Por Bor Tor 5 (P.B.T.5): Land Tax Receipt, Not a Title

ตรวจสอบโดย ThaiLawOnline สำนักงานกฎหมายไทยที่ได้รับใบอนุญาตและดำเนินกิจการในประเทศไทยตั้งแต่ปี พ.ศ. 2549 ทนายความผู้รับผิดชอบสำนวน: วิชุดา อรรถเมธากุล, น.ม., ใบอนุญาตเนติบัณฑิตไทย เลขที่ 3149/2556.

อัปเดตล่าสุดเมื่อ 5 กันยายน 2569

ปอร์ บอร์ ตอร์ 5 (ภ.บ.ท.5, also written P.B.T.5, พีบีที5 หรือ Phor Bor Thor 5) is a receipt showing that an occupier of land has paid local development tax to the sub-district administration, and it is not a title document of any kind. It records who was taxed for a plot, not who owns it, and much PBT5 land is in fact state or forest land that nobody may own. Foreigners meet it when a cheap hillside or beachfront plot is offered with “papers” that turn out to be a tax stub.

What a Por Bor Tor 5 receipt actually proves

The document comes from the tax system, not the land system. Under the old local development tax, the occupier of unregistered land declared the plot to the tambon administration (the ออร์ บอร์ ทอร์ or municipality) and paid a small annual tax. The receipt was form Por Bor Tor 5. The Land Department had no part in it: nothing was surveyed, no boundaries were fixed and no ownership was examined. The area on the form is the occupier’s own estimate.

Because the Land Code recognises ownership only through documents issued by the Land Department (Chanote, นอร์ ซอร์ 3 กอร์, Nor Sor 3), a PBT5 holder has at most a bare possessory claim, and often not even that. Paying tax on land does not create a right to it. Where the plot lies inside a forest reserve, a national park or military land, the occupier can be removed and prosecuted however many receipts have been paid.

เดอะ ภาษีที่ดินและอาคาร Act B.E. 2562 replaced the local development tax from 2020, so PBT5 forms are no longer issued. Old ones still circulate and are still shown to buyers as if they were deeds.

How foreigners meet PBT5 land and what to check

PBT5 plots are sold cheaply, often in Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Chang and Pai, where the good land was taken decades ago. The seller offers the receipt, a hand-drawn sketch and sometimes a village headman’s letter. The “transfer” is a change of the taxpayer’s name at the tambon office, and the สำนักงานที่ดิน will register nothing: no sale, no lease, no จำนอง, no usufruct, no พื้นผิว.

For a foreigner, who cannot own land in any event, this is the worst of both worlds: no registrable right for the money paid, and a plot the state may reclaim. A Thai spouse or company buying PBT5 land simply becomes the next taxpayer without a title.

The minimum checks are a search at the provincial Land Office for any existing document over the area, an enquiry with the Royal Forest Department and the Aor Bor Tor as to whether the land is inside a reserve, and a look at the historical aerial photographs the Land Department uses to judge occupation. A full การตรวจสอบสถานะทรัพย์สินอย่างละเอียด usually ends with advice to walk away.

How PBT5 compares with Sor Kor 1

People confuse PBT5 with ซอร์ กอร์ 1, the pre-1972 possession claim certificate. Both are weak, but Sor Kor 1 is a Land Department record of occupation that can sometimes be converted into a Nor Sor 3 or Chanote through the Land Office or the civil court. A PBT5 receipt has no such route. The occupier can apply for a title when the government announces a survey in the area, but only if the land is not public, forest or military land, and approval is never guaranteed.

When it goes wrong, the buyer holds a claim that no court will protect against the state and no office will transfer. Recovering the money means suing the seller for the price, and that claim is only as good as the seller’s assets.

คำถามที่พบบ่อย

ดูเพิ่มเติม: ชาโนท (นอร์ ซอร์ 4 จอร์), ซอร์ กอร์ 1, นอร์ซอร์ 3, กฎหมายที่ดิน, ปอ บ ตอร์ 5 ในประเทศไทย และ เอกสารสิทธิ์ที่ดินในประเทศไทย.