Superficies (Sitthi Nuea Phuen Din): Right to Own a Building on Another’s Land

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

อัปเดตล่าสุดเมื่อ 5 กันยายน 2569

พื้นผิว (สิทธิเหนือพื้นดิน, สิทธิเหนือพื้นดิน, sometimes written สิทธิของพื้นผิว หรือ พื้นผิวที่ถูกต้อง) is a real right, registered at the สำนักงานที่ดิน, under which the owner of land allows another person to own buildings, structures or plantations on, above or below that land. It is governed by Sections 1410 to 1416 of the ประมวลกฎหมายแพ่งและพาณิชย์. Because Thai law lets a house be owned separately from the ground beneath it, superficies is the tool that lets a foreigner, who cannot own land, hold a house in their own name on land owned by a Thai spouse, a friend or a lessor.

How superficies works under the Civil and Commercial Code

Section 1410 lets a landowner create a right of superficies in favour of another person, who then owns what is built or planted on the land. Under Section 1412 the right may be granted for a fixed period of up to 30 years or for the lifetime of the landowner or of the superficiary; a longer fixed term is cut back to 30 years, and a term can be renewed at expiry. Section 1411 makes the right transferable and inheritable unless the registration says otherwise, which is the main advantage over a usufruct.

Registration makes it real. The agreement is recorded on the back of the land’s โฉนด หรือ นอร์ ซอร์ 3 กอร์ at the Land Office. Once registered it binds any later buyer of the land and survives the landowner’s death. An unregistered superficies is only a contract between the two signatories; the person who built the house has no right against a new owner of the land.

Using superficies as a foreigner in Thailand

The usual pattern is land owned by a Thai spouse or bought under a 30-year lease, with the foreigner named as superficiary and as applicant on the ใบอนุญาตก่อสร้าง. The house is then the foreigner’s property: it can be sold, mortgaged if a lender will take it, and left by will. Both parties attend the Land Office with the title deed, passports or ID cards, the ทะเบียนบ้าน if the house exists, and a Thai-language agreement; a Tor Dor 21 power of attorney covers anyone who cannot attend.

The Land Office charges a registration fee of 1% of the consideration declared, plus 0.5% stamp duty, and a fixed fee only when the right is granted without consideration, which is common between spouses. Withholding tax may be assessed when a payment is declared.

The common mistake is to register superficies on land the foreigner has funded through a nominee, or to grant it for the landowner’s lifetime when the superficiary is the younger party: the right then dies with the landowner and the house passes to the heirs of the land.

Superficies compared with usufruct and leasehold

Superficies gives ownership of the structure; a สิทธิเก็บกิน gives the use of land and house for life but nothing to pass on; a lease gives possession for a term. Many foreigners combine a registered lease of the land with a superficies over the house, so that the house is theirs even when the lease is renegotiated. When the superficies ends, Section 1416 lets the superficiary remove the building and restore the land, unless the landowner elects to buy it at market value.

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