Section 456: Sale of immovable, registered writing required
Statutory text (Thai original)
การซื้อขายอสังหาริมทรัพย์ ถ้ามิได้ทำเป็นหนังสือและจดทะเบียนต่อพนักงานเจ้าหน้าที่เป็นโมฆะ วิธีนี้ให้ใช้ถึงซื้อขายเรือมีระวางตั้งแต่ห้าตันขึ้นไป ทั้งซื้อขายแพและสัตว์พาหนะด้วย สัญญาจะขายหรือจะซื้อ หรือคำมั่นในการซื้อขายทรัพย์สินตามที่ระบุไว้ในวรรคหนึ่ง ถ้ามิได้มีหลักฐานเป็นหนังสืออย่างหนึ่งอย่างใดลงลายมือชื่อฝ่ายผู้ต้องรับผิดเป็นสำคัญ หรือได้วางประจำไว้ หรือได้ชำระหนี้บางส่วนแล้ว จะฟ้องร้องให้บังคับคดีหาได้ไม่ บทบัญญัติที่กล่าวมาในวรรคก่อนนี้ ให้ใช้บังคับถึงสัญญาซื้อขายสังหาริมทรัพย์ซึ่งตกลงกันเป็นราคาสองหมื่นบาท หรือกว่านั้นขึ้นไปด้วย
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
English translation
A sale of immovable property is void unless it is made in writing and registered by the competent official. The same rule applies to ships or vessels of six tons and over, to steam launches or motor boats of five tons and over, to floating houses and to beasts of burden. An agreement to sell or to buy any of the aforesaid property, or a promise of sale of such property is not enforceable by action unless there is some written evidence signed by the party liable or unless earnest is given, or there is part performance. The provisions of the foregoing paragraph shall apply to a contract of sale of movable property where the agreed price is five hundred baht or upwards.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified. Always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 456 is the formality rule for land sales. Without registration at the Land Office (chanote, nor sor 3 gor, etc.), the transaction is void, meaning no ownership transfer occurs even if the buyer paid in full. Two firm-practice points: (1) a private "sale agreement" without registration is enforceable only as a promise to sell (§456 paragraph 2), giving the buyer a damages claim but not title; (2) for foreigners who cannot own land directly, this section reinforces why nominee or trust structures fail, the registered title remains in the nominee's name and is exposed to the nominee's creditors.
Why this matters in practice
Lawyers: An unregistered sale of land is absolutely void — not merely voidable. However, a preliminary sale agreement (contract to buy/sell) can be enforceable without registration provided written evidence, earnest, or part performance exists. Laypeople: Never pay the full price for land unless the transfer is simultaneously registered at the Land Office — an unregistered transaction gives you no ownership regardless of what you have paid.
Legislative history
Part of the original Civil and Commercial Code codification; no major subsequent amendment.
Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 1401/2553 (2010) ★ Landmark
An unregistered sale of land is void, but a seller who has delivered possession may not rely on that nullity to recover the property.
A sale of land that was not registered with the competent official is void under Section 456 paragraph 1. However, where the seller already delivered possession of the land to the buyer on the same day, the seller cannot recover the land by asserting the contract's nullity.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 8163/2554 (2011)
A preliminary agreement to buy or sell land supported by earnest money is enforceable without registration.
The parties intended to create a preliminary sale agreement supported by earnest money under Section 456 paragraph 2. Such a preliminary agreement does not require registration and is enforceable by action.
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Supreme Court Judgment No. 14921/2555 (2012)
The writing and registration requirement of Section 456 applies to vessels of five tons or more in the same manner as immovable property.
A sale of a vessel of five tons or more requires writing and registration. Where the contract showed both parties intended to register the transfer of ownership of the vessel, failure to complete registration rendered the sale unenforceable under Section 456.
Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.
Cited in 311 Supreme Court decisions (1945 to 2025)
Selected citing decisions
- Decision 1994/2566 (2023)
- Decision 131/2565 (2022)
- Decision 4135/2563 (2020)
- Decision 1476/2561 (2018)
- Decision 9990/2560 (2017)
- Decision 2521/2559 (2016)
- Decision 120/2559 (2016)
- Decision 15097/2558 (2015)
This list is selected automatically, weighted towards judgments that turn on this section rather than ones that merely recite it when passing sentence. It has not yet been reviewed by the firm.
Most often cited alongside
- Thai CPC s. 94 50
- Section 1378 21
- Thai CPC s. 249 17
- Section 1382 17
- Section 1377 16
- Section 525 14
Sections that appear in the same judgments as this one most often. The figure is the number of decisions.
Counted across the firm's corpus of 83,652 Supreme Court decisions, 1921 to 2026. The count is complete; the stated year range trims rare outliers so it describes where the citations actually sit. These figures are computed by us and are not official court statistics. How we count these, and what we measured
Frequently asked questions
Does a sale of land without registration at the Land Office give the buyer any rights?
No. A sale of land (or any immovable property) that is not registered at the Land Office is absolutely void under Section 456. The buyer acquires no ownership at all. The only remedy may be to claim back money paid under unjust enrichment principles.
Can a verbal agreement to buy land be enforced?
No, unless earnest money was paid or there was part performance. A preliminary agreement (contract to buy/sell) requires at minimum written evidence signed by the party to be charged, earnest money paid, or some act of part performance — otherwise it cannot be enforced in court.
Related guides on ThaiLawOnline
Cite this section
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Plain citation
Civil and Commercial Code, s. 456 (Thailand) -
Academic citation
Civil and Commercial Code (Thailand), s. 456. ThaiLawOnline, https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-456/ (accessed 8 August 2026). -
Thai citation
ป.พ.พ. มาตรา 456 -
Permalink
https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-456/ -
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<blockquote cite="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-456/"><p>A sale of immovable property is void unless it is made in writing and registered by the competent official. The same rule applies to ships or vessels of six tons and over, to steam launches or motor boats of five tons and over, to floating…</p><footer>Civil and Commercial Code, s. 456 (Thailand) — <a href="https://www.thailawonline.com/thai-civil-code/section-456/">ThaiLawOnline</a></footer></blockquote>
The Thai text is authoritative. The English is an unofficial translation by ThaiLawOnline, free to reuse with attribution.