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Buying land in Isaan


MonkeyLoo

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Ive been offered 1 rai of nice land but it doesnt come with proper papers (chanote).

Is it worth even considering this type of un registered land?

Apparently it is very common in this area to just get a paper from the big guy in the village.

Is it best to stear clear?

I would like to hear from members who have experience with this.

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Although not ideal, I would not let it put you off.

A few things to consider: Is the land on offer in or close to your village? Does your inlays know the person who is selling? Are they family, friends or just distant friends?

What does your village head man say?

And now, just being a sticky beak - how much is the land and what is its location?

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Although not ideal, I would not let it put you off.

A few things to consider: Is the land on offer in or close to your village? Does your inlays know the person who is selling? Are they family, friends or just distant friends?

What does your village head man say?

And now, just being a sticky beak - how much is the land and what is its location?

Land is in Nong khai, 300,000 baht. Small money really but when you build a house at say 2 million is it going to be taken away one day?

Always a risk

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we are still in the murky night mare of moving our rai of rice land to chanote from five years ago when the law changed ,so now greasing numberable palms in amphur /changwat/mueng/muubaan ... hopefull the process will finish this coming week; conceivably it wouldnt have mattered to build a small house for in laws, but me being a stickler for paperwork have preferred to have it offical like because when land becomes more difficult to transfer within families, or there is a loan (grey market within the village) on the land, or the village wants to build a road or whatever, the papers make it more difficult to have someone else rock up and stake a claim . ...

anyhow its your partner who would be doing the 'buying' and usually they know all the real ins and outs of the village/amphur politics and also what type of land it is (gov't land, farming wihtin the family land, etc)...

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My inlaws have about 0.75 rai they have a chanote. Their house is on it. The rest of the land they have is sor por gor 4.(I think). That land would amount to around 56 rai.

My house is on 1 rai in the middle of a sugar cane field (their land). They have had this land for many years. I also bought another 18 rai we planted rubber trees on and another 4 rai of rice field. That keeps the family in rice. They have more money than they need but (I guess) because of their work ethic, they just keep on farming. He is 67 she is 64 but they just keep plugging along.

If you have inlaws with that kind of work ethic, you won't need to worry.

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This seems to be "the never ending story" in Thailand. Why can't the foreigner understand that he can't buy land in Thailand? My advive is to STAY AWAY from whatever kind of land they are selling. And be aware of that you have to sign a paper at the Land Office that says the money for the land doesn't come from you.

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We (OK the missus) had around 2.5 rai without a chanote. Lived there for about 4-5 years then sold it on to another farang and his partner. When first purchasing the land the transaction was done in front of the village boss and a few other older heads. Same when we came to sell it.

Personally I wouldn't do it again unless I new for sure I was staying for good.

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How can one prove that there is no Chanote in existence because it may be held by some Money Lender whose had it for decades???

Just asking???

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First step is a visit to the land department to see the status of the land. Expert help is a good idea. I doubt anything is 100% foolproof.

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Do you know why there is no chanote? I would never buy land without chanote because simply one day the real owner can turn up and kick you off his land and you loose everything.

At least go check with the government office in your district to find out who the real owner is and why a chanote hasn't been issued. Usually things become clear. The big guy in the village has no legal authority about assigning land to my knowledge. Also check with a lawyer of your choice before doing the transaction.

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This seems to be "the never ending story" in Thailand. Why can't the foreigner understand that he can't buy land in Thailand? My advive is to STAY AWAY from whatever kind of land they are selling. And be aware of that you have to sign a paper at the Land Office that says the money for the land doesn't come from you.

"Can't buy" should be changed to "can't own". There are 30 year leases, usufructs, etc., which a farang can get in his/her name.

When we bought a house in Pak Thongchai about 5 years ago, my wife and I had not formalized our marriage. The land office required me to sign the "money does not come from me", but then suggested that a "superfices" be added to the chanote that allowed me to stay on that land "for my lifetime". When we sold that place a couple of years later, I had to sign an agreement to release my claim.

As I understand, the same option my not be available to persons legally married

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No chanote then 1 rai is worth 50,000.

Wrong. Missus turned down 100k per rai for roadside rice paddy, no Chanot. 95 % of agri land in NE Thailand is NOT Chanot. 60-75% of village land on the outskirts of the majority of villages is NOT Chanot. 100k is the norm for land without anything on it, regardless of paperwork. It is bought and sold as has been a long time, and will continue to do so in the near future. Until some govt one day finally sorts the mess of various land paperwork out.

To the Op, would'nt worry too much. As previous posters have said, get the missus to check it out, if it seems genuine in the village, it probably is.

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Lands without chanote are for farming, not for building houses.

Correct. But who's gonna tell the minimum 2-3 million householders that have houses on non-chanot agri land? And when they finally do get round to formalising/modernising paperwork, they are not gonna make any of those householders pull their houses down. It would bring down any govt. We are not talking rich individuals/conglomerates encroaching on national parks here. We are talking a large proportion of the normal population who have had no choice due to antiquated land laws.

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Some crazy people here. Would you buy land in your own country without the proper papers?

Yeah, but your own country is not this country. Big difference. Proper papers does not neccessarily mean just Chanot either.

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As a foreigner YOU cannot own LAND end of.

If you want to trow money at a piece of land , thinking you own it, watch ya back as there is always someone who will sneak up and grab it off ya , and you dont have a leg to stand on.

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I'll give an example that is happening in KK Umphur Muang. Lots of folks built houses on public land along the railroad right-of-way years ago. The railroad changes currently planned makes tearing down those houses necessary. The Thai government is paying for those houses. One that I'm familiar with got Bt 3 mil for his house.

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Thanks for all the replies.

My feeling is that as we know as farang we cant own anyway, proper papers or not.

It seems to be the way its done up here in the villages and no one i have spoken to has proper papers from the land registry.

A lot of the prime land along the Mekong is bought and held by companies and sells for millions. Are you any safer buying that? I doubt it.

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This seems to be "the never ending story" in Thailand. Why can't the foreigner understand that he can't buy land in Thailand? My advive is to STAY AWAY from whatever kind of land they are selling. And be aware of that you have to sign a paper at the Land Office that says the money for the land doesn't come from you.

I married a woman of great quality. We bought 30 Rai and planted rubber trees. We also planted 20 Rai of rubber on the parents land. Father inlaw is old and useless. Soon comes the problem of harvesting the rubber (same as cash) We pay people to plow and fertilize (also like cash) We have a good business in Pattaya and the wife can't just close the store to go to Issan. As far as I am concerned the land might as well be on the moon. I only invest money that I can afford to lose.

Know your people well (3 to 5 yrs) and don't invest your last dime. For most farangs it works out OK. Now I would not buy land in the western world without papers

haha and title insurance

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Sorry...

Thai law forbids you to own property, even with papers. You must sign over your money to your wife/friend and she will be buying the property. We all know the dangers of that! Find some nice property to rent/lease (with a house on it). You will feel much better about it later.

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Although not ideal, I would not let it put you off.

A few things to consider: Is the land on offer in or close to your village? Does your inlays know the person who is selling? Are they family, friends or just distant friends?

What does your village head man say?

And now, just being a sticky beak - how much is the land and what is its location?

Land is in Nong khai, 300,000 baht. Small money really but when you build a house at say 2 million is it going to be taken away one day?

Always a risk

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Build a wooden house in your own name that can be dismantled and taken away from the land if you wish to.

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In my opinion you can buy, only if you have a family, I mean by family, if you have a wife and child(s), and you can register the property in the name of one child and look into usufruct for you and your wife (if possible for you, I really do not know how it works in thai), anyway the land will be in the name of your child, and you can build your house or do whatever you want in the land in the name of your wife. Just keep yourself under the radar. Imagine if the land is registered in your name, In the end it all will be inherited by your child. biggrin.png But of course I do not know about your personal situation... What I shouted here was only one possibility to "own" the land without have your name in the title deed. Good Luck with your decision. thumbsup.gif

p.s. by the way land without chanote is not more than 40K depends in your region of course, my wife bought 2 RAI per 50K last year, and this year we had an offer of 8 rai per 250K, what we still thinking about to buy. My region is between Nakhon Sawan and Phitsanulok (no problems with water). But this land is in process to regularization and soon or later (I hope soon) we will have the title deed.

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OP asks: »Ive been offered 1 rai of nice land but it doesnt come with proper papers (chanote).

Is it worth even considering this type of un registered land?«

and

»Land is in Nong khai, 300,000 baht. Small money really but when you build a house at say 2 million is it going to be taken away one day?«


A foreigner cannot own land in Thailand. OP’s GF/wife or some of her family related could own the plot and make an agreement with OP for use, lease or usufruct…

If OP has a child with Thai nationality, the child can own land, but that land cannot be sold before the child is no longer under guardians. OP will need to check if a child can offer a parent usufruct (I am not sure).


Some of the low deed land in villages can only be transferred to family or related. Often the villagers however sell land between them outside of close family/related, and the sale is “registered” by Head of Village, which mean he writes the contracts and witness it, nothing more. If that shall be enough to state a true ownership when it comes to a Chanote upgrade, which it will one day, I do not know, but probably be Okay due to long time village practice.


Some land has no deed, but only tax receipts. That land is “given” or “permitted used” for farming only and cannot be owned as such, however again the villagers also trade that kind of land.


300,000 baht for 1 rai sounds like quite a bit of money up Isaan village area, for that price it shall be prime position in the village or close to main road. There might be difference in prices, but it sounds a bit high without a proper deed.


Before building anything on the land, whatever arrangement is made with ownership and use, make sure it will be allowed to build anything on it. Some land is for farm use only, and as you never know in amazing Thailand, it would be a pity to be forced to dismantle a 2 million baht house.


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