Thai property glossary

46 Thai property terms, explained.

Title deeds and the Land Office

Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor)โฉนดที่ดิน (น.ส. 4 จ.): A chanote is Thailand's full land title deed, issued by the Department of Lands for a plot whose boundaries have been surveyed and fixed with numbered marker posts. It is the strongest form of land title in the country.
Land officeสำนักงานที่ดิน: The land office is the local branch of the Department of Lands where title deeds are held and every sale, lease, mortgage and other right over property is registered. A transfer of Thai property takes legal effect only when it is registered there.
Nor Sor 3หนังสือรับรองการทำประโยชน์ (น.ส. 3): Nor Sor 3 is a certificate of use confirming a person's right to possess and use a plot whose boundaries have not been accurately surveyed. A sale, lease or mortgage can be registered, but only after a 30-day public notice period.
Nor Sor 3 Gorหนังสือรับรองการทำประโยชน์ (น.ส. 3 ก.): Nor Sor 3 Gor is a certificate confirming the holder's right to use and possess a plot that has been mapped from aerial survey but not yet issued a full chanote. It can be sold, leased and mortgaged, and upgraded to a chanote on application.
Sor Kor 1ส.ค. 1 (แบบแจ้งการครอบครองที่ดิน): Sor Kor 1 is a notice of land possession filed by an occupier when the Land Code came into force in 1954. It records a claim to possess the land only: it is not a title, and no sale, lease or mortgage can be registered against it.
Tabien baan (house registration book)ทะเบียนบ้าน: A tabien baan is the house registration book issued by the district office for every dwelling in Thailand, listing the people registered as living at that address. It is evidence of residence, not of ownership.

Ownership

Branded residence: A branded residence is a home sold under the name of a hotel or luxury brand, which sets the design and service standards and usually manages the property under a licence and management agreement with the developer.
Condominium Actพระราชบัญญัติอาคารชุด พ.ศ. 2522: The Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979) is the statute governing how condominiums in Thailand are registered, owned and managed. Sections 19 and 19 bis set out which foreigners may own units and cap foreign ownership at 49% of a building's unit floor area.
Condominium juristic personนิติบุคคลอาคารชุด: The condominium juristic person is the legal entity, created when a condominium is registered, that manages the building's common property for all unit owners. It collects fees, enforces the by-laws and is run by a manager under an elected committee.
Foreign Business Actพระราชบัญญัติการประกอบธุรกิจของคนต่างด้าว พ.ศ. 2542: The Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999) restricts the businesses that foreigners and foreign companies may operate in Thailand. A Thai-registered company counts as foreign when half or more of its shares are held by foreigners.
Foreign quotaโควตาต่างชาติ: The foreign quota is the share of a condominium that foreigners may own freehold: no more than 49% of the total floor area of all units in the building, under section 19 bis of the Condominium Act.
Freeholdกรรมสิทธิ์: Freehold is outright ownership of property with no time limit, registered in the owner's name at the land office. In Thailand a foreigner can own a condominium unit freehold within the building's foreign quota, but cannot own land.
Leaseholdสิทธิการเช่า: Leasehold is the right to occupy and use property for a fixed term under a lease. In Thailand the longest term that can be registered is 30 years, and a lease of more than three years is enforceable beyond three years only if registered at the land office.
Nominee shareholderผู้ถือหุ้นแทน (นอมินี): A nominee shareholder is a Thai national who holds shares in a company on behalf of a foreigner so that the company appears to be Thai-owned. Using nominees so that a company can hold land is illegal under the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act.
Superficiesสิทธิเหนือพื้นดิน: Superficies is a registered right to own buildings or structures on land that belongs to someone else, under sections 1410 to 1416 of the Civil and Commercial Code. It separates ownership of a house from ownership of the plot beneath it.
Thai quota: The Thai quota is the 51% or more of a condominium's unit floor area that must remain in the hands of Thai nationals or Thai companies. A foreigner cannot take freehold title to a unit if the transfer would reduce that share.
Usufructสิทธิเก็บกิน: A usufruct is a registered right to possess, use and take the income from property owned by someone else, under sections 1417 to 1428 of the Civil and Commercial Code. It lasts for a fixed term of up to 30 years or for the holder's lifetime.

Tax and fees

Appraised valueราคาประเมินทุนทรัพย์: The appraised value is the official value that the Treasury Department assigns to land, buildings and condominium units as the base for government fees and taxes. It is usually lower than the market price.
Common-area fee (CAM fee)ค่าส่วนกลาง: The common-area fee, or CAM fee, is the recurring charge each condominium owner pays towards running the building: staff, security, lifts, pool, insurance and cleaning. It is set in baht per square metre of unit area per month and is often billed a year in advance.
Double taxation agreement (DTA)อนุสัญญาภาษีซ้อน: A double taxation agreement is a treaty between two countries that settles which of them may tax each type of income and how the other gives relief, so that the same income is not taxed twice. Thailand has agreements with 61 jurisdictions.
Inheritance taxภาษีการรับมรดก: Thai inheritance tax applies to the part of an inheritance above THB 100 million received by any one heir. The rate is 5% for parents and descendants and 10% for other heirs, and a surviving spouse is exempt.
Land and building taxภาษีที่ดินและสิ่งปลูกสร้าง: Land and building tax is Thailand's annual property tax, charged by the local authority on the official appraised value under the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019). For a home that is not the owner's main residence the rate starts at 0.02%.
Sinking fundเงินกองทุน: A sinking fund is the reserve a condominium's juristic person holds for major repairs and capital works, such as repainting the building or replacing lifts. Each buyer pays into it once, at first transfer from the developer, at a set rate per square metre.
Specific business tax (SBT)ภาษีธุรกิจเฉพาะ: Specific business tax is a 3.3% tax on the sale of property by a company or developer, or by an individual who has owned it for less than five years. It is charged on the higher of the sale price and the appraised value.
Stamp dutyอากรแสตมป์: Stamp duty on a Thai property sale is 0.5% of the higher of the sale price and the appraised value. It is charged only when specific business tax does not apply, so a seller pays one or the other, never both.
Tax residency: A person is a Thai tax resident for any calendar year in which they spend 180 days or more in Thailand, whatever their visa or nationality. Residents are taxed on Thai income and on foreign income they bring into the country.
Transfer feeค่าธรรมเนียมการโอน: The transfer fee is the Department of Lands' charge for registering a change of ownership: 2% of the property's official appraised value, paid at the land office on the day of transfer.
Withholding taxภาษีเงินได้หัก ณ ที่จ่าย: Withholding tax is income tax deducted from a payment before it reaches the person who earned it. On a Thai property sale the land office collects it from the seller at transfer: 1% for a company and a sliding-scale amount for an individual. Rent paid from Thailand to a non-resident owner carries 15% withholding.

The buying process

Due diligence: Due diligence is the set of legal and physical checks a buyer makes before committing to a property: who owns it, what is registered against it, whether it was lawfully built and whether the seller can deliver what the contract promises.
Environmental impact assessment (EIA)การประเมินผลกระทบสิ่งแวดล้อม: An environmental impact assessment is a study of a project's effect on its surroundings that must be approved before construction can start. In Thailand it is required for residential buildings and condominiums with 80 or more units or 4,000 square metres or more of usable floor area.
Foreign Exchange Transaction Form (FET)แบบการทำธุรกรรมเงินตราต่างประเทศ: A Foreign Exchange Transaction Form is the certificate a Thai bank issues to show that funds arrived from abroad in foreign currency. The land office asks for it, or a bank credit advice for smaller sums, before registering a condominium in a foreign buyer's name.
Off-plan: Off-plan means buying a property before it is built or finished, on the strength of plans, a show unit and a contract. The buyer pays in stages during construction and takes title when the building is complete and registered.
Payment plan: A payment plan is the schedule of instalments a buyer pays a developer for an off-plan property, from reservation deposit to the final payment on transfer. Each stage is a fixed share of the price, due on a set date or at a construction milestone.
Power of attorneyหนังสือมอบอำนาจ: A power of attorney authorises another person to act in your place. For a Thai property transfer the land office accepts only its own Thai-language forms: Tor Dor 21 for land and houses, and Or Chor 21 for condominium units.
Reservation agreementสัญญาจอง: A reservation agreement takes a property off the market for a short, fixed period in return for a deposit, giving the buyer time to review the sale and purchase agreement and carry out checks before committing.
Sale and purchase agreement (SPA)สัญญาจะซื้อจะขาย: The sale and purchase agreement is the contract in which buyer and seller commit to transfer a property on agreed terms: price, payment schedule, completion date, specification and who pays which taxes. Ownership passes later, on registration at the land office.
Snagging: Snagging is the inspection of a newly built property before handover to list defects for the developer to put right. It should be completed, and the repairs checked, before the buyer pays the final instalment and registers the transfer.

Visas

90-day reportingการรายงานตัว 90 วัน: Ninety-day reporting is the duty of a foreigner who stays in Thailand for more than 90 consecutive days to notify Immigration of their current address, and to do so again every 90 days, using form TM.47.
Long-Term Resident (LTR) visaวีซ่าประเภทผู้พำนักระยะยาว: The Long-Term Resident visa is a 10-year Thai visa administered by the Board of Investment for wealthy individuals, pensioners, remote workers and highly skilled professionals. It costs THB 50,000 and carries tax and immigration privileges.
Thailand Privilege: Thailand Privilege is a paid membership programme, run by a state-owned company under the Tourism Authority of Thailand, that gives members a long-stay visa for 5 to 20 years in return for a one-off fee.

Investment

Capital appreciation: Capital appreciation is the rise in a property's market value between purchase and sale. Together with net rental income, it makes up the total return on an investment property.
Gross yield: Gross yield is a property's annual rental income before any costs, divided by its purchase price and expressed as a percentage. A unit bought for THB 10 million that earns THB 600,000 a year in rent has a gross yield of 6%.
Hotel licenceใบอนุญาตประกอบธุรกิจโรงแรม: A hotel licence is the permit required under the Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004) to offer paid accommodation for stays of less than one month. Without one, letting a condominium or villa by the night or week is unlawful.
Net yield: Net yield is annual rental income after all running costs, divided by the total cost of acquiring the property and expressed as a percentage. It shows what an investment property actually earns for its owner.
Rental guarantee: A rental guarantee is a developer's contractual offer to pay a buyer a fixed rental return, usually a set percentage of the purchase price each year for a stated number of years, whatever the unit actually earns.
Rental pool: A rental pool is a scheme in which owners place their units with a single operator, and the revenue earned by all participating units is pooled and shared between the owners and the operator under a set formula.