House Registration And Land Title In Isaan

[Boxer]

I have recently been asked to build a modest house on a plot of land owned by the family of the better half. The House Registration Book lists momma and poppa and the children still at home inc the better half. With parents and family consent the book has been amended at the local city office in Isaan to show the owner is now the better half and indeed a note is attached to this entry in Thai. Everyone says that shows the new sole owner but as I am unable to read Thai I am wondering.

I thought land had a Kor Nor?? title paper and it would need the local lawyer to change ownership rights but all I ask say this is not so in Isaan and indeed the local Council are having a drive to register land all around the area. This is land handed down to family members for generations without papers.

Any one know what is what and how you identify the owner of land in Isaan?

(I tried to copy the note but it failed to print here)

[Khonwan]

I have recently been asked to build a modest house on a plot of land owned by the family of the better half. The House Registration Book lists momma and poppa and the children still at home inc the better half. With parents and family consent the book has been amended at the local city office in Isaan to show the owner is now the better half and indeed a note is attached to this entry in Thai. Everyone says that shows the new sole owner but as I am unable to read Thai I am wondering.

I thought land had a Kor Nor?? title paper and it would need the local lawyer to change ownership rights but all I ask say this is not so in Isaan and indeed the local Council are having a drive to register land all around the area. This is land handed down to family members for generations without papers.

Any one know what is what and how you identify the owner of land in Isaan?

(I tried to copy the note but it failed to print here)

I am not in Issan but your question applies to most parts of Thailand, including my own location. The land in question is likely to be Sor Por Kor or in the process of becoming Sor Por Kor (there are various stages of pre Sor Por Kor - can't recall the names). With respect to pre Sor Por Kor, the "owner" is the person identified locally (via the Poo Yai Baan - village headman) as having always "owned" it, or the person who has a bill of sale from such person; the owner should normally have receipts for the very small annual tax collected on it. Once all the eternal paperwork and bureaucratic endlessness eventually comes to fruition, a Sor Por Kor title is presented in the form of a paper document to the now formally registered owner of the land. This document includes a detailed GPS map of the land boundaries and an exact measurement of its area. A maximum of 50 rai is permitted per Thai resident over the age of 20. The land must be used for agricultural purposes - you can't turn it into a golf course or whatever. In theory, Sor Por Kor land cannot be sold, or rented out! But this is Thailand! Since it cannot be sold, Sor Por Kor land cannot be used as collateral for a commercial-bank loan. It can, however, now be used as collateral for a loan through the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), which means that Thai farmers can now at long last have access to 'inexpensive' credit (7-9%pa compared with the usual informal-sector rates of 36-60%pa). Although there is no certainty, the Sor Por Kor land document issuance is normally expected to lead to a full chanoot (clear title deed), eventually, be it 5 years or 25, or whatever.

Any house on any type of land can be registered as owned by anyone without regards to ownership of the land. For example, a farang may not (normally) own the land but may register his/her ownership of the house with the local amphur. I think that the registration of ownership is not quite the same as the house registration record. In addition to my own house, I have three other small houses on my land each with House Registration Documents in various family members' names - I was assured (!?) that this did not confer ownership. Just as a car registration document indicates the name of the registered keeper, and not necessarily the name of the owner (as identified by the sales contract).

All of the above is based on my personal knowledge / experience of buying land (in my wife's name) over the past 11 years. Please satisfy yourself, however, that the info is correct.

[meadish_sweetball]

This is a very interesting question for many forum members and also a general question which applies to other parts of Thailand, so I hope the original poster is ok with me moving it to the Real Estate forum. The link will remain in this forum.

[old wanderer]

I was driven to learn about various land titles in Thailand. My better half will run amoke with "good deals" unless I restrain her. It sounds like Kownam posted you are on your way to a Sor Por Kor title for the land.

the Sor Bor Kor. These are true title deeds, accurately surveyed and pegged (like a Chanott). They can be mortgaged and developed. But the big but is they cannot be leased, sold or transferred.

So what do you do with it if you want to leave?? Looks like this is land that is to remain in the family. It can be inheritted. Hence the Thai govt. reconized that some land had been handed down for generations but no title existed on the land, hence this process, but it is ment to keep the land in the family, not be purchased by outside investors.

I had posted a list of various titles in "Squatters Rights" a few days ago.

[Boxer]

Thanks guys that helps to clarify a confusing subject some. All I wanted to see was that the better half had the land in his name before we got to the building part as one of the family is a bit grabbing and already i find out has money owed to a bank on another seperate family plot. I will find out which Bank and take it from there.