{"id":162,"date":"2025-07-02T04:24:53","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T21:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/building-permits-as-proof-of-ownership-for-foreign-property-owners-in-thailand\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T08:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T01:42:11","slug":"building-permits-as-proof-of-ownership-for-foreign-property-owners-in-thailand","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/building-permits-as-proof-of-ownership-for-foreign-property-owners-in-thailand\/","title":{"rendered":"Les permis de construire comme preuve de propri\u00e9t\u00e9 pour les propri\u00e9taires \u00e9trangers en Tha\u00eflande"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/building-permit\/\">Permis de construire<\/a> in Thailand are the usual evidence that a foreigner owns a house built on land he cannot own. The ownership itself comes from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/thai-civil-and-commercial-code\/\">Code civil et commercial<\/a>, not from the permit. Section 146 provides that a building which a person with a right over another person&#8217;s land builds in the exercise of that right is not a component part of the land. Without such a right, the building becomes part of the land and belongs to the landowner, whatever name is on the permit (sections 144 and 1310); the builder in good faith is paid only the increase in the land&#8217;s value, and a builder in bad faith can be made to remove it at their own cost (section 1311). The permit is evidence of who built; the right over the land, ideally a registered lease or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/superficies-right\/\">droit de superficie<\/a>, is what makes the building his.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legal foundation for this separation is Thailand&#8217;s distinction between land ownership and building ownership, which lets a foreigner lawfully own a house while the land stays in Thai hands. It is not a way around the land restrictions: the foreigner owns the building, never the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table des mati\u00e8res<\/h2><nav><ul><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#legal-foundation-and-statutory-framework\">Fondements juridiques et cadre l\u00e9gislatif<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#building-permit-process-and-documentation-requirements\">Processus de permis de construire et exigences en mati\u00e8re de documentation<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#authority-recognition-and-legal-standing\">Reconnaissance de l&#039;autorit\u00e9 et statut juridique<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#land-department-and-court-recognition\">Reconnaissance du D\u00e9partement foncier et des tribunaux<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#practical-challenges-and-implementation-issues\">D\u00e9fis pratiques et probl\u00e8mes de mise en \u0153uvre<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#risk-mitigation-and-best-practices\">Att\u00e9nuation des risques et meilleures pratiques<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"legal-foundation-and-statutory-framework\"><strong>Fondements juridiques et cadre l\u00e9gislatif<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"civil-and-commercial-code-provisions\"><strong>Dispositions du Code civil et commercial<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Civil and Commercial Code does not mention building permits. What it provides is the separation of building from land. Section 146 of the Civil and Commercial Code says that a building or other structure put up on another person\u2019s land by someone with a right over that land, in the exercise of that right, is not a component part of the land. That is what lets a foreigner own a house through a lease or superficies while the landowner keeps the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A house has no title deed of its own, and the building permit names the person who applied to build. For the person who built the house, the permit is therefore usually the first document showing that the house is theirs. It is evidence, not title: a court weighs it together with the right over the land and the rest of the evidence (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"distinction-from-other-ownership-methods\"><strong>Distinction par rapport aux autres modes de propri\u00e9t\u00e9<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A permit is evidence, not an ownership structure in itself, so it is best compared with the rights it can back. <strong>L&#039;enregistrement des superficies offre une protection juridique renforc\u00e9e<\/strong> through formal Land Department registration: it is a real right that is not extinguished if the building is destroyed (section 1415) and, unless the grant says otherwise, can be transferred and inherited (section 1411).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comparison shows that a building permit on its own sits between a registered superficies, which is the strongest route because it is a registered real right that can be transferred and inherited (sections 1410 to 1416), and a nominee company structure, which is unlawful. A permit costs less to obtain, but it proves only who built the house, so it should back a registered right rather than replace one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"building-permit-process-and-documentation-requirements\"><strong>Processus de permis de construire et exigences en mati\u00e8re de documentation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"issuance-procedures-and-authority-involvement\"><strong>Proc\u00e9dures de d\u00e9livrance et implication des autorit\u00e9s<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">La proc\u00e9dure d&#039;obtention d&#039;un permis de construire commence par l&#039;acquisition des droits d&#039;utilisation du terrain par le biais de contrats de location, suivie de la pr\u00e9paration d&#039;une documentation compl\u00e8te r\u00e9alis\u00e9e par des professionnels tha\u00eflandais agr\u00e9\u00e9s. Les autorit\u00e9s locales (Or.Bor.Tor) au niveau du district sont responsables de la d\u00e9livrance des permis de construire. <strong>consentement \u00e9crit du propri\u00e9taire foncier<\/strong> Avant de d\u00e9signer des demandeurs \u00e9trangers comme propri\u00e9taires d&#039;immeubles, le processus comprend g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement plusieurs \u00e9tapes, notamment la pr\u00e9paration des plans, la demande de permis, sa d\u00e9livrance, la supervision des travaux et la documentation d&#039;ach\u00e8vement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foreign investors can obtain building permits in their own names when they hold a right over the land, with the landowner&#8217;s written consent, although some local offices are unfamiliar with foreign applicants. Where a permit has been issued in a contractor&#8217;s or the landowner&#8217;s name, it can be transferred to the owner of the house under the procedure the Building Control Act leaves to ministerial regulation (section 8(12)), but it is better to have it issued in the owner&#8217;s name from the start, because the name on the permit is the evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"documentation-and-transfer-procedures\"><strong>Proc\u00e9dures de documentation et de transfert<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The transfer of a building permit is handled by the local authority that issued it, the municipality or the Subdistrict Administrative Organisation (Or.Bor.Tor). Expect to provide the land title copy, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/tabien-baan\/\">livret d'enregistrement de domicile<\/a> where one exists, identification documents and the written agreement between the parties. Timing depends on the office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Expect to show your passport and, where relevant, your marriage certificate, together with the documents for the right over the land. A permit, transferred or not, is evidence of who built the house and is only as secure as the right over the land behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"authority-recognition-and-legal-standing\"><strong>Reconnaissance de l&#039;autorit\u00e9 et statut juridique<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"government-agency-acceptance\"><strong>Acceptation par les agences gouvernementales<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How far a permit is accepted as proof of ownership depends on the office or institution you are dealing with, and there is no single rule. Utility connections and the house registration usually follow the house itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"banking-and-financial-institution-recognition\"><strong>Reconnaissance des \u00e9tablissements bancaires et financiers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A bank lending against a house on land the borrower does not own will look for a registered lease or superficies behind the permit, because the permit alone is not a security it can register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Building permit holders seeking construction loans will generally be asked to show that the applicant for the permit holds the land title or a registered right over the land. That alignment between the right over the land and the building is what gives a lender a security it can register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"land-department-and-court-recognition\"><strong>Reconnaissance du D\u00e9partement foncier et des tribunaux<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Land Department registers rights over land, so it records a building owner&#8217;s position through a registered lease or superficies rather than through the permit, which it does not register. Courts decide ownership of a building on section 146 and the evidence as a whole: a permit in the claimant&#8217;s name is strong evidence, but it is not conclusive on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The courts have also narrowed the alternatives. In decision 4655\/2566 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/supreme-court-dika\/\">Cour supr\u00eame<\/a> held a lease renewal agreed at the outset to carry a lease beyond 30 years void as an evasion of section 540, so a long lease cannot be pre-arranged. That makes a registered superficies over the building, backed by the permit, more important rather than less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"practical-challenges-and-implementation-issues\"><strong>D\u00e9fis pratiques et probl\u00e8mes de mise en \u0153uvre<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"administrative-resistance-and-bureaucratic-barriers\"><strong>R\u00e9sistance administrative et barri\u00e8res bureaucratiques<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foreign investors sometimes meet resistance at the local office when seeking a building permit in their own name, with local officials sometimes unfamiliar with legal requirements for foreign building ownership. Some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/land-office\/\">Bureaux fonciers<\/a> r\u00e9sister \u00e0 l'enregistrement de la propri\u00e9t\u00e9 immobili\u00e8re par des \u00e9trangers malgr\u00e9 l'autorit\u00e9 l\u00e9gale de le faire, ce qui exige de la pers\u00e9v\u00e9rance et une repr\u00e9sentation juridique exp\u00e9riment\u00e9e. <strong>Retards de traitement<\/strong> Les d\u00e9lais de traitement dans divers bureaux gouvernementaux peuvent s&#039;allonger et les co\u00fbts augmenter au-del\u00e0 des estimations initiales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Building Control Act leaves much of the procedure to ministerial regulations and to the local authority, so practice differs between offices. A permit issued in the owner\u2019s own name, covering everything that is built, avoids most of the later arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"market-and-regulatory-developments\"><strong>\u00c9volutions du march\u00e9 et de la r\u00e9glementation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">High-profile cases, including the Ashton Asoke condominium, whose construction permit was revoked by the administrative courts after the building was finished, show that a permit issued in breach of the rules can be withdrawn. A permit is only as good as the application behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"risk-mitigation-and-best-practices\"><strong>Att\u00e9nuation des risques et meilleures pratiques<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Les investisseurs \u00e9trangers peuvent minimiser les risques li\u00e9s \u00e0 la propri\u00e9t\u00e9 des permis de construire gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 une v\u00e9rification pr\u00e9alable approfondie et \u00e0 une repr\u00e9sentation juridique professionnelle. <strong>V\u00e9rification de l&#039;authenticit\u00e9 du permis de construire<\/strong> Le respect de toutes les exigences de construction permet d&#039;\u00e9viter d&#039;\u00e9ventuels probl\u00e8mes r\u00e9glementaires ult\u00e9rieurs. Collaborer avec des avocats qualifi\u00e9s et exp\u00e9riment\u00e9s en mati\u00e8re d&#039;obtention de permis de construire facilite la compr\u00e9hension des pr\u00e9f\u00e9rences administratives locales et des exigences proc\u00e9durales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Maintien en bon \u00e9tat de la documentation<\/strong> makes later transactions easier, and <strong>couverture d&#039;assurance<\/strong> protects against loss. Check that the permit covers everything actually built: a part built without a permit is not covered by it, as evidence or otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"conclusion\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Building permits give foreign property owners in Thailand practical, recognised evidence of who owns a house built on land they cannot own. The ownership itself rests on section 146 and on the right over the land, so a permit works best alongside a registered superficies or lease rather than instead of one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Toutefois, l&#039;obtention d&#039;un permis de construire exige une gestion rigoureuse des difficult\u00e9s administratives, une documentation compl\u00e8te et une conformit\u00e9 permanente \u00e0 l&#039;\u00e9volution de la r\u00e9glementation. Les investisseurs \u00e9trangers doivent savoir que la reconnaissance des permis de construire varie selon les institutions tha\u00eflandaises, certaines exigeant des pi\u00e8ces justificatives suppl\u00e9mentaires. L&#039;\u00e9volution r\u00e9cente du march\u00e9 et des affaires juridiques retentissantes soulignent l&#039;importance d&#039;un accompagnement juridique professionnel et d&#039;une v\u00e9rification pr\u00e9alable approfondie tout au long du processus d&#039;acquisition et de d\u00e9tention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Used on its own, a permit is weak. Used to back a registered superficies or lease, it is the ordinary way a foreigner shows that the house is his.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>La derni\u00e8re r\u00e9vision : 27 septembre 2026.<\/strong> Civil and Commercial Code sections 144, 146, 540, 1310, 1311, 1410 to 1412, 1415 and 1416, Building Control Act B.E. 2522 section 8(12) and Supreme Court decision 4655\/2566 were read in Thai. Re-checked on 6 October 2026: sections 146, 1310, 1311 and 1415 re-read in Thai; the opening paragraph now states the section 1310 compensation and the section 1311 removal option; the Ashton Asoke account and the office practice described were not re-verified.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building permits in Thailand are the usual evidence that a foreigner owns a house built on land he cannot own. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"thai building construction permit","rank_math_title":"Building Permits as Proof of Ownership in Thailand","rank_math_description":"Building permits and foreign house ownership in Thailand: the Civil and Commercial Code basis, how agencies and banks treat them, and the obstacles.","rank_math_breadcrumb_title":"Thai Building Construction Permit","rank_math_canonical_url":""},"class_list":["post-162","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9534,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/162\/revisions\/9534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}