We just purchased a small lot w/ house from the chanote owner who had been renting the house. This 'rental' family were the house's original builder/owners who the chanote seller purchased the chanote from. At the Land office, the chanote seller took our paper work directly to the head guy in the Land office - they just happened to be best buds! We were finished in < 35 min(!) and were told to return (to pick up the finished chanote name transfer deed?) in 30 days.

My question: When processing the transfer of a new owner's name onto a chanote after a purchase transaction, does the Land office give the new chanote owner a new (or updated?) yellow tam bien ban book? What becomes of the status in the yellow tam bien ban book of the former residents who previously lived in the house on the property (but who do not currently reside there now due to the new chanote ownership), how are the names of the previous residents typically dealt with/removed(?) from a home's yellow tam bien ban book after a chanote's new ownership? Are the names that are listed on a yellow tam bien ban book at the sole discretion of the chanote owner? Can the chanote owner easily/routinely have any such names removed? Or are there other work-around procedures, such as applying for a house number change(?), etc.?

The yellow book has nothing to do with the land office, if such a book already exists for the property you will have to take it along with the appropriate documentation to the local amphur see pinned thread to have your name put in it.

If no such book exists you will have to apply for one at your local amphur again see pinned thread. The yellow book is proof of residence not ownership.

The most important thing is why do you have to collect the chanote in 30 days? In every purchase/sale I have seen (quite a few) the updated chanote was issued immediately. Until it is issued the deal isn't done.

If you paid in cash then at the minute you don't have the cash and you don't own the property. I would be more concerned about this than the yellow book.

More important than the yellow book is the blue book. I take it you were given that when you purchased the property?

Once you have the blue book your wife can get it updated at the district office. Unless the previous occupants were non-Thai there may not be a yellow book.

Either way, your wife can get the yellow book sorted after the blue book.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the yellow book. Some people think it's something special. It's only a document that shows your residence. Absolutely nothing else. Proving your residence can be done in many different ways, you don't need a yellow book. In the last twenty years I have been here, I cannot think of a single incidence when I could possibly have used it.

The yellow book has nothing to do with the land office, if such a book already exists for the property you will have to take it along with the appropriate documentation to the local amphur see pinned thread to have your name put in it.

If no such book exists you will have to apply for one at your local amphur again see pinned thread. The yellow book is proof of residence not ownership.

Thanks for these facts!

The most important thing is why do you have to collect the chanote in 30 days? In every purchase/sale I have seen (quite a few) the updated chanote was issued immediately. Until it is issued the deal isn't done.

If you paid in cash then at the minute you don't have the cash and you don't own the property. I would be more concerned about this than the yellow book.

More important than the yellow book is the blue book. I take it you were given that when you purchased the property?

Once you have the blue book your wife can get it updated at the district office. Unless the previous occupants were non-Thai there may not be a yellow book.

Either way, your wife can get the yellow book sorted after the blue book.

All is as you say: We paid cash and walked out of Land office with updated chanote in her name, along with supporting purchase docs, all stamped.

My confusion was due to my misunderstanding about the yellow & blue books not being dealt with at the Land office! Also wife's lack of specificity (unless pressed!): The 'return in 30 days' were the officials instructing her when to go to the Ampur to get her Blue book!

So, all is as you guys explained it and I now have a grasp of the Thai Chanote sale-transfer and Thai house book procedures!

The next step is for your wife to get the blue book sorted, which sounds like it is in progress. When your wife collects the updated blue book get her to ask about the requirements for a yellow book at the same time. To get a yellow book you will need to get a few documents together, provide one or two witnesses and possibly make an appointment at the district office. Exact requirements vary, so it's good to ask.

Hope this is of some help, check with your local office as well as it varies from place to place.

For Sansai district Chiang Mai my wife and I did the following.

As my wife and I are both British and "have bought our house" we had to supply the following to the Sansai district office

2 x forms signed by Thai witnesses, one a neighbour and the local PooYaiBan ( a must)

Copies of all the following:-

1. residency letter from immigration

2. copy of passport

3. translation of passport into thai

4. 3 photographs

5. chanote of property including importantly for us lease agreement for land

6. blue book

7. copies of the witness id card

Takes about a week, they will telephone you when to pick it up.

Good luck

The next step is for your wife to get the blue book sorted, which sounds like it is in progress. When your wife collects the updated blue book get her to ask about the requirements for a yellow book at the same time. To get a yellow book you will need to get a few documents together, provide one or two witnesses and possibly make an appointment at the district office. Exact requirements vary, so it's good to ask.

Hope this is of some help, check with your local office as well as it varies from place to place.

For Sansai district Chiang Mai my wife and I did the following.

As my wife and I are both British and "have bought our house" we had to supply the following to the Sansai district office

2 x forms signed by Thai witnesses, one a neighbour and the local PooYaiBan ( a must)

Copies of all the following:-

1. residency letter from immigration

2. copy of passport

3. translation of passport into thai

4. 3 photographs

5. chanote of property including importantly for us lease agreement for land

6. blue book

7. copies of the witness id card

Takes about a week, they will telephone you when to pick it up.

Good luck

Taking you guys advice, we went to the district office to start the process. We began by trying to get my wife's name added to the blue book registry of our newly purchased house. The whereabouts of the person whose name is currently listed in the blue book, (the original house builder/owner/resident who lost ownership to the house to financiers who she couldn't repay), are not known, so her mother accompanied us to the district office in hopes of removing her daughter's name from the house blue book registry. The district office office official wasn't having it - she said the person named in the blue book must appear in person to remove her name. So for now, we are left with no blue book for our newly purchased house. In this type of situation where the owner of the blue book of a house cannot (or has no desire to) be located, what is the recourse of new chanote owners to pursue their legal rights to obtain and register as '#1' and 'Head of Household' residents in the blue book for their homes?

dbl post!

Have a word with your village headman , ask him round for drinks etc or make an appointment to see him.The district office should give you his contact details.

Good luck

^ Will do.

Everyone happens to know everyone here.

I was just wondering that this type of situation occurs more often?

can you not add your wife's name to the book as well as the ' missing' named person

edit - miss read a post