Title Documents and Pre-Purchase Due Diligence

A Chanote is a full ownership title surveyed against official survey markers and can be sold and mortgaged without restriction. A Nor Sor 3 Gor is a certificate of utilisation evidencing possessory rights rather than ownership, and carries a higher boundary risk. Run a title search at the Land Office and consider upgrading to a Chanote before transfer.

Check the current registered owner, mortgages, servitudes, usufructs, injunctions, litigation, expropriation lines, zoning restrictions and legal access, and confirm the plotted shape matches the land on the ground. Encroachment and boundary discrepancies are the most common source of later disputes.

Yes, but the mortgage discharge must happen at the Land Office on the same day as the transfer. Typically the buyer pays with a cashier's cheque to the mortgagee bank for the outstanding debt and a second cheque to the seller for the balance. Allowing discharge after transfer puts the entire risk on the buyer.

It is high risk, because access depends on a way of necessity or a servitude that may need litigation to enforce. Check whether a servitude is actually registered on the title of the land you must cross; if the arrangement is only verbal, insist it be registered before transfer.

Typically a court order appointing the estate administrator, the death certificate, house registration, proof of heirship, the owner's duplicate title deed and identification of the parties. Foreign-issued documents must be legalised and translated into Thai with a certified translation. Inheritance transfers to statutory heirs are charged at the special rate in the Land Department schedule.

Check the construction permit, the environmental impact report if the project is within the threshold, the developer's title to the land and any mortgage over it, the completion date and late-delivery penalties, and the refund terms if the project fails. Pay against genuine construction milestones rather than large sums up front.

We run the title search and document review, draft or review the sale and purchase agreement, prepare Land Department powers of attorney with signature certification by a Notarial Services Attorney, arrange translation and legalisation, and attend the transfer with an interpreter. Ask about scope and timing by phone, LINE or email. Registration is at the officer's discretion, so we do not guarantee outcomes.

Obtain a certified copy of the back of the title deed at the Land Office to read the full registration history. Check for mortgages, servitudes, usufructs or injunctions. Confirm the document type — Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) versus Nor Sor 3 Gor differ materially in security. Verify boundaries by survey, check zoning and, in Phuket, hillside and building-height controls, and confirm registered legal access to a public road.

Verify the project holds the land subdivision licence and construction permits, check whether the land is mortgaged to a bank and whether a mortgage release will be issued at transfer, use the government's standard contract form where the project falls within it, and negotiate escrow or a bank guarantee for instalments. Fix clear liquidated damages for late delivery in the contract.

Nor Sor 3 Gor is a certificate of utilisation, not full title like a Chanote. Sales are possible but require a statutory public posting period before registration, boundaries may be imprecise because of the survey method used, and many banks will not take it as mortgage security. Check whether the plot sits within forest or restricted zones and price in the cost of upgrading to a Chanote later.

Phuket applies building-height limits tied to ground elevation, provincial comprehensive plan zoning, environmental protection area rules, and constraints near beaches and on steep slopes. Many attractive hillside plots are far less buildable than they appear. Check with the provincial Public Works and Town Planning Office and the local administration before paying a deposit, and make the construction permit a condition precedent in the sale and purchase agreement.

Identify the plot or unit exactly as in the title document; state the true price and payment schedule; allocate every fee and tax; fix the transfer date; add conditions precedent covering legal due diligence, loan approval, the debt-free certificate and foreign-quota availability; and set default remedies and termination rights. If bilingual, state which language version governs in case of conflict.

The Condominium Act caps aggregate foreign ownership at 49% of the total saleable floor area of a building. Once that ratio is reached, the Land Office will not register a transfer into a foreign name. Lawful alternatives are to wait until another foreign owner sells and quota is released, to buy within the Thai quota through a genuinely operating Thai company, or to register a long-term lease instead. Before paying a deposit, always request the juristic person's current foreign-quota certificate, because the ratio changes daily. We obtain that certificate and run the Land Office title search before you become contractually bound.

Check three layers: the Phuket comprehensive town plan zone and the land uses it permits, the building-height restrictions tied to elevation above sea level, which are stricter in Phuket than in most provinces, and setback rules from the shoreline and public roads. Confirmations come from the provincial Public Works and Town and Country Planning office and the local administrative organisation. Never rely on a broker's verbal assurance that building is allowed — request a written response before signing.

Thai law gives the owner of enclosed land a right of necessary passage over neighbouring land against compensation, but relying on that alone invites future disputes. The safer route is to negotiate and register a servitude on the neighbouring title deed, specifying the width, alignment, and the right to lay utilities. A registered servitude binds subsequent owners of the burdened land, whereas a verbal arrangement does not.

A Chanote is a full ownership title with precise surveyed boundary markers and can be sold and mortgaged without restriction. A Nor Sor 3 Kor certifies utilisation rights rather than ownership, and its boundaries derive from aerial photo mapping, so overlaps with forest reserve or state land are possible. Prefer a Chanote where available. If a Nor Sor 3 Kor is unavoidable, insist on a title search and a boundary resurvey, and assess upfront how feasible upgrading to a Chanote will be.

The contract must follow the prescribed standard form for land subdivision and condominium sales, instalments must track verified construction progress rather than the calendar, and the transfer date plus late-delivery penalties must be explicit. Verify that the subdivision licence and construction permit have actually been issued, and check whether the land is mortgaged to a bank along with the per-plot mortgage release terms. A seller who avoids showing these documents is a warning sign.

At minimum six checks: the Land Office title file and chain of acquisition, encumbrances on the deed including mortgages, servitudes and injunctions, physical boundary verification against the survey markers, town-planning zone and height limits, legal access and utility easements, and confirmation that the plot does not overlap forest reserve, state property or national park land. It takes only a few days and prevents very large losses. We deliver all six as a single bilingual report a foreign buyer can act on immediately.