land ownership age

[moose 961]

can someone tell me at what age can you own land. being a farong can l gift land to my thai son

[advocate]

Only Thais can own land, unless you are an American, in which case you can own 1 rai, which can be gifted to a Thai.

You can control land, which some consider a form of ownership, by incorporating a corporation, and then buying the land. In other words, you own 49% of the company with sole director majority voting rights, and the company owns the land. You can will the company to your son.

You can own personally, what is located on the land, such as a building, without forming a company or owning the land.

[moose 961]

thanks advocate, didn't know an american could own a rai. just trying to cover visa issues. any idea
of age to own land

[advocate]

Age is irrelevant and does not determine if you can own land.

[Super Joe]

can someone tell me at what age can you own land. being a farong can l gift land to my thai son

The following are bits and pieces of info I've picked up from what I'd call reliable sources, ie: lawyers (I know, I know), the land office and people's first hand experiences. So not saying it's all correct like

- A Thai child of any age can have land in their own name, ie: ID card doesn't apply, but Thai Citizenship obviously does.
- Some land office put a restriction on age, like no under 5 year olds etc. Not law exactly, but ‘up to them’.
- Some land offices will not do it if child has dual nationality, unless the foreign one is given up.
- You can't put it in a child's name if there is borrowing against the title, cos you can't pass a debt to a child.
- Child can not give a lease on land as there's money/taxes involved, but can ‘allegedly’ give a usufruct as they can be given with no ‘consideration’ (rental) attached. But in practice they're gonna refuse this imho, as will reveal the motive behind the 'gift'.
- Child must have a legal guardian, this is normally the Thai mother by default.
- Land office will 'look into’ reasons for gift, if viewed (ie: their call) that it’s a way to hold land for a foreigner then will be refused. So if farang is applying for his child to then grant him land rights (lease, usufruct, superficies etc), then I’m sure they will knock it back. Similarly if there’s a house being built on the land, or an existing one you’ve just bought, then I’d assume that would be refused.


SJ

[splitlid]

I would forget about the being American/1 rai thing. Money and paperwork,more money and more paperwork followed by BOI application followed by refusal.
SJ is correct your THAI son can own the land but to add to his post I believe the law also states that the son must be able to sign and understand what it is.

[Marky_Mark]

Can anyone advise estimate of the fee involved in transferring 1 rai of land from Thai Mother to Thai Daughter?
I won't be attending the office at time of transfer....being a farang as the "fee" price would be certain to rise sharply.