Integrity Legal - Law Firm in Bangkok | Bangkok Lawyer | Legal Services Thailand Back to
Integrity Legal

Legal Services & Resources 

Up to date legal information pertaining to Thai, American, & International Law.

Contact us: +66 2-266 3698

info@integrity-legal.com

ResourcesThailand Real Estate & Property LawThailand Condominium LawDo Yellow House Books Confer Property Rights in Thailand?

Do Yellow House Books Confer Property Rights in Thailand?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Yellow House books; that is the yellow Tabien Naan. For those who are unaware, a Tabien Baan or a house registration book is somewhat akin to, I think of it as like a living census. So Thailand doesn't really use a census the way that we do in the United States where every 10 years people go door-to-door and ask people about their living conditions and how many people live in a given place. Instead Thailand has a system which is updated constantly. It is a maintained database if you will and the document associated with this is a house book. It is a house registration book; it is called a Tabien Baan, so house registry. 

Now generally speaking, Thai nationals and those who hold Permanent Residence can be in a blue Tabien Baan. However foreign nationals cannot be in a blue Tabien Baan per Thai law. In the early 90s I believe 1991 specifically, they amended the relevant law on this and created a yellow Tabien Baan. That document is a Yellow House book. It is for foreigners to be in a house book here in the Kingdom of Thailand. A question that sometimes arises amongst folks is "Does a yellow Tabien Baan confer property rights?" And I think people conflate certain aspects of a yellow Tabien Baan with having rights in the property. All the Tabien Baan means as far as I understand it and we have had our Thai legal team sort of vet me on this, is you are registered as that is your address.  Certain things, maybe certain things like legal address is considered at that address but as far as a property right, it cannot be inferred from that document alone. It is a registration document in much the same way simply having a driver's license does not confer ownership to a car for example. Being in a Tabien Baan, being registered on a house book does not confer right in that home. So that is the thing to understand with that.

It should be noted again foreign nationals in a Tabien Baan, we have noted this in another video, it also doesn't confer anything with respect to Immigration. We have had folks say ”Does being in a yellow Tabien Baan mean I don't have to file for example 90 day reporting or TM30 address reporting?" and the short answer to that question is "no not necessarily". The Tabien Baan rules that were enacted in the early 90s don't have anything to do with Immigration. They are not within the Immigration Act. The Immigration Act stands separate and apart. They are mutually exclusive bodies of law and for this reason the Tabien Baan should be viewed exactly for what it is especially the yellow one, which is simply a registration of one's address at a particular location.