Dear readers,

I read somewhere that a Thai woman who is married to a foreigner and has the marriage officially registered in Thailand loses the right to own a house or land. Is this correct?

Greetings,

Bart

23 responses to “Reader question: Does Thai woman lose right to own land after marrying a foreigner?”

  1. yours says up

    Where did you read that??

    We got married in Thailand.
    That marriage was registered in Thailand.
    My wife has house and land in her name in Thailand.

    Please state where you got this information from.

    M.vr.gr.

  2. RonnyLatPhrao says up

    As long as she has Thai nationality, she will also retain all Thai rights/obligations.
    Marrying a foreigner does not change that.

    If she gives up her nationality, it will of course be a different story.

  3. tome says up

    As long as your wife has Thai nationality, she is allowed to own land and house.

  4. Tino Kuis says up

    It's all in the link below.

    The Thai wife can own land provided (at some point) she bought it with her own money (this is not too strictly controlled, a statement 'it is my own money' is usually sufficient).

    A second point is that the land remains the exclusive property of the woman alone, who can do everything with it herself: sell, lease, etc. without the husband's consent. It is and remains her private property and is therefore NEVER part of the matrimonial property that would otherwise have to be divided equally in the event of a divorce. She retains the land after a divorce, all other property purchased during the marriage is divided equally.

    If I understand correctly, the land must be sold within a year of the death of the Thai wife, after which the surviving spouse can share in the proceeds according to inheritance law.

    I think there are different rules for a Thai man married to a foreign woman, but I'm not sure.

    https://www.samuiforsale.com/knowledge/land-ownership-and-thai-spouse.html

    • Fransamsterdam says up

      I found that great link too. If I understand correctly, a Thai can also buy land during marriage with a foreigner, as long as she does so with money/resources that she already owned before the marriage was concluded. After all, those funds/resources have never become part of the matrimonial community of property, so that it is 'logical' that the land purchased with them does not fall into that community either.
      Where Tino uses the word (ever), this could cause confusion again, since it evokes an association with 'a very long time ago' in me. You might as well, or better, read there: (now or ever).

  5. Peter says up

    As far as I can remember, the law was changed so that if a Thai obtained another nationality, the Thai passport would have to be surrendered.
    In this case there is no more land to buy by the ex-Thai after that.
    However, if the Thai adopts another nationality and returns the Thai passport money there would be negative financial consequences, the Thai passport can be kept.
    So the Thai continues with 2 nationalities,

    • Rob V says up

      Such a law has been in place for a while (less than 1-2 years?) but dual nationality has not been a problem for Thailand for many years. You may give up your nationality, but it is not an obligation. Strangely enough, there are still many old stories going around, even among Thai officials, and then you get ghost stories that a Thai should not have multiple nationality. Nonsense, for example there are plenty of famous Thais with multiple nationalities. From the Netherlands' perspective, multiple nationality is a problem with exceptions such as "married to BP of that nationality" and "disproportionate financial consequences if nationality were lost (related to inheritance law, among other things)".

      And since a Thai, like other Thais, can simply buy land, a house, etc., there is no problem with purchasing land. As Tino indicates, they want a statement that the purchase was made with money from the Thai. I suspect purely to emphasize that someone without Thai nationality would not be able to claim (for example after the death of the owner).

      Both topics (nationality and land ownership) have been discussed separately here and elsewhere, I couldn't suppress a small smile when I saw the question. I wonder if we will ever get rid of the Indian stories and “a cousin of an acquaintance of my Thai partner's girlfriend's neighbor says that”. 555

  6. Renee Martin says up

    Maybe you confuse it with Indonesia because you are not allowed to own land there if you are married to a foreigner.

  7. Hendrik van Geet says up

    Nonsense, Only a foreigner cannot own land (Only with a Thai Company of which the foreigner has a maximum 49% share and at least 2 Thais the other 51%). Wish they would also introduce that in the Netherlands.

  8. Jack S says up

    If the land was acquired from her before the marriage, she will keep that land, provided she can prove that the money used to buy the land did not come from her husband.
    Only as the wife of a foreigner, she may not buy land during the marriage. It happens sometimes, but it's illegal. So watch out in that respect, the land can be taken away by the state.
    You can probably get around it by gifting the money to your future's parents and they'll pass it on to their daughter to buy that piece of land. (premarital). Even then this is no longer possible during the marriage.

    Look at the following site:
    https://www.samuiforsale.com/knowledge/land-ownership-and-thai-spouse.html

    • RonnyLatPhrao says up

      It does not state at all that she is not allowed to buy land if she is married to a foreigner. There must only be a statement from both partners that this purchase is made in the personal name of the wife and is not part of the common property. That's all.
      Just like Tino wrote before. Same site by the way.

  9. Renevan says up

    I have been married to a Thai for 5 years and last September we bought (paid together) a house in my wife's name, with a usufruct agreement for me. At the land office we had to sign a form together that the money for this belongs to my wife. So I would like a mention where I can read that this is not the case.

    • Fransamsterdam says up

      Sounds exactly what you're saying.
      Here the form:
      .
      https://www.samuiforsale.com/other-miscellaneous/land-purchase-letter-of-confirmation.html
      .
      This joint statement goes on to say: 'In this case it is not the Land Department's policy to investigate the actual sources of funds.'
      In other words: legally, what you have stated together applies, the actual situation is not important. It may sound a bit strange, but it is very common and it is called a 'legal fiction' where any evidence to the contrary is not honored. Just like the tax authorities who assume that you make a 4% return on your savings.

    • Jan says up

      Completely agree. I also had to sign a form certifying that all monies used to purchase Dr LAND come ONLY from my wife. Afterwards I also received a usufruct that must be stated on the chanot.

  10. Renevan says up

    Just a small addition, March 23, 1999 the law was amended so that a Thai married to a foreigner can own land and house.

  11. erik says up

    That used to be the case, but the highest court in Thailand has called it discrimination and that rule has been inoperative for years.

  12. Danny says up

    Indeed, that a Thai married to a foreigner could not buy land has been the case for a while, but after the crisis of 1998 this has changed.

  13. RonnyLatPhrao says up

    It does not state at all that she is not allowed to buy land if she is married to a foreigner. There must only be a statement from both partners that this purchase is made in the personal name of the wife and is not part of the common property. That's all.
    Just like Tino wrote before. Same site by the way.

  14. Rob says up

    After marrying my Thai wife, we bought some land. A
    Thai married to a foreigner can calmly buy land.
    Only her husband has to sign with the municipality for permission.

    • theos says up

      +Rob, the Farang husband must issue/sign a statement that it is her own money and not a financial contribution from the Farang. If it is discovered that the Farang, and therefore his wife, have lied, you can guess what the consequences are.

      • Renevan says up

        The declaration at the land office must be signed by both. It does not matter who owns the money for the purchase. In the event of a divorce, the foreigner cannot claim anything. Signing the declaration has been created for this purpose. Scaremongering will get you nowhere.

  15. theos says up

    In the past it was indeed not possible for a Thai person who was married to a foreigner to buy land. In fact, she lost all her civil rights. For example, she could no longer vote, but she retained her Thai nationality. If she wanted a passport, she had to provide a statement of her finances or a statement that the Farang husband took her to his country. My daughter was even born without a nationality, you had to request. In my case this took a year and a half. Fortunately, everything has now changed and the wife and children have and receive the same rights as any other Thai, married or not. I believe this was done during the reign of Anand, the best Prime Minister Thailand has ever had.

  16. Renevan says up

    The declaration at the land office must be signed by both. It does not matter who owns the money for the purchase. In the event of a divorce, the foreigner cannot claim anything. Signing the declaration has been created for this purpose. Scaremongering will get you nowhere.


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