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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Real right under Sections 1417-1428 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code giving the usufructuary (ผู้ทรงสิทธิเก็บกิน) the right to possess, use and take the fruits of another person’s immovable property, including collecting rents (section 1417), either for the usufructuary’s life or for a fixed term. A fixed term cannot exceed thirty years, though it can be renewed, and a life usufruct always ends on the usufructuary’s death (section 1418, applying section 1403 paragraph 3). A juristic person, which has no lifetime, can therefore hold one only for a fixed term of up to thirty years. The usufruct is registered on the land title at the Land Department and is a common structure for foreigners married to Thai nationals.
Full guide: usufruct in Thailand.
Related Terms
- Usufructuary (ผู้ทรงสิทธิเก็บกิน): the person holding the usufruct. Entitled to use the property and take its fruits, but must preserve its substance and return it at the end of the term.
- Usus: the Roman-law right to use a thing without taking its fruits. In Thai law it is absorbed into usufruct and into the right of habitation (CCC Sections 1402 to 1409).
- Fructus: the right to collect the natural and civil fruits: crops, rents, interest, offspring of livestock, without diminishing the property. Usus plus fructus is what a usufruct grants.
- Abusus: the right to consume, alter, destroy or transfer the thing. This is the one right a usufruct never transfers, which is why the owner remains the owner.
- Naked owner: the owner whose title is burdened by the usufruct. Retains abusus but no current right of use. When the usufruct ends, full ownership consolidates automatically.
Last reviewed: 27 September 2026. Civil and Commercial Code sections 1402, 1403, 1409, 1417, 1418 and 1428 were read in Thai.
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