Inheriting land in Thailand from a Thai parent: the basics

If a Thai parent has died, or is getting older and the family has started to talk about “the land”, you may suddenly need to understand a legal system in a language you might not read. That’s a lot to carry, especially while grieving or worrying about someone you love. This page sets out the basics in plain English so you know which questions to ask, and who to ask.

Who inherits a Thai parent’s land?

Thai inheritance is set out in Book VI of the Civil and Commercial Code. The summary below follows ThaiLawOnline’s unofficial English translation. In general, if there is a valid will, it decides. If there isn’t, or the will doesn’t cover everything, the land goes to the statutory heirs in section 1629. There are six classes, in this order:

1. descendants (children, and their children);
2. parents;
3. full brothers and sisters;
4. half brothers and sisters;
5. grandparents;
6. uncles and aunts.

Under section 1630, while anyone in a higher class is alive, or represented by their own descendants, the lower classes generally get nothing. There is one exception: if the person who died leaves both children and a living parent, that parent takes the same share as a child.

The surviving spouse is a statutory heir too, alongside the classes. Under section 1635, a spouse takes the same share as a child when there are descendants; half the estate alongside parents or full siblings; two-thirds alongside half siblings, grandparents, uncles or aunts; and everything if there are no other heirs. Spousal rights depend on a legally registered marriage, according to the legal guides we read.

So in many families, if a Thai mum or dad dies without a will, the children, any surviving spouse and any surviving grandparents on that side may all be heirs together.

Can a Thai parent leave land by will?

Yes. Section 1655 says a will is valid only if it is made in one of the forms the Code prescribes. They include an ordinary written will signed before two witnesses (section 1656), a will written entirely in the person’s own hand, dated and signed (section 1657), and a will made as a public document before a district officer with two witnesses (section 1658). The Code has further forms too. According to the translation, a paper that doesn’t follow one of them has no effect as a will, so if you find one, ask a Thai lawyer to look at it before anyone relies on it.

If your parent is still alive and wants to plan, that is a conversation for them and a Thai lawyer. Our page on caring for ageing parents in Thailand covers the wider picture.

Why is a court order often needed?

Land is transferred at the Land Office, and the office needs to know who has the right to sign. Under section 1713, an heir or other interested person can ask the court to appoint an administrator of the estate (phu jat kan moradok), for example when an heir lives outside Thailand or is a minor, or when something stands in the way of dividing the estate.

ThaiLawOnline describes the court-appointed administrator as the usual route and the court order as what most registries ask for. It also describes a second route under Land Code section 81: an heir applies to the Land Office directly with proof of heirship, the office posts a notice for 30 days, and it registers the transfer if no heir objects. Which route fits your family is a question for a lawyer.

Can I own the land if I’m not a Thai national?

This is the hard part. The Land Code generally does not let aliens (people who aren’t Thai nationals) own land. For inheritance, ThaiLawOnline’s translation of the Land Code gives these rules:

• Section 93: a foreigner who inherits land as a statutory heir may be permitted by the Minister to acquire it, as long as their total land stays within the section 87 limits. For a residence, that limit is 1 rai per family.
• Section 94: land an alien holds without permission must be disposed of within a period the Director-General of the Department of Lands sets, which the translation gives as at least 180 days and not more than one year. If it isn’t, the Director-General may sell it.

ThaiLawOnline says the section 93 permission is discretionary, and that a foreigner who inherits under a will rather than as a statutory heir has no section 93 route. Buildings, it notes, can be inherited separately from the land.

The foreign spouse of a Thai parent, if the marriage was legally registered, is generally a statutory heir like any spouse. A 2021 article for the Thai-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce says a foreign spouse may be permitted to keep a residential plot of up to one rai, with ministerial permission handled in practice by the Department of Lands in Bangkok or the provincial governor, and needs permission again before selling it.

What if I hold Thai nationality?

The foreign-ownership limits above apply to aliens. If you are a Thai national, for example a luk khrueng who has Thai nationality through a Thai parent, you can generally own land as a Thai. Whether you hold Thai nationality, and how you show it, depends on your own documents. We don’t restate those rules here; start with Thai dual citizenship, should I get my Thai passport?, the Thai ID card from abroad and tabien baan, the house registration.

What kind of title is the land under?

It matters what paper the land has. A chanote is the full title deed that confers ownership; other documents, such as Nor Sor 3 Gor and Nor Sor 3, show possession rather than ownership, and some land documents can’t be registered at the Land Office at all, according to ThaiLawOnline’s glossary.

Are there taxes or fees?

Inheritance tax applies only to large inheritances. According to PwC’s Worldwide Tax Summaries (last reviewed August 2026), an heir pays only on the value above 100 million baht received from one person who has died, at 10%, or 5% for ascendants and descendants, and what a spouse inherits is exempt. ThaiLawOnline and Thai Legal Hub give the same 100 million baht threshold.

Transfer fees at the Land Office: the Department of Lands’ fee list gives 0.5% of the appraised value for a transfer by inheritance between ascendants and descendants or between spouses. ThaiLawOnline says other heirs pay 2%, which matches the Department’s general registration rate. Ask the Land Office for the current figure, and about any other taxes or duties, before you go.

What does the process usually involve?

A high-level checklist, not a how-to. Your lawyer will tell you what your case needs.

• The death certificate, and proof of how you’re related (birth certificates, marriage certificate).
• The deceased’s house registration and your own, if you have one.
• The title deed for the land itself.
• Any will.
• A court order appointing an administrator, if that’s the route taken.
• A visit to the Land Office where the land is registered.
• Documents from abroad may need extra steps: ask your Thai embassy which.

When should you get a lawyer?

Talk to a Thai-qualified lawyer early if any of these apply: you aren’t sure you hold Thai nationality; any heir is a foreigner, lives abroad or is a minor; there is a will; heirs disagree; the land isn’t under a chanote; or you are the foreign spouse of the person who died. It is also worth it simply because the law here is detailed and the Thai text, not any translation, is what counts.

What we couldn’t confirm

• Official English text. We couldn’t reach official English versions of the Land Code or Civil and Commercial Code from the Office of the Council of State or the Department of Lands. We relied on ThaiLawOnline’s unofficial translation, which says its Land Code chapter is still being re-checked.
• Section 93 in practice. Secondary sources disagree on how readily permission is granted, and on whether an heir under a will can use it. The NorCham article says a spouse can inherit by will or by statute; ThaiLawOnline says only statutory heirs have the section 93 route.
• Inheritance tax comes from PwC’s tax summary and legal guides; we couldn’t reach the Revenue Department’s own page. The 0.5% transfer fee is from the Department of Lands; the 2% figure for other heirs is ThaiLawOnline’s reading, which we couldn’t confirm directly.
• The section 94 disposal period (180 days to one year) comes only from ThaiLawOnline’s unofficial translation.
• How long it takes. We found no reliable figure.

Last checked 14 October 2026. Confirm with your embassy and a Thai lawyer.