Can Foreigners Buy Land in Thailand? The Law, and the Routes That Work

Reviewed by ThaiLawOnline, a licensed Thai law firm practising in Thailand since 2006. Thai lawyer of record: Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556.

Last updated on August 22, 2026

The short answer is no. Section 86 of the Land Code prohibits a foreigner from owning land in Thailand. There is one statutory exception, section 96 bis, and in practice it is almost never granted. Everything else you will read about, a Thai spouse buying in her own name, a registered lease, a usufruct, a superficies, sap ing sith, a company, is not foreign land ownership. It is a way of holding a right over land that someone else owns.

Before anything else, read the law it turns on: Chapter 8 of the Thai Land Code, sections 86 to 96, on foreigners’ rights in land.

Land is the hardest case in our guide to property in Thailand for foreign buyers.

The one statutory exception: section 96 bis

Section 96 bis of the Land Code allows a foreigner to hold up to one rai (1,600 square metres) of residential land, on an investment of at least 40 million baht in qualifying Thai assets, held for at least three years, and with the approval of the Minister of Interior. The land must be in a permitted zone, and the right can be revoked if the investment is not maintained.

It is a real provision and it has been on the books since a ministerial regulation of 2002. It is also, in our experience acting for foreign clients in Thailand since 2006, one we have never seen applied to an ordinary buyer. Treat it as a theoretical route rather than a plan.

The 2022 LTR announcement, and why it does not help you

In October 2022 the Cabinet approved a draft ministerial regulation that would have let holders of a Long-Term Resident visa buy up to one rai on a 40 million baht investment, in Bangkok, Pattaya and other designated municipal and residential zones, for a five year window. It was widely reported at the time as Thailand opening land to foreigners.

It was a draft, and a Cabinet approval is not law. The regulation had to be published in the Royal Gazette to take effect. We have found no Royal Gazette publication and no evidence that it was ever brought into force; reporting at the time had it still under review by the Council of State. Holding an LTR visa is valuable for other reasons, but on its own it confers no right to own land.

If you have read that an LTR visa lets you buy land, that is this 2022 draft being described as though it had passed. Plan on section 86 and section 96 bis, which are the law today.

What foreigners actually do instead

Each of these is a genuine, registrable route. Each is covered in depth on its own page.

• Buy a condominium unit outright. This is the one thing a foreigner can own freehold, subject to the 49 per cent foreign quota in the building. See how the condo route works and what it costs.
• Buy through a Thai spouse. The land is registered in her name and you both sign a declaration at the Land Office about the source of the money. What that declaration does, and the much larger question of what it does not do, is set out in buying land in Thailand through a Thai spouse. The related question of what counts as marital property is covered under marital property in Thai law.
• Register a right over the land instead of owning it. A usufruct gives you use of the land for life, a superficies lets you own the building on someone else’s land, and sap ing sith is a newer registrable right of up to 30 years.
• Take land by inheritance. A foreign heir can inherit but generally cannot keep the land. See whether a foreigner can inherit land in Thailand, which explains the disposal obligation under section 94.
• Put land in a Thai child’s name. Legitimate where the child is genuinely the owner, and not where it is a device. See transferring land to a Thai child.
• The Thai company route, with a warning. A 51/49 company holding land for a foreigner is a nominee arrangement. It is illegal, it carries imprisonment and fines under the Foreign Business Act, and it is being actively enforced. Read the 2026 nominee crackdown before anyone offers you this structure.

Other exceptions exist for promoted investment under the Board of Investment and under the Petroleum Act. Those attach to a company and a promotion certificate, not to an individual buyer.

Where to go next

For the full treatment, including title deed types, the comparison between lease, usufruct, superficies and sap ing sith, the nominee penalties and the transfer taxes, read our detailed guide to land ownership restrictions in Thailand. Before you commit to any of these, due diligence on the title is the step that prevents most of the problems we are later asked to fix.