Thai law caps a residential lease at 30 years. Better-than-Freehold™ gives yours an agreed plan for year 30, a first-priority mortgage registered behind it, and rights that pass to your heirs without Thai probate.
Check before you buyIf you're buying on Koh Samui, the villa you're looking at probably comes as a 30-year lease. To cover the years after that, sellers and their lawyers add renewal clauses, succession clauses and "special conditions".
Many of the firms that draft them describe these promises as contractual and not guaranteed. A renewal clause binds the landowner who signed it. If the land changes hands, the new owner isn't bound. If the landowner says no, you have a clause and a court case.
And a standard lease can end when you die.
At year 30 you choose:
The choices are set out from day one in an Option Agreement attached to the registered mortgage.
Your 30-year lease and a first-priority mortgage are registered at the Land Office, with a share pledge alongside. They're the instruments Thai banks rely on every day.
The land is held by a 100% Thai-owned, Thai-funded company with no nominee shareholders. If it ever runs into trouble, the mortgage and share pledge are designed to protect your lease and your year-30 choices ahead of its unsecured creditors.
Your rights pass to your nominated heirs without Thai probate and without a new Land Office registration.
An independent, Thai lawyer-led agent can enforce the security if anyone fails to perform, and disputes go to arbitration rather than the Thai courts.
You can sell your rights to another buyer without a new Land Office registration. Tax treatment depends on your situation.
The structure was designed around the distinction the Supreme Court drew on lease renewals. It is designed to avoid nominee arrangements.
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Designed around the Supreme Court's reasoning
No. The Supreme Court struck down prepaid 30+30+30 renewals with the terms fixed at signing. Here, the premium for a new lease isn't paid up front: it's priced at the time.
Foreigners generally cannot hold Thai land title, and we don't pretend otherwise. What you get are rights Thai law recognises, held for you: a registered lease, the registered security behind it, and your year-30 choices.
A 100% Thai-owned, Thai-funded and Thai-managed company, set up to hold property properly. There are no nominee shareholders.
A company with nominee shareholders is illegal, and Surat Thani has now screened all 25,864 of its registered companies for exactly that pattern.
A company with nominee shareholders is illegal. Phuket's Land Office has examined 361 companies over foreign-held land and filed 114 lawsuits, and the Deputy Interior Minister has said land held through nominees must be sold.
Your rights pass to your nominated heirs without Thai probate or a new Land Office registration.
Not yet. The structure is designed so lenders can take security over it, and financing is expected from H1 2027. Nothing is offered until then.
It depends on the property. You'll get an indicative quotation, free, and nothing is signed until you've seen the full costs.
Yes. Independent legal advice should always be taken before you sign anything.
Tell us about the villa you're looking at. You'll get your choices and an indicative quotation, free and confidential.
Check before you buy