Thai law for foreign owners and investors
Articles on Thai property, company and licensing law, each carrying the Act and the section it comes from.
The rule on every page is the same. Where we state a rule of Thai law, we name the Act and the section it comes from, so you can check it against the legislation instead of taking our word for it. Where the statute says one thing and the office in front of you does another, we say which is which. Statute, ministerial regulation and administrative practice are three different things, and most English-language writing on Thai law runs them together. Our editorial standards set out the method in full.
If a term in an article is new to you, our Thai legal terms page is the reference companion to the library. It defines the words these articles are built from, and each definition names the provision it comes from.
None of it is advice about your situation. It is information about the law.
All articles
Fifteen articles across six subjects. Filter by subject, or search the titles and the statutes behind them.
15 articles
Foreign Land Ownership in Thailand: What the Land Code Allows and What It Forbids
What the Land Code lets a foreigner own, and the four lawful ways to hold land or a house instead.
Read → Land Code ss.86, 96 bis and 97 · Condominium Act s.19 bisLease, Sap-Ing-Sith or Superficies: How a Foreigner Holds a Villa on Thai Land
Three registered rights over land somebody else owns. What each one gives you, and where each one stops.
Read → Civil and Commercial Code ss.540 and 1410 · Sap-Ing-Sith Act B.E. 2562What is a Sap-Ing-Sith, and How Is It Different From a 30-Year Lease?
A right with its own Act, registered against the title deed, granted for up to thirty years, and transferable and mortgageable in its own name.
Read → Sections 4, 5 and 12 · explanatory note to the ActWhat is a Usufruct in Thailand?
The right to possess, use and take the income from someone else's property, for a term or for life. It ends when the holder dies.
Read → Sections 1417, 1418 and 1422Is a 30+30 Year Lease Renewal Enforceable in Thailand?
Section 540 caps a lease at thirty years and allows a renewal of no more than thirty years from the date of renewal. What that clause is worth is a separate question.
Read → Sections 540, 569 and 1298Land Due Diligence in Thailand: What to Check Before You Pay
The title document, the boundaries recorded on it, the rights registered against it, and whether the person signing is entitled to sign.
Read → Land Code B.E. 2497 · Civil and Commercial Code, section 473Thai Property Transfer Taxes and Land Office Fees
Transfer fee, specific business tax, stamp duty and withholding tax. What is charged, on which value, and who normally carries it.
Read → Land Code ss.103 and 104 · Revenue CodeRenting Out a Thai Villa on Airbnb: When a Hotel Licence Is Required
The Hotel Act definition, the monthly-charge exclusion, and the eight-room notification that replaced the old four-room rule, in practice open only to local Thai individuals.
Read → Hotel Act B.E. 2547, s.4 · Ministerial Regulation No. 2 B.E. 2566Nominee Shareholding in Thailand: What the Law Actually Says
Section 36 of the Foreign Business Act and section 96 of the Land Code, set out as they are written, with the penalties the statutes carry.
Read → Sections 36 and 41 · Land Code, section 96US-Thai Treaty of Amity: What It Lets an American Company Do in Thailand
Most business on Thai terms for a company Americans own and control, with six reserved areas and no land ownership.
Read → Treaty Article IV · Foreign Business Act, sections 10 and 11Foreign Business Licence in Thailand: Who Gets One
Which businesses need one, who realistically gets one, and the routes most foreign-owned businesses use instead.
Read → Foreign Business Act, sections 5, 8, 14 and 17 · List ThreeWhat Thai Authorities Examine When They Review a Company
Which sections give officials the power to ask, what they can require, and what a review normally reaches for.
Read → Sections 4, 30, 40 and 41How to Register a Company in Thailand
The office, the documents, the capital trail the DBD now checks, and what a Thai company has to do every year.
Read → Sections 1097 to 1112 · Central Registration Office Order 2/2569Thai Company Capital and Shareholders: What the Law Requires
Two shareholders since February 2023, a first payment of at least twenty-five per cent on every share, and what registered capital does not prove.
Read → Sections 1097, 1104, 1105 and 1117 · Amendment Act (No. 23) B.E. 2565What a Newly Registered Thai Company Is Usually Missing
Registration is one exercise. The registers, minutes and share transfer documents the Civil and Commercial Code requires afterwards are another.
Read → Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1097 to 1171Thai legal terms
Chanote, Sap-Ing-Sith, BOJ.5, paid-up capital and 25 more, each defined with the Act and section it comes from.
Open the glossary → ReferenceThai law FAQ
Forty-three questions foreign owners actually ask, from lease renewals to work permits, each answered with the Act and section it rests on.
Open the FAQ →Nothing matches that. Clear the search box or choose All to see the whole library.
The six subjects
Each subject has its own page with a short introduction and the articles that sit under it.
A question the library does not answer
These articles describe the law in general. If you want the law applied to a particular property, company or licence, book a call.
Book a consultation