Thailand Land Office Basics- How the Deal Goes Down

 Rule #1
If it does not say so at the Land Office it is not true. Flat out. No exceptions! Each district has a Land office. Examples are Banglamung, Sattahip, Chonburi and Bangkok Land Offices.

Whoever’s name is LAST on the chain of ownership is the owner. It is listed on the BACK of the parchment, beige large title deed. One original is in the Land Office and one original is with the current owner. Both originals are required to be together to complete a transaction.  If the property has a lien or mortgage the name of the person or institution holding a claim is listed last after the current owner’s name.

The Thailand Land Departments are regulated and operated under the Ministry of Interior which also oversees the police departments. There is no escrow service like in most western countries.

Eighteen Steps to Buying Property in Thailand: 

1)      Paid a deposit which the seller or estate agent holds in case you default or cancel the purchase;

2)      Signed a legally binding contract and retained an original copy;

3)      Seen the original title deed front AND back – the front identifies the property by title deed and land numbers, has a drawing of the land and a description. The back says who owns it and who holds a mortgage or lien against the property;

4)      Verified the day of the payment at the Land Office that the information you saw on the title deed has not changed;

5)      Verified at the Municipal Court that there is no action or claim outstanding against the property;

6)      Provide a letter from your Thai bank stating that all the money used to purchase the property was transferred by you from OUTSIDE of Thailand;

7)      Make sure you have your passport with you and your visa is valid. At this time any visa will do including a Visa On Arrival or Tourist visa.

8)      Determined with the seller how much you both want to declare the sale’s price was. Often the Land Office appraisal price is much lower than what you are paying so to save transfer fees – which are usually shared by buyer and seller – the price is stated as lower.  The Land Office does not look at the sales contract.

9)      Upon entry at the Land Office you will go to a desk where someone will review your documents and give you a number to wait;

10)  When called upon, buyer and seller or representatives will go to the counter and give the title deed to the clerk and sign some forms;

11)  The Thai ID card of the seller or passport if the seller is not Thai will be inspected and a signed copy by the holder must be submitted;

12)  The clerk will verify the title deed against the exact original kept on file at the Land Office;  

13)  After verification that the seller owns the property alone or if with another person that all parties are present or a legal Power of Attorney is submitted for the absent seller and if a mortgage or other claim against the property needs to be settled;

14)  Then it is passed to another desk where any claim against the property is dealt with. If the seller owes someone money the bank or person must be at the Land Office to sign off that they no longer have acclaim to the property;

15)  Then the paperwork is given to another clerk in charge of determining the transfer fees and taxes. Currently to help encourage land transfers the fee is only one percent of the declared sales amount plus 1,000 baht for the stamp and a few thousand baht for some other fees;

16)  A bill is made for the fees and given to the buyer and seller who go to another window of the cashier and pay the fees;

17)  Then the title deed is passed to the Land Office assistant manager who verifies everything and adds the new name of the buyer on the back of the title deed.

18)  The title deed is handed to the SELLER and the buyer pays the amount due and then the seller gives the updated title deed to the new buyer;

There is no title insurance and there can be no claim against the property UNLESS there was fraud or a court order preventing the seller from selling the property.