For any real estate transactions in Thailand, you should verify the Title Deeds. We have seen people that think the house is on their land, while the house was on the neighbour's land. Others thinking they had X Rai while in reality they had much less as their title deed was not accurate. 
Some believe they are full owner, while they only have possessory rights. You also have to be sure to deal with the legal owner of this property or his/her fully legal representative.

You won't be able to register some agreements and rights, like a lease, superficies or a usufruct on land with Nor Sor Sam (certificate of use). So, it's important for you to know what the Title Deed of the property is, in order to foresee all your options.

Black, Green, and Red Garuda (The Garuda is a large mythical bird and symbol of Thailand) are appearing on the title deeds and categorized into:

Possessory rights like Por Bor Tor Pre-emption, called “Nor Sor 2, Nor Sor 2 Gor”, Certificate of use, called “Nor Sor 3, Nor Sor 3 Gor, Nor Sor 3 Kor, and Chanote (or Nor Sor 4) and designated by Ministerial Regulation no.43 (B.E.2537) pursuant to Land Code Act B.E.2497, clause 2, 4 and 13 respectively are; This type of title grants the holder of this document the full rights over the land. Thus, if you are planning to buy land in Thailand, this type of title deed or Red Chanote is the best option.

The color of the Garuda has to do with the way it is measured, by aerial view or not. The red Chanote is the best one, measured by GPS.

Possessory rights

This type of Title Deed is the least recommended. A land with a possessory right has never been substantiated by Department, but is only recognized by tax payments at the Local Administrative Office. It is otherwise known as a housebook. It means that a person is the "possessor", pays taxes, but the real owner is the government. Slowly, the government is changing these old title deeds into Chanotte, or Nor Sor Sam, where the owner of the land is the REAL owner, and the land is clearly delimitated. On possessory rights, you can't register rights like usufruct or a lease. Also you can't get a building permit but it's very common for Thai people to build houses on these Title Deeds without any building permits. Examples of possessory rights are Por Bor Tor or Sor Kor. A land with this type of Title Deed will have much lesser value than a land with a Nor Sor Sam or Red Chanotte.

A Sor Kor is a kind of notification to show who has possession of the land. Be careful, if someone else occupies the land, this person might have a better right than you! Some basic form of possession, like a fence or a small house can show who has actual possession of the house and will be permitted.

 

Pre-emption

A Black Garuda appears on a Pre-emption document, called “Nor Sor 2 and Nor Sor 2 Gor, and on a certificate of use, called “Nor Sor 3 and Nor Sor 3 Kor. - The issuance of Nor Sor 2 is for the area where a Minister has not made an announcement of Termination of authority of District chief, District Director or Deputy District Director.(District Director or Deputy District Director who is the chief of a sub-district are authorities) - The issuance of Nor Sor 2 Gor is for the area where a Minister has made an announcement of Termination of authority of District chief, District Director or Deputy District Director.(Land authority, Provincial land authority are authorities). The black Garuda normally shows that the land might not be exactly the size that it says.

 

Nor.Kor.3

This is a document issued to a selected member of the self development community, from the Department of Social Development and Welfare. You could see these documents after the government upgrade some title deeds. It is normally given when the owner (member) use this land for over 5 years and paid back all taxes and debts for the land. Then, he receives this letter of land utilization (Nor.Kor.3) as evidence. With this document, you can bring it to the land department to issue a Chanotte.

Certificate of use

The issuance of certificate of use Nor Sor 3 is for an area not measured the boundaries by government authority, hence the land has no exact boundaries. Therefore, you can have some problems with the neighbours claiming a part of what you think is yours. However, Nor Sor 3 may later be upgraded to a Nor Sor 3 Gor, then Chanote in the future.The Minister has not made an announcement of Termination of authority of District chief, District Director or Deputy District Director.(District Director or Deputy District Director who is the chief of a sub-district are authorities). Owners of these Title Deeds appear on the Title Deed and they have the right to occupy the land and use it for their benefits. They are also full owners.

The issuance of a certificate of use Nor Sor 3 Kor is for an area that has never been measured using satellite image as same as Nor Sor 3. But the land that has been measured by the Land Department; therefore, it has its exact boundaries. The owner knows exactly what he owns. This type of land may be sold, transferred, or mortgaged, the same as a Chanotte. The owner of the land may file a petition to the Land Department demanding to change it to a full Title Deed (Chanote), and the Land Department may do so if there is no opposition made against the petition.

A Garuda appears on a certificate of use, also known as Nor Sor 3. The land is measured by using an aerial survey to set parcel points and land areas on the map. A certificate of use is a very good title deed, even if the land has not been measured with the same as a Chanotte.

 

The Red Garuda below:

 

 

Nomally a Red Garuda appears on the top of a Chanote. It’s the best title deed in Thailand and gives you full rights and the land is exactly measured and the size is accurate.

Here below is an example of a good Chanote (or Nor Sor 4) with explainations and translations:

If you have any doubts about where you stand with a Chanote, you may contact us and we can faciliate an introduction to our legal team before you make your purchase.