Buying Land in a Thai Minor Child's Name
Rules for Foreign Parents

Foreigners are prohibited from owning land in Thailand except under narrow statutory exceptions. This often raises a different question for foreign parents of Thai children: can land be purchased or transferred into the name of their Thai minor child?

The answer is yes. A child who has Thai nationality may own land in Thailand even though one or both parents are foreigners and even though the child has not yet reached legal age.

There is, however, an important distinction. The land must genuinely belong to the child. A Thai child's name cannot simply be used as a substitute for foreign land ownership while the foreign parent remains the real owner or controls the property as if it were his or her own.

Note: this article concerns land ownership. Foreign ownership of condominium units is governed by the Condominium Act and is a separate legal regime. A qualifying foreigner may own a condominium unit within the statutory foreign ownership quota and subject to the applicable requirements.

Can a Thai minor own land?

Yes. Thai law does not impose a minimum age for ownership of land. A minor can therefore be registered as the owner of land. The Department of Lands specifically deals with the acquisition of land by a Thai-national minor child of a foreigner. Ministry of Interior Circular มท 0300/ว 792 dated 24 March 1999 sets out the administrative approach where Thai nationals connected with foreigners, including Thai minor children of foreigners, acquire land.

The important requirement is not the age of the child but whether the child is legally entitled to own the land and whether the acquisition is genuine. Where the circumstances indicate that the transaction may be intended to circumvent the restrictions on foreign ownership, the Land Office has authority to investigate.

This article therefore concerns a child who holds Thai nationality. A child who is only a foreign national does not gain a special right to own Thai land merely because he or she is a minor.

A Thai child is not a foreign landholding structure

The distinction is straightforward but important. A Thai child may acquire land for the child. That can be a perfectly lawful family transaction. Parents may purchase property for a child, property may be given to a child, or a child may inherit land.

What is not permitted is using the child merely as the registered name on the title deed while the land is in reality being acquired or held for the foreign parent.

A foreigner cannot buy land for himself and make the transaction lawful simply by putting the title deed in the name of his Thai child.

The Land Office may investigate whether the acquisition is in reality for the benefit of the foreigner or represents an attempt to avoid the restrictions of the Land Code. This is not merely an old administrative concern. The Department of Lands and Ministry of Interior have continued to issue instructions concerning suspected nominee landholding, including further nationwide guidance in 2026.

Buying land directly in the name of a minor child

Land can be purchased directly in the name of a Thai minor. It is not necessary as a matter of principle to put the land in the Thai mother's name first and transfer it to the child later.

Because the child is a minor, the transaction is handled through the person or persons legally exercising parental power (อำนาจปกครอง). The Land Office has procedures for establishing who is entitled to act for the child.

The documents required depend on the family circumstances. They may include the child's Thai identification and civil registration documents, birth certificate, documents identifying the parents and evidence showing who exercises parental power. Divorce, death of a parent, legitimation, custody arrangements or a court order may affect who is legally entitled to represent the child.

The purchase itself is important to distinguish from a later disposal or encumbrance of the child's land. Buying land for the minor does not normally require prior court permission merely because the purchaser is a minor. Many later transactions involving land already owned by the child do require permission from the court.

When is court approval required?

Section 1574 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code restricts the power of a parent or other person exercising parental power to deal with significant assets belonging to a minor.

The basic position for the most common land transactions is:

The purpose of these restrictions is clear: the parents manage the child's property, but they do not have unrestricted authority to dispose of it or burden it.

Can the foreign parent provide the purchase money?

This is often the central practical issue. The fact that the purchase money originates from a foreign parent does not by itself change the nationality of the child or automatically prevent the child from owning land. The real issue is the nature of the transaction.

If the parent provides money genuinely for the child and the land becomes the child's property, the situation is fundamentally different from an arrangement under which the child appears on the title deed but the foreign parent remains the real economic owner.

The Land Office is entitled to examine the circumstances. Depending on the case, this may include questions concerning the source of funds, the relationship between the parties, the purpose of the purchase, who will use the property and whether agreements have been made that effectively give the foreign parent ownership or control inconsistent with the child's position as owner.

Once the land is in the child's name, it belongs to the child

This is probably the most important practical consequence and is often overlooked.

A foreign parent should not regard registration in the child's name as a temporary holding arrangement. Once the transfer has been completed, the land is an asset of the child.

Parental power includes management of the child's property, but it does not amount to ownership. The parents cannot simply change their minds later and sell, mortgage or place substantial rights over the property whenever they wish.

For the transactions listed in section 1574 of the Civil and Commercial Code, prior permission of the court is required.

This protection applies regardless of who originally paid for the property.

Can the foreign parent lease the land from the child?

This was the question addressed in the earlier FAQ on this website: a foreign father wished to purchase property in his Thai son's name and then lease the property from his son.

The first part is possible: a Thai minor can own the land.

The proposed lease is a separate legal transaction.

Section 1574 expressly requires court approval where immovable property belonging to a minor is leased for more than three years. A 30-year registered lease from the minor child to the foreign parent therefore cannot simply be created by the parent signing a lease on behalf of the child.

There can also be a conflict of interest where the parent who represents the child is personally obtaining rights over the child's property. Parental authority cannot be used simply to contract with oneself for one's own benefit at the expense of the minor's protected property interests.

Buying land for a Thai child and then leasing it back to the foreign parent for 30 years is not a simple two-step solution to the foreign land ownership restrictions.

Can the foreign parent take a lifetime usufruct?

A usufruct (สิทธิเก็บกิน) gives the usufructuary extensive rights to possess, use and enjoy another person's immovable property. A foreigner may in principle be the holder of a usufruct over Thai land because a usufruct does not transfer ownership of the land to the foreigner.

However, where the owner is a minor, another rule becomes decisive.

The Department of Lands specifically states that registration of a usufruct over land belonging to a minor cannot proceed unless the person exercising parental power has first obtained permission from the court.

This applies whether the proposed usufructuary is the foreign parent or another person.

The same problem arises where land is transferred to the child as a gift while the giver simultaneously reserves a usufruct. The Department of Lands treats this as a gift carrying a condition or burden rather than a simple unconditional gift. Court approval is therefore required.

What about superficies, habitation and servitudes?

The same principle is not limited to usufruct.

Section 1574 specifically restricts the creation over a minor's immovable property of rights including a servitude, right of habitation, right of superficies and usufruct, as well as other charges or real rights over immovable property.

A foreign parent therefore should not assume that land can first be placed in the child's name and that a superficies or similar protective right for the parent can then automatically be registered at the Land Office.

If such rights are intended, their legal effect and the need for court approval should be considered before the land transfer is completed.

Giving land to a minor child

A simple gift of land to a Thai minor is possible. An unconditional gift adds an asset to the child's property and is different from disposing of or encumbering property that already belongs to the child.

The position changes when the gift comes with a condition or legal burden.

Examples include transferring land to the child while at the same time requiring the land to be subject to a usufruct or other right, or imposing another substantial obligation on the child as part of the gift.

Section 1574 includes acceptance of a gift subject to a condition or charge among the transactions for which the person exercising parental power requires court permission.

Inheritance of land by a Thai minor

A minor may inherit land and become its registered owner. Minority does not prevent ownership through succession.

Once the inherited land belongs to the child, however, the same rules protecting a minor's property apply. The person exercising parental power manages the property but cannot carry out the transactions restricted by section 1574 without the required court permission.

Can the parents later sell the child's land?

Yes, but not merely because they are the parents.

A sale of immovable property belonging to a minor is specifically covered by section 1574. Prior permission from the competent court is required.

The court's role is to protect the interests of the child. The question is therefore not simply whether the parents want to sell but whether the proposed transaction can properly be approved in relation to the child's property.

After the necessary court permission has been obtained, the registration can proceed through the Land Office in accordance with the order and the usual registration requirements.

What happens when the child becomes an adult?

When the child reaches legal majority, parental power over the child's assets ends and the child controls his or her own property.

The fact that a foreign father or mother originally supplied all or part of the purchase money does not give that parent a right to demand transfer of the land back.

This is another reason why property should only be placed in a child's name where the intention really is that the property belongs to the child.

Land and the house are not necessarily the same property

Foreign buyers often ask whether a “house” can be placed in a child's name, but Thai property law distinguishes between ownership of the land and ownership of a building.

In appropriate circumstances a building may be separately owned from the land. A foreigner is not prohibited simply by nationality from owning a building in the same way that he or she is prohibited from owning land.

Therefore, before transferring “the property” to a child it is important to identify exactly what is being transferred: the land, the building, or both.

Where both land and building belong to the minor, later transactions affecting those assets must take account of the legal protections applying to the child's property.

The Land Office can investigate suspected nominee ownership

The Land Office is not limited to checking whether the name on the application is Thai.

Where circumstances give reason to suspect that land is being acquired or held on behalf of a foreigner, officials have powers under the Land Code and administrative instructions to investigate the true circumstances of the transaction.

The Ministry of Interior and Department of Lands have repeatedly issued instructions aimed at preventing nominee landholding. In 2026 the Department of Lands published further measures concerning prevention and investigation of landholding on behalf of foreigners, followed by Ministry of Interior Circular มท 0515.2/ว 19097 dated 25 August 2026 concerning procedures where there is reason to suspect that land is being held for a foreigner.

The existence of these measures does not mean that a Thai child of a foreign parent cannot own land. The Department of Lands' own rules expressly recognize that such a child can acquire land.

They do mean that the transaction must be real.

Practical points before buying land for a Thai minor

Frequently asked questions

Can a Thai baby own land?

Yes. There is no minimum age for land ownership. The person legally exercising parental power acts for a very young child in the land transaction.

Can a Thai child with a foreign father own land?

Yes. The Department of Lands expressly recognizes land acquisition by Thai-national minor children of foreigners. The fact that a parent is foreign does not prevent the Thai child from owning land.

Can a Thai child with a foreign mother own land?

Yes. The same principle applies. The important points are the Thai nationality of the child and that the acquisition is genuinely for the child rather than for the foreign parent.

Can the foreign parent pay for the land?

The foreign parent's involvement and the source of funds may be investigated by the Land Office. The essential distinction is whether the money is genuinely being provided so that the child acquires the property, or whether the child is merely holding land for the foreigner.

Does buying land in the child's name require court approval?

Not normally for the purchase itself. The parent or other person exercising parental power acts for the child. Court approval becomes particularly important when land already belonging to the child is sold, mortgaged, leased for more than three years or burdened with rights such as usufruct or superficies.

Can the foreign father lease the land from his minor child for 30 years?

Not without the required court approval. Section 1574 expressly requires court permission for a lease of a minor's immovable property for more than three years. A transaction in which the representing parent personally receives rights over the child's property can also raise a conflict-of-interest issue.

Can a foreign parent have a usufruct over the child's land?

A foreigner can in principle hold a usufruct over Thai land, but where the owner is a minor the Department of Lands requires prior court approval before a usufruct can be registered over the child's property.

Can land be given to the child while the parent keeps a lifetime usufruct?

This is not treated as a simple unconditional gift. The child receives land subject to a burden. Department of Lands guidance confirms that court approval is required for such an arrangement.

Can the parents sell the land later?

Yes, but while the child remains a minor the parents cannot simply sell it on their own authority. Sale of the minor's immovable property requires prior court approval under section 1574.

Conclusion

A Thai minor child can own land in Thailand even when one or both parents are foreigners. There is no rule requiring the Thai landowner first to reach adulthood.

What matters is that the child is the real owner.

The rules should therefore not be viewed as a method for avoiding the prohibition on foreign land ownership. A foreign parent may arrange and finance a genuine acquisition for a Thai child, but registration in the child's name means exactly that: the land belongs to the child.

That has important consequences. The parents' power to deal with the land is restricted, and significant transactions such as a sale, mortgage, long-term lease, usufruct, superficies or other real right require court approval while the owner remains a minor.

For a foreign parent considering such an arrangement, the key question should therefore not be simply, “Can I put the land in my child's name?” The more useful question is:

Am I genuinely buying this property for my child, and am I prepared for it to legally remain my child's property?

Official Thai legal sources

This article is based primarily on official Thai Department of Lands and Ministry of Interior materials, including:

• Ministry of Interior Circular มท 0710/ว 792 dated 23 March 1999 concerning acquisition of land by Thai nationals connected with foreigners and Thai-national minor children of foreigners.
• Thai Civil and Commercial Code, section 1574 , concerning transactions with a minor's property requiring prior permission of the court.
• Department of Lands guidance on registration of usufruct over land belonging to a minor , confirming that registration cannot proceed without court permission.
• Department of Lands guidance concerning gifts of land to minors subject to a usufruct or other burden .
• Ministry of Interior Circular มท 0515.2/ว 19097 dated 25 August 2026 concerning procedures where there is reason to suspect landholding on behalf of foreigners.

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