Guide
Why lease, not buy.
Every few weeks someone asks whether they can simply buy one of these plots. The honest answer, and why the lease is the better deal for the people we want to work with.
Guide
Every few weeks someone asks whether they can simply buy one of these plots. The honest answer, and why the lease is the better deal for the people we want to work with.
The law
Section 86 of the Land Code limits land ownership to Thai nationals and companies that are genuinely Thai-majority. There is no beachfront exception, no investment threshold that unlocks it for an individual, and no "foreign freehold" for land the way there is for condominium units. Anyone who tells you otherwise is describing a workaround, not a right.
The workaround you will hear about most is the Thai company with nominee shareholders: Thai names on 51% of the shares, a foreigner in control. It has been unlawful for decades under both the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act, and since the late 2000s the Land Department and the Department of Business Development have periodically audited coastal provinces for exactly this. Structures built that way carry a permanent risk of being unwound, and lenders and hotel brands will not touch them.
Capital. Beachfront land near Phuket changes hands at tens of millions of baht per rai. A purchase ties up that capital in a title you cannot lawfully hold anyway; a lease puts the same money into the building and the business that will actually earn.
Bankability. Hotel brands, lenders and institutional co-investors in Thailand underwrite registered leaseholds every day. They will not underwrite a nominee company.
A landlord who stays. Both of our sites are held by one family with no exit date. That matters at renewal time more than any clause.
Honesty. We would rather tell you what the Land Office will register than sell you a story about 90 years.
The Sichon holding was marketed for sale by agents in earlier years, and you may still find traces of those listings. It is now offered on lease only, for up to 30 years. Natai is offered on a 10-year lease for light-touch businesses.
No. The Land Code reserves land ownership for Thai nationals and Thai-majority companies. Foreigners may own condominium units and buildings, and may hold land on a registered lease of up to 30 years.
A company that is Thai-majority on paper but foreign-controlled in substance, using nominee shareholders, is unlawful under the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act. The Land Department and DBD have investigated such structures for years. A registered lease needs no such workaround.
For an operator or a family that wants to use the land for decades, a registered 30-year lease delivers the use of the land at a fraction of the capital a purchase would tie up, with the buildings owned outright through superficies. What it does not deliver is land speculation, which is not what these sites are offered for.
The Sichon holding was marketed for sale by agents in earlier years. It is now held by a family that intends to keep it, and it is offered on lease only.
Serious enquiries receive a personal reply within one business day. Site visits by arrangement.