be not less than three years.
(3) The area of the land to be permitted to be acquisition by the alien, shall be in Bangkok Metropolis, Pataya city, municipality or in the area prescribed as residential area under the law on City Planning.
Section 96 Ter. The alien permitted to acquire the land under Section 96 Bis, if acted incorrect with the criteria or condition prescribed under Ministerial Regulation under Section 96 Bis, paragraph two, shall dispose of the land he is entitled to within the time prescribed by the Director-General, which is not less than one hundred eighty days, but not more than one year. If from the expiry of such period, the Director-General shall have authority to dispose of said land. The alien permitted to acquire the land under Section 96 Bis, if that land is not used for residency within a period of two years form the date of registration of the acquisition, the Director-General shall have authority to dispose of said land.
Remark:
The reason for the publication of this Act is that whereas it is appropriate to let the alien who invests in the important operation beneficial to the development of economics and social of the country, to acquire the land as residence according to the amount prescribed by law in order to accord convenience to the alien who comes in to carry out the operation in the kingdom, including to be the factor for the decision of the alien to invest, including the increase the purchasing power of the real estate business of the country which is dormant, and which is one of the measures to rehabilitate the economy of the country as a whole. It is therefore necessary to enact this Act.
General Information on Land Ownership rights 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 the 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 (Oar. 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 no retrospective effect on the individual's rights to land under the law before it became a forest zone. That individual person still maintains its rights to the land.
There are two types of rights to private land :
The first is the right of possession ( Possessory 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 1st 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 evidenced 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 no 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 number. The right to 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 possessory 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 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 - Nor. Sor. 4 Jor 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.
- Condominium can be owned by a foreigner with ownership registration on the land-title if the foreign total held ownership is not over 49 % (some areas and projects 100 %) from the total square meters of the building. In this case the foreigner has to send the funds to Thailand in foreign currency in order to obtain a F3 form from the bank with the remark 'to purchase a condominium'.
- Buildings on land Foreigners have the right to ownership of buildings only, where land is not included. Legal acts are unlimited. A suggestion for foreigners is to lease the land for 30 years (commercial purpose 50 years) with an option to an extension of the lease, then purchase ownership of the house built on the land. Certainty of possession of land and house is assured, by being the owner of the house. The ownership of the land shall be leased out. If arranged as stated above, then the house will be separate from the land, and will not be a component part under the Civil Law. Ownership of buildings can be confirmed, and the lessor can not seize the house upon expir ation the lease
