Reviewed by ThaiLawOnline, a licensed Thai law firm practising in Thailand since 2006. Thai lawyer of record: Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556.
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Short answer: for 4,900 THB we obtain a certified copy of the title deed from the Land Office, both sides, with the official stamp and date, translate it into English and give you a two-page lawyer’s report on who owns the property, what is registered against it and whether you should go further. You have it within 3 business days of sending us a photo of the deed. If you then order the Condominium Package within 30 days, the 4,900 is credited against it.
Table of Contents
This is the check that every other check depends on. A seller’s photocopy tells you what the deed looked like on the day it was copied. The Land Office copy tells you what the register says today: the registered owner, the exact area, and every mortgage, lease, usufruct, servitude or court seizure recorded on the reverse since the deed was issued. Buyers who skip it are the buyers who later discover a mortgage, a second owner, or a deed that was reported lost and replaced.
What you get for 4,900 THB
- A certified copy of the title deed (Chanote, Nor Sor 4 Jor) or of the condominium unit title (Or Chor 2), front and back, issued by the Land Office with its stamp and the date of issue. We request it through the Land Office network, so a deed registered in Chonburi can be obtained from another provincial office without a trip to the property.
- An English translation of every field on the front: deed number, land number, survey page, sub-district, district, province, the registered owner, the area in rai, ngan and square wah with the metric equivalent, the date of issue and the officer who issued it.
- A translation of the registration index on the back: every registered act in date order, who gave the right and who received it, and the area remaining after each act. An empty index is itself a finding: nothing is registered against the land.
- A two-page report by our Thai lawyer, Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556, with a verdict in the first line: clear, clear with a note, or do not proceed without further checks. The report names the next step for your situation.
- For a condominium unit: the unit’s registered area and share of common property, and a note on whether the unit sits in the foreign or the Thai quota according to the Land Office record.
A real example: what a certified copy looks like
The two images below are a certified copy we obtained for a client in September 2026 (deed number and owner redacted). The deed itself was issued in January 2020 for a plot of 4 rai, 3 ngan and 89.5 square wah in Nong Prue sub-district, Bang Lamung district, Chonburi (the Pattaya area). The copy was issued and stamped by the Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Land Office on 11 September 2026, which shows two things buyers rarely know: a certified copy can be obtained from a Land Office other than the one where the land is registered, and the copy carries the date it was produced, so you know how current it is.
The translation we supplied with it
| Field on the deed (Thai) | English | What it says on this deed |
|---|---|---|
| โฉนดที่ดิน (น.ส. 4 จ.) | Title deed, form Nor Sor 4 Jor (Chanote) | Full freehold title under the Land Code |
| เลขที่ / เล่ม / หน้า | Deed number / book / page | Redacted / book 2295, page 57 |
| ระวาง | Map sheet | 5134 I 0226-15 |
| เลขที่ดิน / หน้าสำรวจ | Land number / survey page | 740 / 105756 |
| ตำบล / อำเภอ / จังหวัด | Sub-district / district / province | Nong Prue / Bang Lamung / Chonburi |
| แยกมาจากโฉนดเลขที่ | Split from deed number | Redacted, survey page 2005: this plot was subdivided from a larger parcel |
| ให้แก่ / สัญชาติ | Issued to / nationality | A Thai limited company (name redacted), Thai |
| ที่ดินแปลงนี้มีเนื้อที่ประมาณ | Approximate area of this plot | 4 rai, 3 ngan, 89.5 square wah (about 7,958 square metres) |
| มาตราส่วนในระวาง / มาตราส่วน | Scale on the map sheet / plan scale | 1:1000 / 1:2000 |
| รูปแผนที่ | Survey plan | Boundary markers (หลักเขต) numbered on each corner, road frontage shown on the north-east side |
| ออก ณ วันที่ | Date of issue | 14 January B.E. 2563 (2020) |
| เจ้าพนักงานที่ดิน | Land officer (signature and seal) | Signed, with the Land Office seal |
| สารบัญจดทะเบียน (back) | Registration index | No entries: no mortgage, lease, usufruct, superficies, servitude or seizure registered |
| Diagonal stamp | Certified copy stamp | Issued by the Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Land Office on 11 September B.E. 2569 (2026) |
Our report on this deed said, in its first line, that the title was clear: full Chanote title, a single registered owner that matched the seller’s company documents, no registered encumbrance, and road frontage on the plan. The next step we named was a company search on the owner, because when the owner is a company the buyer must also see who is authorised to sign the sale.
Why the seller’s copy is not enough
Three things happen between the day a seller photocopies a deed and the day you pay. A mortgage can be registered, and in Thailand the lender then holds the original, so a seller who cannot show the original usually has one. A lease, usufruct or superficies can be registered in favour of a third party, and under section 1299 of the Civil and Commercial Code a registered right binds you after the transfer. The deed itself can be reported lost and a replacement issued, which is the fraud the Supreme Court punished in Decision 914/2569 (an unsuspended prison sentence under Penal Code sections 267 and 268). The certified copy, dated and stamped, is your evidence of what the register said when you decided to buy.
Which document you are looking at
| Document | What it is | Can it be sold, leased or mortgaged at the Land Office? |
|---|---|---|
| Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) | Full freehold title with GPS-surveyed boundaries | Yes |
| Or Chor 2 | Condominium unit title, issued under the Condominium Act once the building is registered | Yes |
| Nor Sor 3 Gor | Certificate of use, aerial-surveyed, a right of possession rather than ownership | Yes, with a 30-day notice period for a sale |
| Nor Sor 3 | Certificate of use without a fixed survey | Yes, with public notice; boundaries are uncertain |
| Por Bor Tor 5 | A local land tax receipt | No. It is not a title. The Land Office will register nothing on it |
Our guide to Thai title deeds explains each one, and how to read a title deed walks through the front and the back field by field.
How it runs
| Step | What happens | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Order | You pay 4,900 THB online and your matter opens in the client portal. | Same day |
| 2. Send the deed | You upload a photo or scan of the deed the seller showed you (front is enough), or just the deed number, sub-district and province, plus the seller’s name as written on it. | Same day |
| 3. Land Office | We request the certified copy, front and back, through the Land Office. | 1 to 2 business days |
| 4. Translation and report | We translate both sides and Khun Wichuda writes the report with the verdict and the next step. | By business day 3 |
| 5. Delivery | PDF of the certified copy, the translation and the report in your portal and by email. The paper copy is posted to you in Thailand on request. | Business day 3 |
What it costs
- Title Deed Check: 4,900 THB, all included: the Land Office copy and its fee, the translation and the lawyer’s report.
- Condominium Package: 19,900 THB (the full 25-point due diligence, contract review, FET guidance and written transfer instructions). Order it within 30 days of your Title Deed Check and the 4,900 is deducted.
- Condominium Premium Package: 34,900 THB, with our lawyer at the Land Office on transfer day.
- Land and house due diligence: from 19,900 THB, quoted before we start.
Not included anywhere: the government transfer fee (2% of the appraised value), specific business tax at 3.3% or stamp duty at 0.5%, and withholding tax. Those are paid at the Land Office on the day, and we calculate them for you in advance. The published market range for a condominium purchase with a lawyer in Thailand is 25,000 to 80,000 THB; our package is 19,900 with the scope published.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you check a title deed if I only have a photo from the seller or the agent?
Yes. The deed number, the sub-district and the province are enough to request the certified copy. A photo of the front gives us all three. If you have nothing but the address, send it with the seller’s name and we will tell you within a day whether the Land Office can locate the parcel from it.
Do you need to go to the Land Office where the land is registered?
No. Certified copies can be requested through the Land Office network, so a deed registered in Chonburi or Phuket can be obtained from another provincial office. The example on this page is a Chonburi deed copied at the Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Land Office on 11 September 2026, and the copy carries that office’s stamp and date.
What does the back of the deed show?
The registration index: every act registered against the land since the deed was issued, in date order, with the parties and the area remaining. Mortgages, leases over three years, usufructs, superficies, servitudes, court seizures and transfers all appear there. An empty back page means nothing is registered. A full one is read line by line in our report.
Does a clear title deed mean I can buy safely?
It means the register is clear on that date. It does not tell you whether the seller is the person in front of you, whether a condominium’s foreign quota has room for your unit, whether the juristic person will issue a debt-free certificate, or what the contract says. Those are the other 24 points of the Condominium Package. The Title Deed Check tells you whether that bigger spend is worth making.
Is the translation official?
It is a lawyer’s translation prepared for your understanding and for your bank or lawyer abroad. The Land Office works only in Thai, so no English translation is ever “official” for registration purposes. If a certified translation is required for a court or an embassy, we can arrange one at cost and tell you the price first.
How is this different from a title search by other firms?
Some firms sell a copy of the deed in Thai with no opinion, others a report in Thai with an English copy of the deed. Ours is the certified copy, both sides, the full English translation and a report signed by a licensed Thai lawyer that ends with a verdict and a next step, for one price with no travel or per-page charges added.
Can I order a check on land, not only a condominium unit?
Yes. The same 4,900 THB covers a Chanote or Nor Sor 3 Gor for land or a house. For a Nor Sor 3 or a Por Bor Tor 5 we tell you before we start what the document can and cannot do, because a Por Bor Tor 5 is a tax receipt and not a title at all.
What happens if the check finds a problem?
The report says what it is and what it means for you: a mortgage that must be redeemed at transfer, a registered lease that survives the sale, a seller who is not the registered owner. We tell you whether it is a reason to walk away or a point to fix in the contract, and the 4,900 is still credited against the package if you go on.
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