Buying Land: The Thai spouse right to own land freehold

February 1 2010 Categories: Land Ownership, Thailand Property No comments yet

May the Thai spouse of a foreigner own land or not?

During his latest nationwide inspection tour of 30 provinces, Anuwat Meteewiboonwut, the director-general of the Thai Land Department let an old monster lose again. In substance is said that foreigners that the titled deed of Thais spouses that are purchasing land on behalf of their foreign spouses could be revoked if the land department was to find out.

This declaration was misinterpreted and interpreted in certain forum as if Thai spouses of foreigner were not allowed any more to purchase land which is not the case.

Regulation applicable to the Thai spouse of a foreigner in relation to land purchase

According to a ministerial regulation issued following the enactment of the now defunct 1999 Constitution Thai spouses married to foreigners are allowed to buy land, providing that the Thai spouse is able to prove that the money used for the purchase of the freehold land is legally and solely their own.

Of course there is a catch that, in order for the Thai spouse to be allowed to purchase the land, the foreign spouse must sign a declaration at the Land Department stating the funds used for the land purchase belonged to the Thai spouse prior to marriage as shown below:

Land Department Form

Letter of Confirmation to be signed by the husband of a Thai wife prior to the purchase of land by the Thai wife

- Unofficial Translation -

หนังสือรับรอง

Letter of Confirmation

เขียนที่

วันที่ เดือน ปี

Date Month Year

ข้าพเจ้า นาย/นาง และนาย/นาง

I, Mr./Mrs and Mr./Mrs

เป็นคุ่สมรสโดยชอบด้วยกฎหมาย ขอให้ถ้อยคำยืนยันร่วมกันว่าเงินที่นาย/นาย

are registered both spouses. We together confirm that the money which Mr./ Mrs

นำมาซื้อที่ดิน ตามโฉนดที่ดิน / น.ส.3 ก./น.ส. 3 เลขที่ ตำบล

Shall expend on the purchase of land title deed/ N.S. 3 K/N.S. 3 no Sub-district

อำเภอ จังหวัด

District Province

พร้อมสิ่งปลูกสร้าง ตำบล

With the construction Sub-district

อำเภอ จังหวัด

District Province

หรือห้องชุดเลขที่ ชั้นที่ ชื่ออาคารชุด

or Condominium unit no Floor Name of Condominium

ตำบล อำเภอ จังหวัด

Sub-district District Province

เป็นสินส่วนตัวหรือทรัพย์ส่วนตัวของ นาย/นาง

is wholly Sin Suan Tua of the personal property of Mr./Mrs

แต่เพียงผู้ฝ่ายเดียว มิใช่สินสมรส หรือทรัพย์ที่ทำมาหาได้ร่วมกัน

alone, not Sin Som Ros or the matrimonial property between husband and wife.

การรับรอง (ลงชื่อ) สามี/ภริยา ผู้รับรอง

Confirmation (Signature) Certified spouse

(ลงชื่อ) สามี/ภริยา ผู้รับรอง

(Signature) Certified spouse

(ลงชื่อ) พยาน

(Signature) Witness

ลงชื่อ) พยาน

(Signature) Witness

What is the Sin Suan Tua of a spouse?

It is the property that only belongs to a spouse and consists of:

(1) Property belonging to either spouse prior to the marriage;
(2) Property for personal use such as clothing or accessories suitable for the person’s station in life, or tools necessary for carrying on the profession of either spouse;
(3) Property acquired by either spouse during the marriage by means of a will or gift;
(4) Khongman, or property purchased in replacement of a Sin Suan Tua.

Each spouse is the owner and manager of his or her Sin Suan Tua.

By acknowledging that the money used by the Thai Spouse for the land purchase was its own and that the land was purchased by the Thai Spouse is Sin Suan Tua, the foreign spouse loses any right to the land or its value in the event of a divorce.

You Should Know that:

(1) once you have signed and filed with the administration, a declaration stating that the funds used for the purchase of property belonged to the Thai spouse prior to marriage, there is no way back. If in a subsequent divorce you tried to make the claim that the money was actually yours, then you would face the risk of criminal charges for having lied to a government official at the time of the purchase.

(2) the Thai spouse should never lie about the marital status when purchasing a land. Reporting a false “single” status to the land department in order to facilitate a land transaction may only bring trouble later on. Not only criminal charges may be brought for having lied to a government officer but once the Land Department has knowledge of the fact that the “single” person actually has a foreign spouse then an enquiry will be launched to check whether the money that has served to purchase the land was Sin Suan Tua or not. If the money was the spouses common property the Land Department may then start a procedure to revoke the ownership and request that the person transfer the ownership of the land within a certain period (between 180 to 365 days).

While all these regulations may not seems fair to the foreign spouse they are the rules of the land and we have to accept them for the time being.

Note: A version of this post was first published by Rene-Philippe Dubout on June 2009 and was first posted on his former blog www.howtopurchaserealestateoffshore.com. This post has been edited and modified

About the Author:

The author Rene-Philippe DUBOUT is a lawyer since 1990 when he was admitted to Geneva bar (Switzerland). He practiced as a litigator there for 10 years until he moved to Thailand in 1999. In 2002 he founded with a group of Thai lawyers Rene Philippe & Partners Ltd a local law firm that specialized in Cross Borders Investments and Real Estate. He has been lecturing in several Thai Universities and a speaker to numerous conferences and seminars. He is the author of a must read book:”How to Purchase Real Estate Offshore Safely: The Case of Thailand”.

http//:www.renephilippe.com

Originally posted 2009-07-27 11:06:29.

Doing Business in Thailand