Usufruct, Superficies and Servitudes in Thailand

Ownership & the law

Three registered rights that sit alongside a lease and quietly decide whether you own your villa, how long you can live in it, and whether you can reach it by road.

By Samui Real Estate, Property ConsultantLast reviewed November 202612 min read

When you buy a villa or a plot on Koh Samui, your lawyer’s documents will mention a lease and usually one or more of these three rights. They sound obscure, but they matter: they decide whether the house belongs to you or the landowner, what happens to your home if you die, and whether you can legally drive to it. This guide explains each in plain English, with the Thai law behind it and the way they are used on the island. For the bigger picture, read freehold vs leasehold in Thailand first.

General information, not legal advice. Your lawyer should choose and draft the right structure for your purchase. See property lawyers in Koh Samui.

What these rights are

Thai law distinguishes between a personal right, which binds only the person who signed a contract with you, and a real right, which attaches to the land itself. A lease is mainly a contract. Superficies, usufruct, servitude and habitation are real rights: once registered on the title deed, they bind whoever owns the land, today or in the future.

That is why registration matters so much. An unregistered superficies or servitude may only be enforceable against the person who signed it, not against a buyer of the land or the landowner’s heirs.

Thai terms you’ll see on your documents

Contracts and title deeds use the Thai legal names. This is what they mean:

Thai	Say it	In English	What it is
ทรัพยสิทธิ	sap-pha-ya-sit	Real rights	The umbrella term for registered rights over land
ทรัพย์อิงสิทธิ	sap ing sit	Property-based right	A tradeable right to use land or a condo for up to 30 years (see below)
สัญญาเช่า	san-ya chao	Lease	Your right to use the land for up to 30 years
สิทธิเหนือพื้นดิน	sit-thi nuea phuen-din	Superficies	Ownership of buildings on someone else’s land
สิทธิเก็บกิน	sit-thi kep-kin	Usufruct	Use of the land and its income
สิทธิอาศัย	sit-thi a-sai	Habitation	The right to live in a building
ภาระจำยอม	pha-ra jam-yom	Servitude	A right over a neighbour’s land, such as access
ภาระติดพันในอสังหาริมทรัพย์	pha-ra tit-phan	Charge on immovable property	A right to regular payments or benefits from the land
โฉนดที่ดิน	cha-not thi-din	Chanote title deed	The full land title these rights are registered on

The last of the registered rights, a charge on immovable property, gives someone the right to regular payments or benefits from the land, for example an annual sum. It is rarely used in property purchases on Koh Samui. If you see one recorded on a title deed, ask your lawyer exactly what it means before you buy.

The rights at a glance

	What it gives you	How long	Passes to heirs?	Can you sell it?
Lease	Use of the land under a contract	Up to 30 years per registration	Depends on the lease	With the landowner’s consent, unless the lease allows it
Superficies	Ownership of buildings on the land	A term of up to 30 years, or for life	Yes, unless the deed says otherwise	Yes, unless the deed says otherwise
Usufruct	Use of the land and its income	A term of up to 30 years, or for life	No: it ends on your death	No
Habitation	The right to live in a building	A term of up to 30 years, or for life	No	No
Servitude	A right over a neighbour’s land, such as access	Can be permanent	It belongs to the land, so it passes with it	It passes with the land

Superficies: owning the house on leased land

A superficies gives you the right to own buildings, structures or plantations on, above or below land that belongs to someone else. On Koh Samui it is the standard partner to a villa lease: the lease lets you use the land, and the superficies makes the villa itself yours.

Why it matters in practice:

• Without a superficies, Thai law presumes that buildings on land belong to the landowner. If your lease ended early, or a dispute arose, the house you paid for could legally be theirs.
• With a registered superficies, the building is yours. Unless the deed says otherwise, a superficies can be sold and passes to your heirs, which makes a leasehold villa easier to sell and to leave to your family.
• When you build, the superficies lets the building permit and the house be registered in your name from the start.

Usufruct: using the land and keeping its income

A usufruct gives you the right to possess, use and enjoy a property, and to take its income. You can live in the house, rent it out and keep the rent, much as an owner would. But it is personal to you.

How usufructs are used on Koh Samui:

• Couples. A Thai spouse owns the land, and the foreign partner holds a lifetime usufruct, so they can always live there and keep any rental income.
• Family land. A family lets a buyer use a plot for a term without selling or leasing it.
• Retirees who want a secure home for life and aren’t concerned about resale.

Servitude: access and utilities across a neighbour’s land

A servitude is a burden on one plot for the benefit of another. The classic example on Koh Samui is a hillside plot whose only road crosses a neighbour’s land. A registered servitude gives your plot, and every future owner of it, the right to use that road. Servitudes also cover water pipes, power lines and drainage.

Two things to know:

• A servitude belongs to the land, not to you. It passes automatically when the land is sold, so it protects your resale as well as your daily access.
• Landlocked plots can ask a court for a “way of necessity” to the public road, with compensation to the neighbour, under section 1349. It is slow and uncertain. A plot with a registered servitude, or its own road frontage, is far better.

Read more in our guide to buying land in Koh Samui.

Habitation: the right to live in a home

Habitation gives you the right to live in someone else’s building, for a fixed term or for life, without paying rent. It is narrower than a usufruct, since you can’t let the property out for income, and it can’t be transferred or inherited. It is mainly used within families, for example to secure a home for a partner or parent.

Sap Ing Sit: a newer, tradeable 30-year right

Sap Ing Sit (ทรัพย์อิงสิทธิ, “property-based right”) was introduced by its own Act in 2019. It lets the owner of land, or of a condo unit, grant someone the right to use that property for up to 30 years. The holder receives a certificate (หนังสือสำคัญแสดงทรัพย์อิงสิทธิ) that can be sold, mortgaged and inherited like a piece of property.

	Registered lease	Sap Ing Sit
Maximum term	30 years	30 years
Renewal	By agreement, registered again	Not possible
Selling it on	Usually needs the landowner’s consent	Freely transferable
On the holder’s death	Depends on the lease; courts treat leases as personal	Passes to heirs
Mortgage	Rarely accepted by banks	Can be mortgaged in law
Proof of the right	Lease entry on the title deed	Its own certificate

On paper it fixes the two biggest weaknesses of a lease: inheritance and resale. In practice it is still rarely used. Few landowners grant it, banks are cautious about lending against it, and Land Office staff see it far less often than leases. It also can’t be renewed, so it suits buyers who are comfortable with a single 30-year term.

Which right for which situation

Your situation	The usual structure
Buying a finished villa	30-year registered land lease + superficies + the house transferred to you
Buying land to build on	30-year registered land lease + superficies, then a building permit in your name
Buying a plot reached by a private road	Lease + superficies + a registered servitude for access and utilities
Thai spouse buying the land	Land in the Thai spouse’s name + a lifetime usufruct or habitation for the foreign partner
Buying a condo	None of these: a condo unit can be owned freehold. See buying a condominium

Registering a right, step by step

1. Agree the structure with your lawyer. Which rights, for how long, and how they pass to your heirs.
2. Check the title deed. Confirm the landowner, any existing leases, mortgages or rights, and the title type. See property due diligence.
3. Draft the agreements. In Thai and English, setting out the term, payment and what happens on death or sale.
4. Register at the Land Office. The landowner (or their representative) and you (or your lawyer under power of attorney) attend, pay the fees, and the right is recorded on the title deed.
5. Keep certified copies. You’ll need them when you sell, renew or deal with an inheritance.

What it costs

Registration fees depend on the right and whether you pay for it. A right granted for payment is charged on the amount paid; a right granted without payment carries a small fixed fee. Registering a lease costs 1% of the total rent plus 0.1% stamp duty.

Common mistakes

• Buying a leasehold villa with no superficies, so the house legally belongs to the landowner.
• Relying on an unregistered servitude or superficies, which may not bind a new landowner.
• A plot reached by a road that is “always used” but not registered.
• Choosing a usufruct when resale or inheritance matters to you.
• Stacking rights into a structure that looks like disguised land ownership, which the Land Office may refuse and a court may unwind.

Before you sign

• Every right is registered on the title deed, not just signed.
• A superficies covers the house and any future buildings.
• The deed says whether the superficies can be sold and inherited.
• Legal access to a public road is confirmed: road frontage or a registered servitude.
• You understand which rights end on your death, and have a Thai will.
• Your own lawyer has drafted or reviewed every document.

Frequently asked questions

General information only, not legal or tax advice. Laws and fees change; confirm the structure for your purchase with an independent lawyer.