You are buying a villa on an island. The price is agreed, the plot is walked, the photographs are taken. Then the paperwork arrives with three words on it you have never seen before, and somebody tells you one of them is safer than the others.
They are not three versions of the same document. A registered lease, a superficies and a Sap-Ing-Sith come from three different laws. They are created differently, they behave differently when you want to sell, and they treat the house you paid for in three different ways when the term runs out.
This article says what each one gives you and where it stops. Which one suits your deal is a separate question.
Can I own the house if a Thai person owns the land?
Yes. Thai law treats the house and the land as two separate things, and a foreigner is allowed to own the house.
The land is the hard part. A foreigner is allowed to own land only in narrow cases: under a treaty, or up to one rai for a home after bringing at least 40 million baht into the country, and only with the Minister's permission [Land Code B.E. 2497, sections 86 and 96 bis]. A Thai company does not get around this. A company in which foreigners hold more than 49 per cent of the shares, or make up more than half of the shareholders, is treated as a foreigner for land [section 97].
The house is different. The Civil and Commercial Code lets a landowner give another person the right to own the buildings on that land [section 1410]. That right is called a superficies, and it has no nationality test. On most villa deals the land stays in a Thai name and the house sits in the buyer's.
- Registered lease
- A contract that lets you use the property for a set period in return for rent. Over three years it has to be written and registered at the Land Office, or it only holds for three years. Thirty years is the ceiling.
- Superficies
- A right to own the buildings on someone else's land. You can sell it and leave it to your heirs unless the deed creating it says otherwise. Thirty years at most where a fixed term is used, renewable for up to thirty more.
- Sap-Ing-Sith
- A right to use the whole property almost as if you owned it, created by the owner at the Land Office, written on the title deed and backed by a certificate of its own. Thirty years at most.
- Usufruct
- A right to possess, use and take the income from a property. It ends when the holder dies, every time. The Thai text says so in a sentence the usual English translations leave out.
- Habitation
- A right to live in a building without paying rent. It cannot be sold or inherited.
What is the difference between a lease, a superficies and a Sap-Ing-Sith?
A lease lets you use the property. A superficies lets you own the house on it. A Sap-Ing-Sith lets you use the whole property almost as an owner would, with a certificate of its own, and it is the only one of the three you can mortgage. All three last thirty years at most.
The Sap-Ing-Sith is the newest, and it exists because of a weakness in the lease. A lease is a contract between two people, which limits what you can do with it. So in 2019 Parliament created a right of use that can be sold and mortgaged like property. It only works on land with a full title deed, on land with buildings on such a deed, or on a condominium unit. The owner applies at the Land Office with the deed, the official writes the right onto the deed and issues a certificate in two copies, one for the owner and one kept at the office [Sap-Ing-Sith Act B.E. 2562, sections 4 and 5]. It covers the whole plot or none of it, and the plot cannot be split or merged while it lasts.
While a Sap-Ing-Sith runs, the holder has the rights and duties of an owner, apart from the right to reclaim the property from a trespasser, which stays with the owner. The owner keeps the right to sell the land or mortgage it, but cannot create any other right over it without the holder's written consent [sections 9 and 11].
| Question | Registered lease | Superficies | Sap-Ing-Sith |
|---|---|---|---|
| Governing law | Civil and Commercial Code, sections 537 onwards | Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1410 to 1416 | Sap-Ing-Sith Act B.E. 2562 |
| What it is | A contract to use the property against rent [537] | A right to own buildings, structures or plantations on another's land [1410] | A right to use the property, backed by its own certificate [4, 5] |
| Maximum term | Thirty years. A longer period is cut to thirty. Renewable for up to thirty more from the renewal [540] | Thirty years where a fixed term is used, renewable for up to thirty more [1412 with 1403] | Thirty years [4] |
| Registration | Over three years, in writing and registered, or it holds for three years only [538] | Registered at the Land Office when created | Written on the title deed, certificate issued in two copies [5]. Every later deal about it must be written and registered [12] |
| Can I sell it? | Only if the contract allows it [544] | Yes, unless the deed creating it says otherwise [1411] | Yes. The sale is registered and the office tells the owner [12] |
| Does it pass to my heirs? | The Code is silent | Yes, unless the deed says otherwise [1411] | Yes [12] |
| Can I mortgage it? | No provision | No provision | Yes [12] |
| The house at the end | Whatever the contract says. The lease simply ends [564] | You take it away, or the owner buys it at market value [1416] | It goes to the landowner unless you agreed otherwise [11] |
| Ownership of the land | No | No | No |
Bracketed numbers are section numbers in the law named at the top of each column. Full citations are in the Sources block below.
Is a Sap-Ing-Sith the same thing as a superficies?
No. A superficies is about who owns the house. A Sap-Ing-Sith is about who uses the whole property.
They come from different laws and do different jobs. A superficies gives you the building and nothing else. A Sap-Ing-Sith gives you the use of the land and everything on it, with a certificate you can sell or mortgage, and it hands the buildings to the landowner at the end unless you agree otherwise. People use the two names as if they were interchangeable. They are close to opposites on the one point that matters most, which is the next question.
If I build a house on the land, who owns it when the right ends?
Under a superficies, you do, and you either take it with you or get paid for it. Under a Sap-Ing-Sith, the landowner does, unless you agreed otherwise. Under a lease, the contract decides, and if the contract says nothing, nothing protects you.
With a superficies the house is protected twice. The right survives even if the building is destroyed, and when the right ends you are allowed to take the building away, as long as you restore the land. If the owner would rather keep it, they have to buy it from you at market value, and you cannot refuse without good reason [Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1415 and 1416].
With a Sap-Ing-Sith the default runs the other way. Any building you alter, extend or put up becomes the landowner's when the right ends, unless the two of you agreed something different when it was created [Sap-Ing-Sith Act, section 11]. Get that agreement in writing at the start, because the default is against you.
With a lease the Code says nothing about the house at all. The lease ends on its last day without any notice [Civil and Commercial Code, section 564], and what happens to the building is whatever the contract says. Silence in the contract is the whole of the answer.
Can I sell it, and what happens if I die?
A lease: only if the contract allows a sale, and the law is silent about your heirs. A superficies: yes to both, unless the deed creating it says otherwise. A Sap-Ing-Sith: yes to both, and it is the only one you can mortgage.
The lease is the most restricted. Unless the contract says otherwise, a tenant cannot sublet or transfer the lease, and a tenant who does so can be thrown out [Civil and Commercial Code, section 544]. The Code says nothing about what happens to a lease when the tenant dies. A separate law for commercial and industrial leases had to state in so many words that those leases pass to heirs, which tells you the Code does not do it by itself.
Your superficies passes to your heirs and can be sold, unless the deed that created it says otherwise [section 1411]. The landowner's consent is not required by law. It becomes a requirement only if it was written into the deed.
Your Sap-Ing-Sith can be sold, mortgaged and inherited. Each of those has to be written and registered at the Land Office, and the office then tells the landowner. Notice to the owner, not consent from them [Sap-Ing-Sith Act, section 12].
The two rights people reach for as substitutes are worse on this point. A right of habitation cannot be transferred at all, even by inheritance. A usufruct ends when the holder dies, every time [Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1404 and 1418].
If the landowner sells the land, a registered lease survives. The buyer of the land steps into the seller's shoes as your landlord [section 569].
Is thirty plus thirty enforceable, and does it have to be registered?
Thirty years is the limit for all three rights. A renewal is allowed, but no law forces the owner to grant one. And a lease over three years must be registered or it only holds for three.
The Code says a lease cannot run longer than thirty years, cuts any longer term down to thirty, and allows a renewal of up to thirty years from the date of renewal [Civil and Commercial Code, section 540]. What it does not contain is any right to make the owner renew. The lease ends on its last day without notice. A promise to renew is a promise from a person, and our article on 30+30 leases explains what that promise is worth and what happens to it when the land changes hands.
The Code permits a renewal. It does not give you a right to one.
Civil and Commercial Code, section 540
Registration is a separate hurdle. A lease of more than three years is enforceable for three years only unless it is written and registered at the Land Office [section 538]. A superficies is registered on the title deed when it is created. A Sap-Ing-Sith is written on the deed and issued with its certificate, and every later deal about it must be registered too.
One law does allow leases of thirty to fifty years, but it is for commerce and industry only, and a villa is neither.
What does it cost to register?
For a lease, a Land Office fee of 1 per cent of the total rent for the whole term, plus stamp duty of 0.1 per cent on the same figure.
Both are worked out on the rent for the entire term, not on one year of it. Stamp duty is one baht for every 1,000 baht of rent or key money, or both together, over the whole lease [Revenue Code, Stamp Duty Schedule, instrument 1]. Land Office fees are set by ministerial regulation and capped by the schedule to the Land Code [section 103]. Fees for a Sap-Ing-Sith are set the same way under its own Act.
What this means in practice
Decide what you need to own before you decide which document to sign. If the house is what you are paying for, the superficies is the right that protects it at the end. If you want a right you can sell or mortgage, only the Sap-Ing-Sith gives you that. If a lease is what is on offer, everything about the house and any renewal has to be written into it, because the Code will not fill the gaps.
Which of these rights a particular Land Office will register, on a particular title, on a particular day, is office practice rather than law, and practice at one island office is not evidence of practice at the next. The documents the office looks at are the title deed, the owner's identity, the written consent of any bank holding a mortgage, and the terms of the deed itself, including its term and the price stated in it.
Which instrument fits a plot depends on the title deed, on what is already registered against it, and on what the parties are actually agreeing. If you are looking at a villa and want the structure explained against the deed in front of you, we will go through it with you.
Book a consultation →Sources Show all 9 sourcesHide sources
Every statement in this article rests on one of the 9 provisions below, each named by Act and section so it can be checked against the legislation itself.
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 537, 538, 540, 544, 564 and 569. Hire of property: definition, written form and registration, the thirty-year ceiling and renewal, subletting and transfer, extinction at the end of the term, and the effect of a transfer of ownership on the hirer.
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1410 to 1416. Superficies: the right to own buildings on another's land, transfer and inheritance, term, and what happens to the buildings when the right ends.
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1417 and 1418. Usufruct: possession, use, enjoyment and management, and the closing sentence of the Thai text of section 1418 that the right always ends on the death of the usufructuary.
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1402, 1403 and 1404. Habitation (arsai): occupation as a dwelling without rent, the thirty-year cap in section 1403 paragraph 3, and the rule that it is not transferable even by inheritance.
- Civil and Commercial Code, section 1299. Acquisition by juristic act of immovable property, or of a real right appertaining to it, is not complete unless made in writing and registered by the competent official.
- Sap-Ing-Sith Act B.E. 2562, sections 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16 and 17, and the statement of reasons annexed to the Act. This Act exists in Thai only, so the section numbers are given for checking against the Thai text.
- Land Code B.E. 2497, sections 86, 87, 97(1) and 103, and item 7 of the Schedule of Fees and Expenses annexed to the Code. Note that section 103 sets a ceiling and leaves the actual rates to a ministerial regulation, which is a different instrument from the Act.
- Hire of Immovable Property for Commerce and Industry Act B.E. 2542, sections 3, 4, 6 and 7. Thai text only.
- Revenue Code, Stamp Duty Schedule, instrument 1. Duty on a hire of land, buildings, other structures or floating houses, charged on the rent and key money over the whole term.
Section numbers are given so you can check every statement in this article against the legislation itself. Where a provision exists only in Thai, the section number and the name of the Act are stated so the Thai text can be located.
Can a foreigner own a house in Thailand?
Yes. The house and the land are separate under Thai law. A landowner is allowed to give another person the right to own the buildings on the land, a right called a superficies, and it has no nationality test. Owning the land itself is another matter, and a foreigner is allowed to do that only in narrow cases.
Does a Sap-Ing-Sith give me ownership of the land?
No. It gives you the right to use the property for up to thirty years, with most of the rights and duties of an owner while it lasts. The land stays in the owner's name.
Can a Sap-Ing-Sith be registered over part of a plot?
No. It covers the whole of the property on the title deed or none of it, and land carrying one cannot be split into smaller plots or merged with another while it lasts.
Can a lease, a superficies or a Sap-Ing-Sith be mortgaged?
Only the Sap-Ing-Sith. Its Act says in terms that it can be used as security by mortgage. The lease and superficies chapters of the Civil and Commercial Code contain nothing of the kind.
A lease was signed but never registered. Is it worth anything?
Yes, for three years. A lease of more than three years that is not written and registered at the Land Office is enforceable for three years only. After that the law will not hold the landlord to it.
Is the lease fee calculated on one year's rent or on the whole term?
The whole term. The Land Office fee is 1 per cent of the total rent over the lease, and stamp duty is 0.1 per cent of the same figure, counted on the rent and any key money together.
This article is general information about Thai law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legislation as reviewed on 2 September 2026. Thai law and administrative practice change, and practice varies between offices and provinces. For advice on a particular situation, get in touch. See our editorial standards and disclaimer.
← Back to Insights