$94,000 House in Thailand: Can you own a home in Thailand? Here's how!
The Coding Travelbug
10,069 views
Can foreigners own a house in Thailand? 🇹🇭 In my last few videos, people in the comments said NO....but maybe it's a YES.
In my last few videos I talked about buying condos in Thailand — but many of you asked the same question: “Can foreigners own a house?” So I drove up to Nakhon Phanom in Northeast Thailand to visit my Canadian friend Graeme, who has lived in Thailand for years and owns two houses here. He answers the question: “Can foreigners own a house?”
🇹🇭 Watch my full Thailand Travel Playlist here: Thailand
In this video, he explains the legitimate ways foreigners can legally secure a home in Thailand, including the difference between owning land vs owning a house, why the old nominee company structure is risky, and how agreements like leasehold, usufruct, and superficies can protect you.
We also talk about costs of owning a house in Thailand, property taxes, solar power, renovation costs, and how much a full house with land and pool can actually cost.
If you're thinking about living in Thailand, retiring abroad, or buying property in Southeast Asia, this conversation is packed with practical insight.
📌 Timestamps for Easy Navigation:
00:00 Meet Graeme – Canadian expat who owns two homes in Thailand
02:03 Why buy a house with a pool vs a condo
03:17 Can foreigners legally buy a house in Thailand?
04:04 Why the Thai nominee company structure is risky today
05:14 The legal way to buy a house: lease agreements explained
06:50 What a usufruct actually does (lifetime land rights)
09:59 What is a superficies and how foreigners can own the house itself
11:45 The “trifecta” that protects foreign buyers
13:00 Why Graeme put the land in his son's name
14:30 Why Thailand is cracking down on nominee structure companies
15:44 How to time the land purchase, the lease, the usufruct and superficies.
17:36 Property taxes, garbage fees and monthly expenses
19:00 Installing solar power and lowering electricity bills in Thailand
22:02 How much is a house, land, and renovation
22:40 How much does a pool cost to install in Thailand
24:16 Land size, rice field views, and future plans
25:43 The first thing you should do before buying property
28:16 Final thoughts on buying a house in Thailand
If you're curious about living in Thailand, buying property as a foreigner, or retiring abroad, this channel is all about real experiences — no hype.
👉 Subscribe for more real-life insights on living and working abroad!
🔔 Like & comment if you’re thinking about buying property in Thailand — or if you’ve figured out your own way to secure a home overseas.
And a written summary/checklist of the important bits from @Jetter638 Thanks, Martin!
Here is a checklist Summary Checklist for Total Security using the Trifecta.
If you are structuring a property purchase using the Trifecta approach, the Usufruct only protects you while you are breathing. To protect your heirs if you pass away early, your legal structure must include:
A Leasehold Agreement with an explicit Succession Clause registered at the Land Office, forcing the landlord to honor the remaining years for your heirs.
A Superficies Agreement registered for 30 years, establishing your estate's ownership of the physical structure.
A specific Thai Will naming exactly who inherits the remaining leasehold years and the building.
Without that specific leasehold succession clause, the landowner wins a massive legal advantage the moment you pass away.
You need a good lawyer who is working for YOU (not the deleloper/landowner) who has lots of experience working with expats that are "purchasing" property (via Leasehold) and they know what they are doing.
20 Comments
So much information to take away.
Brilliant video.
Thanks.
It will not work in the village of your Thai partner. In case of the death of your Thai partner or in case of a separation or divorce you will be isolated in a hostile environment.
Your Thai partner, her/his family and friends or the successors will want to have the Land and House for their own. They will do everything to make you feeling uncomfortable and unhappy so that at least you will give up and leave the village.
You could be happy to get a buyer from the village who pay 50% of the value of the house. But even this would be very difficult.
civil law jurisdictions derived from Roman law. It allows a person (the usufructuary) to use and enjoy the "fruits" or profits of property owned by another, provided the property remains undamaged.
Countries where Usufruct is used
Europe - France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Poland and Moldova
Asia - Thailand, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam, India
Americas - United States (Louisiana), United States (Georgia), Cuba
Middle East - United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The option to extend the lease after 30 years is legally ineffective.
Why? A couple of obvious reasons. First is in relation to certainty of purchasing land. A lease is on the title deed. When doing due diligence, one can see the lease on the title deed. The lease attaches to the land not to lessor.
Any lease option is an agreement between two parties, due diligence can't find it, it is not on the land title, one could buy a property that has been effectively leased for next 60 years. One needs certainty when buying land.
The second obvious point, is again that the lease option is a promise to do something in 30 years. The person who made that promise could be dead, left the country, can't be found or if a company, the company could be liquidated.
The person may have sold the land to another person who is under No obligation to honour an agreement made by the first person.
The above is not rocket science. 😂
If you are structuring a property purchase using the Trifecta approach, the Usufruct only protects you while you are breathing. To protect your heirs if you pass away early, your legal structure must include:
A Leasehold Agreement with an explicit Succession Clause registered at the Land Office, forcing the landlord to honor the remaining years for your heirs.
A Superficies Agreement registered for 30 years, establishing your estate's ownership of the physical structure.
A specific Thai Will naming exactly who inherits the remaining leasehold years and the building.
Without that specific leasehold succession clause, the landowner wins a massive legal advantage the moment you pass away.
You need a good lawyer who is working for YOU (not the deleloper/landowner) who has lots of experience working with expats that are "purchasing" property (via Leasehold) and they know what they are doing.
$94,000 House in Thailand: Can you own a home in Thailand? Here's how!
The Coding Travelbug
10,069 views
Can foreigners own a house in Thailand? 🇹🇭 In my last few videos, people in the comments said NO....but maybe it's a YES.
In my last few videos I talked about buying condos in Thailand — but many of you asked the same question: “Can foreigners own a house?” So I drove up to Nakhon Phanom in Northeast Thailand to visit my Canadian friend Graeme, who has lived in Thailand for years and owns two houses here. He answers the question: “Can foreigners own a house?”
🇹🇭 Watch my full Thailand Travel Playlist here: Thailand
In this video, he explains the legitimate ways foreigners can legally secure a home in Thailand, including the difference between owning land vs owning a house, why the old nominee company structure is risky, and how agreements like leasehold, usufruct, and superficies can protect you.
We also talk about costs of owning a house in Thailand, property taxes, solar power, renovation costs, and how much a full house with land and pool can actually cost.
If you're thinking about living in Thailand, retiring abroad, or buying property in Southeast Asia, this conversation is packed with practical insight.
📌 Timestamps for Easy Navigation:
00:00 Meet Graeme – Canadian expat who owns two homes in Thailand
02:03 Why buy a house with a pool vs a condo
03:17 Can foreigners legally buy a house in Thailand?
04:04 Why the Thai nominee company structure is risky today
05:14 The legal way to buy a house: lease agreements explained
06:50 What a usufruct actually does (lifetime land rights)
09:59 What is a superficies and how foreigners can own the house itself
11:45 The “trifecta” that protects foreign buyers
13:00 Why Graeme put the land in his son's name
14:30 Why Thailand is cracking down on nominee structure companies
15:44 How to time the land purchase, the lease, the usufruct and superficies.
17:36 Property taxes, garbage fees and monthly expenses
19:00 Installing solar power and lowering electricity bills in Thailand
22:02 How much is a house, land, and renovation
22:40 How much does a pool cost to install in Thailand
24:16 Land size, rice field views, and future plans
25:43 The first thing you should do before buying property
28:16 Final thoughts on buying a house in Thailand
If you're curious about living in Thailand, buying property as a foreigner, or retiring abroad, this channel is all about real experiences — no hype.
👉 Subscribe for more real-life insights on living and working abroad!
🔔 Like & comment if you’re thinking about buying property in Thailand — or if you’ve figured out your own way to secure a home overseas.
And a written summary/checklist of the important bits from @Jetter638 Thanks, Martin!
Here is a checklist Summary Checklist for Total Security using the Trifecta.
If you are structuring a property purchase using the Trifecta approach, the Usufruct only protects you while you are breathing. To protect your heirs if you pass away early, your legal structure must include:
A Leasehold Agreement with an explicit Succession Clause registered at the Land Office, forcing the landlord to honor the remaining years for your heirs.
A Superficies Agreement registered for 30 years, establishing your estate's ownership of the physical structure.
A specific Thai Will naming exactly who inherits the remaining leasehold years and the building.
Without that specific leasehold succession clause, the landowner wins a massive legal advantage the moment you pass away.
You need a good lawyer who is working for YOU (not the deleloper/landowner) who has lots of experience working with expats that are "purchasing" property (via Leasehold) and they know what they are doing.