Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing land use by foreigners here in Thailand, always a hot topic especially going into high season here in Thailand because a number of foreigners basically would like to buy a house, would like to buy land. And as we have discussed in other videos, this is restricted in Thailand. Foreigners are not allowed to own land in Thailand. As we have discussed, there are many, not many, there are a few limited circumstances where that can be sort of overridden but as we have discussed, it requires the signature of the Interior Minister here in Thailand. As a practical matter, this is just not a possibility for most folks.

So the point I'm trying to make with this video is, is there any sort of setup where you can get sort of use of land in a way that sort of resembles ownership? One way to do this is a long-term lease, so like a 30-year lease. That is about as ironclad as a foreigner can get quite honestly. It's clearly covered under the Civil and Commercial Code and there is a clear duration of time; there are clear terms associated with usage and so long as one is within the parameters of all of that, they basically have the lease usage of that land for the time period described in the lease itself. Meanwhile, there are other methodologies, for example the usage of usufruct. What is a usufruct? Well usufruct is sort of a right to use for a lifetime. It's akin to in the Common Law vernacular what we would call a Life Estate; you can utilize the land; you can build stuff on it, again the terms of the instrument itself but presumably you have basically all the rights to the land that you otherwise would have with ownership, you just don't own it. And in the event you pass away, again that's where the Life Estate sort of angle of this comes from, it's only good for one person's natural life. For the duration of that person's natural life, yeah they can use the land. In the event that they pass away, it reverts back to the underlying Thai owner. This can be an optimal way in which to utilize land here in Thailand. 

Meanwhile, there may be other methodologies. As I have discussed in other videos, you need to be very careful with anyone who says "oh it is just an easy peasy deal to go ahead and set up a company to own property." No, it is not. I have done videos on that in the past; they have even raided certain facilities that assist in that function, and when I say raided, the Police have raided. Thailand takes this seriously; foreigners are not allowed to own land. That doesn't mean that the Civil and Commercial Code does not provide certain provisions that allow usage of land that is as akin to ownership pretty much as you can get without actually owning it. 

That being said, everyone's case is different and for those who feel a bit overwhelmed, it is probably a good idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.