Usufruct, superficies and habitation: the registered real rights foreigners overlook

Beyond leases, the Civil and Commercial Code offers three registrable real rights that a landowner can grant, all endorsed on the title deed at the Land Office. A usufruct (sitthi kep kin, ss. 1417–1428) gives the holder possession, use and enjoyment of the property, including the power to manage it; it can run for a fixed term (capped at thirty years) or for the holder's life, and if no period is stated it is presumed to be for life. It always ends on the holder's death and cannot be inherited, but under section 1422 the holder may let a third party exercise it — Thai courts and land practice accept a usufructuary leasing the property out. The holder bears ordinary maintenance, management costs and taxes (s. 1426). A superficies (sitthi nuea phuen din, ss. 1410–1416) separates building ownership from land ownership: the holder owns the house or structures on someone else's land. Unlike usufruct it is transferable and inheritable unless the deed says otherwise, for a term up to thirty years or for the life of either party; two consecutive years of unpaid rent lets the owner terminate. Habitation (ss. 1402–1409) is the weakest: a rent-free right to dwell, up to thirty years or life, not transferable even by inheritance.

These rights are commonly registered for a foreign spouse or long-term resident over a Thai-owned house. The Department of Lands will register them for foreigners, but warns that officers must refuse structures that are really devices to hold land on a foreigner's behalf.