Section 1418 — Usufruct — duration
Statutory text (Thai original)
สิทธิเก็บกินนั้น จะก่อให้เกิดโดยมีกำหนดเวลา หรือตลอดชีวิตแห่งผู้ทรงสิทธิก็ได้ถ้าไม่มีกำหนดเวลา ท่านให้สันนิษฐานไว้ก่อนว่าสิทธิเก็บกินมีอยู่ตลอดชีวิตผู้ทรงสิทธิถ้ามีกำหนดเวลา ท่านให้นำบทบัญญัติ
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
คำแปลภาษาอังกฤษ
A usufruct may be created either for a period of time or for the life of the usufructuary. If no time has been fixed, it is presumed that the usufruct is for the life of the usufructuary.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 1418 has the critical "life of holder" option that makes usufruct attractive to foreign clients. A registered lifetime usufruct outlives any 30-year cap, giving the foreigner secure long-term residential rights even if the Thai owner of the land dies, divorces, or sells. The trade-off is that the usufruct extinguishes automatically at the foreigner's death — it does NOT pass to heirs. For inheritance planning, combine usufruct with a registered superficies (§1410) on the building.