Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, well we are discussing Usufruct or if you are European, it is apparently "Usufrict"; but Usufruct with regard to real estate here in Thailand and thoughts on this moving into 2026. 

I do like to make videos at the end, sort of at the New Year and even into the New Year where it's whatever the topic is in 2026. It gives me an opportunity to do sort of a roundup of some of the basic topics we often touch on, on this channel.

I do a lot of videos and recently have done a lot of videos that are very topical. Now that we've seen the dissolution of the Parliament here in Thailand and we are going into the elections - I should say the dissolution of the House - and going into the elections, I'm going to kind of not do a lot of topical stuff. Also we are in the New Year; we are sort of in the Christmas, New Year holiday. Our firm does close so I'm making a number of these videos, I'm basically doing them all at once and I'll be releasing them throughout the break, so it gives me a chance to kind of do a roundup and go back and talk about things that maybe new viewers are unaware of.

And Usufruct is something that I think anyone who is in Thailand who is looking to purchase property or would just like to have a home here should really look at. As I've discussed at length in many other videos, foreigners are precluded from owning property in Thailand and I don't see this changing anytime soon or at least in 2026. As I have discussed in other videos, there are exceptions to that. They are very discreet and in the vast majority of cases, it's just not possible for foreign nationals to own land; it's just a restriction here. I mean it's kind of self-evident in the name of the country, Thai-land. That being said, as I have discussed, there may be narrow exceptions to that again depending on the underlying facts of a case. But setting aside the ownership, Usufruct allows for effectively what we would call in the Common Law vernacular, "life estate". It's basically a lifetime lease to whomever holds it. So you are utilizing the land as if you owned it and it only has a reversion to the actual owner, the person whose name is on the title, in the event of your death. That's the way Usufruct works. 

That in my opinion, in many, many cases, not all, I don't even know if I'd say the majority, but in a large number of cases, usufruct is oftentimes the best and most optimal legal option for a foreigner who is looking to obtain and maintain a home here in the Kingdom of Thailand.