Title Search in Thailand

A thorough title search in Thailand is not a bureaucratic box-tick — it’s the single most important risk-control step before buying land, taking security, accepting leasehold collateral, or committing funds to development. Thailand’s layered title system, administrative practice at local Land Offices, and common on-the-ground idiosyncrasies mean a cursory registry printout is not enough. This guide explains the legal landscape, a step-by-step search workflow, how to interpret the registers, lender expectations, common red flags, timing and costs, and practical contract drafting and closing controls that prevent catastrophic losses.

Why a title search matters more in Thailand than in many markets

Thailand’s register is robust where there is a chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) — a survey-backed title with precise coordinates — but many older or rural holdings sit on weaker documentary bases (Nor Sor 3 Gor, Nor Sor 3, Sor Kor 1 or mere possession certificates). Those lower-class titles can be converted to chanote, but conversion requires administrative processes that often expose overlaps, competing claims, village rights, or historic encroachments. A proper title search therefore combines registry checks, archival chain-of-title work and physical survey verification. Lenders, buyers and developers routinely lose leverage and money by ignoring any of those three pillars.

Core title classes you must know

• Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor): the strongest and preferred form — surveyed, plot coordinates recorded and readily mortgageable.

• Nor Sor 3 Gor / Nor Sor 3: quasi-title or possessory certificates that evidence long possession and permission to apply for conversion; weaker and carry conversion risk.

• Sor Kor 1 / Possessory papers: low-tier occupation documents with greater uncertainty.

• Registered long leases, usufructs, superficies and mortgages: these appear on extracts and materially affect rights and transferability.

Understanding the class is the first step to sizing legal due diligence and lender comfort.

The practical, step-by-step title-search workflow

1. Obtain certified Land Department extracts for the specific title number(s). Always request the latest certified extract (Thor Ror 14 or equivalent) from the relevant district Land Office; online or scanned copies are useful for an initial check but the certified extract is authoritative for closing and lender files.

2. Verify the registered owner(s) identity. Match the register names with seller IDs (individual ID cards / passport for foreigners, or Department of Business Development — DBD — corporate extracts for companies). For corporate owners, obtain the full shareholder register and recent board minutes authorizing the sale.

3. Check for encumbrances and recorded caveats. Look for mortgages, attachments, Department of Legal Execution (DLE) writs, tax liens, voluntary caveats and priority annotations. Note mortgagee names, amounts and discharge dates if present.

4. Run court and execution searches (DLE). Some enforcement orders land outside the Land Department register initially — a DLE search reveals execution orders, auction files and other enforcement steps.

5. Search tax and municipal records. Confirm land-and-building tax status, local planning restrictions, zoning, and whether the plot falls within reserved or protected areas (beach setbacks, forest reserves, airport zones).

6. Obtain corporate and beneficial-owner checks (DBD). If the owner is a juristic person, check DBD extracts, shareholder structure, and any nominee indicators. Ask for up-to-date UBO information under the company’s minute book.

7. Trace the chain of title historically. Pull prior transfers back a reasonable period (ideally to the conversion point to chanote). Look for unexplained jumps, short intervening ownerships, or transfers prior to issuance of the current title class.

8. Commission a licensed land surveyor on-site. The surveyor ties title coordinates to physical markers, verifies area, confirms boundary stones, and checks for encroachments, infrastructure overlaps or obvious discrepancies between the register and reality.

9. Confirm conversion history if title is non-chanote. Obtain files on any ongoing or concluded conversion application and check for unresolved objections or overlapping claims.

10. Obtain a local legal opinion. After the above, have a Thai property lawyer issue a formal legal opinion covering marketability, likely mortgageability, conversion feasibility and any steps required to clear encumbrances.

Common red flags that should pause the deal

• Seller cannot produce the original title deed.

• Recent transfers shortly before sale among related companies or individuals.

• Multiple overlapping chanote / Nor Sor parcels with inconsistent coordinates.

• Registered mortgages without formal discharge documents.

• DLE execution orders or tax arrears.

• Nominee-shareholder structures or shell companies without clear beneficial-owner disclosure.

• Surveyor report showing boundary marker absence, encroachment or material size discrepancy.

If any red flag exists, require remediation (discharge, court clearances, title insurance where possible, escrow holdbacks) before releasing funds.

What lenders expect (bankability of collateral)

Thai banks usually require chanote titles for mortgageable collateral. Where lenders accept leasehold, superficies or other rights they demand:

• registered and annotated security interests;

• clear subordination or bank-consent language from the landowner;

• surveyor tie-in and insurance;

• corporate guarantees or additional collateral where title class is not chanote.

Model lender acceptance letters into the SPA or sale memorandum early: financing failures at closing are a leading cause of transaction breakdown.

Contract clauses and closing controls that materially reduce risk

• Condition precedent: “deliverable original title deed in seller’s name, updated certified Land Department extract and surveyor tie-in satisfactory to buyer and lender.”

• Escrow mechanics: hold purchase funds in escrow until registration and discharge receipts are produced; staged release upon Land Department transfer.

• Representations & warranties: seller warranty of good and marketable title, no undisclosed encumbrances, and authority to sell, with survival and indemnity tied to escrow sizing.

• Cure periods and specific performance: allow a practical cure window for remediable title defects and include buyer rights to rescind if cure fails.

• Survey and conversion schedule: where conversion is required, include a timeline with responsibility allocation for fees and consequences for delay.

Timing and approximate costs

• Certified Land extract & DBD/DLE searches: same day to a few days; low cost.

• Licensed surveyor on-site report: 1–2 weeks depending on remoteness.

• Legal opinion and chain-tracing: 1–3 weeks depending on complexity.

• Overall diligence window: typical urban transactions 2–6 weeks; rural, non-chanote or cross-jurisdictional deals 6–12+ weeks.
  Costs vary by provider and parcel complexity: budget for surveyor fees, legal fees, title-search fees, translation/notarization and, where needed, specialist consultants (environmental, planning).

Practical post-closing steps

• Register the transfer immediately at the Land Department and obtain the transfer receipt and updated extract.

• Ensure mortgage or security instruments are registered without delay if financing is used.

• Obtain final tax receipts and local authority signatures (transfer taxes, stamp taxes).

• For leases >3 years, confirm registration to create enforceable rights against third parties.

Closing checklist (ready-to-use)

1. Original title deed(s) and certified Land Department extract.

2. Licensed surveyor report physically tying boundaries to markers.

3. DLE and court-execution clearance.

4. DBD corporate extracts and UBO verification (if seller is a company).

5. Evidence of discharge for any registered mortgages or caveats.

6. Tax and municipal clearances (land-and-building tax).

7. Signed SPA with title-based CPs, escrow instructions, and seller indemnities.

8. Legal opinion and lender acceptance letter (if financed).

9. Copies of IDs / passports and notarized powers of attorney if signatories act by proxy.

Final practical advice

Never rely solely on a scanned registry extract or on seller representations alone. Use a licensed Thai surveyor and a Thai property lawyer in tandem: the surveyor catches physical discrepancies and the lawyer turns that technical picture into legal risk — together they determine whether a title is marketable, mortgageable and safe to close. Spend diligence money early: the cost of an expert search is a small fraction of the cost of litigating or losing a purchase price.

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