Usufruct is Latin for, roughly, "use and fruits". The Thai name, sitthi kep kin (สิทธิเก็บกิน), translates as the right to gather and eat.
The Civil and Commercial Code deals with it in twelve short sections, 1417 to 1428, and most of what follows comes straight from them.
What exactly is a usufruct?
The right to possess, use and take the benefit of someone else's property, with the power to manage it. The owner keeps the land.
Section 1417 puts it in one sentence: immovable property can be made subject to a usufruct, which gives the holder the right to possess the property, use it and take the benefit of it [Civil and Commercial Code, section 1417]. The same section hands the holder the management of the property. Where the land is a forest, a mine or a quarry, the holder can work it as well.
In everyday terms you can live in the house, or rent it out and keep the rent.
How long does a usufruct last?
A fixed term of up to thirty years, or your lifetime. Either way, it ends when you die.
The deed can set a period or make the right last for the holder's life, and if it sets neither, the law presumes it is for life [section 1418]. A fixed period follows the rule written for a right of habitation. The term is capped at thirty years, a longer one is cut down to thirty, and it can be renewed for up to thirty years from the date of renewal [section 1418, applying section 1403 paragraph 3].
The last sentence of section 1418 applies whatever the deed says. When the holder dies, the usufruct ends, always. Say a thirty-year usufruct is granted to someone aged seventy who dies at seventy-five. The remaining twenty-five years end with the holder, and the heirs inherit nothing.
Does a usufruct have to be registered at the Land Office?
Yes, if you want it to bind the land. Without registration it binds only the two people who signed.
A usufruct is a right in the property itself, which Thai law calls a real right. Acquiring a real right in land by agreement is not complete unless the agreement is in writing and registered with the Land Office [section 1299]. The Supreme Court has held that an agreement creating a real right that was never registered still works between the parties as a personal agreement [Supreme Court judgment 7786/2538]. That case concerned habitation and superficies, two rights from the same part of the Code.
Registration also keeps the right in place when the land is sold. Where land already carries a registered right, the Land Office registers the sale as a sale subject to it, and the buyer takes the land with the right still on the title [Department of Lands registration manual, 2018].
What can the holder do, and who pays for what?
The holder runs the property and pays its running costs, taxes included. The owner pays for anything extraordinary.
The Code gives the holder these duties while the usufruct lasts:
- Look after the property with the care a sensible person gives their own [section 1421].
- Keep it substantially as it was, and carry out ordinary maintenance and minor repairs [section 1424].
- Tell the owner at once when a major repair is needed and let the work go ahead. If the owner does nothing, the holder can do it at the owner's expense [section 1424].
- Pay the costs of managing the property, the taxes on it and the interest on any debt secured on it [section 1426].
- Insure it for the owner's benefit if the owner asks, and pay the premiums [section 1427].
Extraordinary costs are the owner's. To meet them, the owner can sell part of the property, unless the holder agrees to advance the money interest-free [section 1425].
The owner keeps a say in how the property is used. An owner can object to any use of the property that is unlawful or improper, and an owner whose rights are in danger can ask the holder for security. A holder who ignores both risks a court appointing someone else to manage the property [section 1423].
Can you rent the property out or hand the usufruct to someone else?
Yes, you can let someone else exercise it, unless the deed creating it says otherwise.
Section 1422 allows the holder to transfer the exercise of the right to another person, and the owner can then sue that person directly. Renting the house out, or letting someone else farm the land, works this way. Only the use moves, and the usufruct still ends when you die, whoever is living in the house at the time [sections 1418 and 1422].
What happens when the usufruct ends?
You hand the property back to the owner and answer for any loss or damage, unless you can show it was not your fault.
Section 1420 sets the return and the liability. Anything the holder used up improperly has to be replaced. If the property is destroyed and no compensation is paid, the owner does not have to rebuild it, though any part the owner does restore brings the usufruct back to that extent [section 1419].
Claims have a short deadline. A claim between the owner and the holder, or the person the holder passed the exercise to, has to be brought within one year of the usufruct ending. Where the owner could not know when it ended, the year runs from when the owner knew or should have known [section 1428].
How is a usufruct different from a lease, a superficies or a Sap-Ing-Sith?
A usufruct gives you the use and income of the property, for your lifetime at most. The table sets it beside the other three.
| Right | What it gives you | Longest fixed term | Passing it on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usufruct | Possession, use and the benefit of the property, with management [s.1417]. | Thirty years, renewable, or for life. Always ends at the holder's death [s.1418]. | The exercise can be handed over unless the deed says otherwise [s.1422]. |
| Lease | Use of the property for a limited time against rent. A contract [s.537]. | Thirty years, renewable for up to thirty from the renewal [s.540]. | No sublet or transfer unless the lease allows it [s.544]. |
| Superficies | Ownership of the buildings or plantations on someone else's land [s.1410]. | Thirty years, or the life of the landowner or of the holder [s.1412]. | Can be sold and inherited unless the deed says otherwise [s.1411]. |
| Sap-Ing-Sith | Property based on the right to use chanote land or a condominium unit [Sap-Ing-Sith Act, s.3]. | Thirty years [Sap-Ing-Sith Act, s.4]. | Can be sold, mortgaged and inherited [Sap-Ing-Sith Act, s.12]. |
Section numbers are the Civil and Commercial Code unless the Sap-Ing-Sith Act B.E. 2562 is named.
A usufruct gives you the use of whatever stands on the land, and nothing in its twelve sections makes you the owner of a house you build. The right to own a building on someone else's land is a superficies [section 1410]. The choice between these rights is set out in how a foreigner holds a villa on Thai land.
Can a foreigner hold a usufruct?
The Code sets no nationality test for the holder, and the land stays in the owner's name throughout. Whether a land office will register one is a matter of practice.
None of sections 1417 to 1428 says anything about who may hold a usufruct. Ownership of the land never moves, so a usufruct is not a way of acquiring land.
What this means in practice
How a land office handles a usufruct is a matter of office practice, and it varies from province to province.
In our experience the land office on Koh Phangan does not register usufructs at all, and we understand the office on Koh Samui takes the same position. Both are in Surat Thani province. The Code allows a usufruct there as it does anywhere else. But a usufruct the land office will not write onto the title remains a personal agreement between the two people who signed it [section 1299].
Before a usufruct goes into any plan, ask the land office where the land sits whether it will register one. If it will, four things are worth settling in the deed: a fixed term or for life, whether the exercise can be handed to someone else, who insures the property, and what happens to anything built on the land.
If a usufruct is part of a deal you are looking at, settle those four points, and the land office's answer, before anything is signed.
Book a consultation →Sources Show all 10 sourcesHide sources
Every statement in this article rests on one of the 10 sources below, each named by Act and section so it can be checked against the legislation itself.
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1417 and 1418, applying section 1403 paragraph 3. Usufruct as the right to possess, use and take the benefit of immovable property, with the power of management; a fixed period or the life of the usufructuary, presumed for life where no period is fixed; a fixed period capped at thirty years and renewable for up to thirty years from renewal; the usufruct always ends on the death of the usufructuary.
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1419 and 1420. Destruction of the property with or without compensation; return of the property at the end; liability for loss or deterioration unless shown not to be the usufructuary's fault; replacement of property improperly consumed.
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1421 to 1427. Standard of care; transfer of the exercise of the right unless the creating act provides otherwise, with the owner's direct action against the transferee; the owner's objection to improper use and demand for security; preservation, ordinary maintenance and minor repairs, notice of major repairs; extraordinary expenses borne by the owner; costs of management, taxes and interest borne by the usufructuary; insurance at the owner's request.
- Civil and Commercial Code, section 1428. One-year limitation for claims between owner and usufructuary or transferee, from the end of the usufruct.
- Civil and Commercial Code, section 1299. Acquisition of a real right in immovable property by juristic act is not complete unless made in writing and registered.
- Supreme Court judgment 7786/2538. An agreement creating a real right that is incomplete for want of registration is a personal right enforceable between the parties.
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 537, 540 and 544. Definition of hire; thirty-year maximum and renewal; no sublet or transfer unless the contract provides otherwise.
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1410, 1411 and 1412. Superficies as the right to own buildings, structures or plantations on another's land; transferable and inheritable unless otherwise provided; a fixed period, or the life of the landowner or of the holder.
- Sap-Ing-Sith Act B.E. 2562, sections 3, 4 and 12. Definition; term not exceeding thirty years; transfer, mortgage and inheritance.
- Department of Lands, manual on the investigation of registrations of rights and juristic acts (August 2018). Registration of a sale or gift of land that already carries a registered lease or real right, the transferee taking the land subject to it.
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.
How long can a usufruct last in Thailand?
For a fixed term of up to thirty years, which can be renewed for up to thirty years from the renewal, or for the holder's lifetime. If the deed sets no period, the law presumes it is for life.
Does a usufruct end when the holder dies?
Yes, always. A usufruct ends on the holder's death even if years remain on a fixed term, and it does not pass to the heirs.
Can I rent out a property I hold under a usufruct?
Yes, unless the deed creating the usufruct says otherwise. The holder can hand the exercise of the right to another person, and the owner can then deal with that person directly. The usufruct still ends when the holder dies.
Who pays the taxes and repairs on property under a usufruct?
The holder pays the costs of managing the property, the taxes on it, ordinary maintenance and minor repairs. Major repairs and extraordinary costs fall on the owner, and the holder must tell the owner when they are needed.
Does a usufruct give me ownership of the land or of a house I build?
No. The owner keeps the land throughout, and a usufruct gives the right to possess, use and take the benefit of the property. The right to own a building on someone else's land is a superficies.
Will the Land Office register a usufruct?
The Code provides for registration, but whether a particular land office will register one is office practice. In our experience the Koh Phangan land office does not register usufructs, and we understand Koh Samui takes the same position. Check with the land office where the land sits before relying on one.
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 24 October 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.
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