Beyond freehold and leasehold - the structures most foreign buyers never hear about
The Civil and Commercial Code gives foreigners several registrable rights over Thai land beyond the well-known 30-year lease. Superficies lets a foreigner own the building while a Thai owner keeps the land. Usufruct gives a lifetime right to use land and take its fruits. Habitation gives a right to live in a specified house. Each is a real property right when registered at the Land Office, and each fits a different buyer profile.
Superficies - owning the building on someone else's land (CCC Sections 1410-1416)
A superficies is a right, granted by the landowner, to own buildings or plantings on the land. Under Civil and Commercial Code Sections 1410 to 1416 it can be granted for a fixed term of up to 30 years, or for the life of the grantor or the beneficiary. Once registered on the title deed at the Land Office, the superficies binds any future owner of the land - the person holding it owns the house separately from the land beneath it.
This is the cleanest legal answer to the question every foreign villa buyer asks: how can I actually own the house? You cannot own the land, but with a registered superficies you can own the structure in your own name. It pairs well with a registered 30-year lease of the land itself: the lease secures your right to occupy the plot, the superficies secures your ownership of the villa on it. See the leasehold guide for the lease side.
Usufruct - a lifetime right of use (CCC Sections 1417-1428)
A usufruct gives the beneficiary the right to possess, use, and take the fruits of a specified piece of land or building. Under Civil and Commercial Code Sections 1417 to 1428, a usufruct can be granted for a fixed term of up to 30 years or for the life of the beneficiary. It is a real right when registered, but it is strictly personal - it ends automatically at the beneficiary's death and cannot be inherited.
The classic use case is a Thai-foreign couple where the wife owns the land in her name and grants her foreign husband a lifetime usufruct over it. He has full use of the land during his life, secure against any resale or family dispute, but the right does not pass to children on his death. Retirees without a Thai spouse sometimes take a usufruct from a trusted Thai owner in exchange for building the house on it.
Habitation and servitudes - narrower tools
A habitation right is narrower than a usufruct: it entitles the holder and family to live in a specific dwelling, but not to let it out or take other fruits. A servitude is a right of way or similar burden on one plot for the benefit of another - relevant when a plot has no direct road access, or shares a driveway, well, or drainage. Both are registrable at the Land Office and endorsed on the back of the title deed.
Which structure fits which buyer
For a retiree with no Thai spouse who wants a house long-term: registered 30-year lease of the land plus superficies over the villa, both in the foreign buyer's name. For a Thai-foreign couple: land in the Thai spouse's name, with a registered usufruct or superficies in the foreign spouse's name for security. For an investor whose priority is a heritable asset: a condominium unit inside the 49 percent foreign quota, freehold, in the buyer's own name - see the condo foreign quota guide. In every case, avoid the nominee-company shortcut described in the nominee crackdown guide.
The common thread: registration at the Land Office
None of these rights work unless they are registered at the Land Office and endorsed on the back of the title deed. An unregistered agreement, however carefully drafted, is only a personal promise between the parties and evaporates when the land is sold or when the grantor dies. Any competent Thai lawyer will insist on registration. For the wider picture, start with the buying property in Thailand pillar.