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Contents
- In short
- What did the Supreme Court decide about 30+30+30 leases?
- Does the ruling void the whole lease?
- What should you check in a lease with a 30+30+30 clause?
- How much is the promised term worth?
- What about the 99-year lease proposal?
- What lawful options replace a long lease?
- Thai leasehold is not UK leasehold
- What next
The law does not protect a pre-agreed 30+30+30 renewal. A registered lease of real estate can run for 30 years at most, and in judgment No. 4655/2566 the Supreme Court voided such renewals: a lease can be extended only by a new agreement made when the renewal falls due. So what you buy is 30 guaranteed years, and everything after that is a promise. Rules are as of 6 October 2026.
In short
- A registered lease of real estate is capped at 30 years, and each renewal is also capped at 30 years (Civil and Commercial Code s. 540).
- Judgment No. 4655/2566 voided pre-agreed 30+30+30 renewals. A lease can be extended only by a new agreement (Addleshaw Goddard, 10 March 2025).
- In that case the lessee paid THB 2,700,000 in advance for 90 years, and when the first term ended the court affirmed eviction and demolition (ThaiLawOnline, 5 October 2026).
- A 99-year lease is still a proposal: nothing had gone to Parliament by September 2026 (ThaiLawOnline, September 2026).
- Price a leasehold villa or condo as a 30-year lease, and treat renewal as a separate risk.
What did the Supreme Court decide about 30+30+30 leases?
The Supreme Court read section 540 of the Civil and Commercial Code strictly: pre-agreed renewals that get round the 30-year ceiling are void. A renewal must be a new agreement made at the time of renewal. Judgment No. 4655/2566 was issued in 2023 and reached the market in March 2025 (Addleshaw Goddard, 10 March 2025).
The case shows what the promise was worth. According to ThaiLawOnline (5 October 2026), on 10 May 1990 the parties signed a 30-year lease of land and a house for THB 1,500,000. Clause 3 promised two further 30-year terms, and the lessee paid THB 600,000 in advance for each, THB 2,700,000 in all for 90 years. The first term ended on 22 May 2020, and the lessee stayed. The court affirmed eviction and demolition and awarded THB 30,000 a month from 13 June 2020, the day after the suit was filed, until the lessee left. The case concerned a Phuket property (Addleshaw Goddard, 10 March 2025; Thaiger, 31 July 2026).
| What was signed | Paid in advance, THB | What the court held |
|---|---|---|
| First term, 30 years, signed 10 May 1990 | 1,500,000 | Valid, ended 22 May 2020 |
| First renewal, another 30 years | 600,000 | Void |
| Second renewal, another 30 years | 600,000 | Void |
The renewals cost less than the first term, and Thaiger reports that the court saw that as a sign the arrangement existed to dodge the 30-year cap. Addleshaw Goddard adds that the court was particularly sceptical of renewals on the same conditions as the first term.
The logic is simple. Section 540 allows a renewal, but only for up to 30 years from the time of renewal. A chain signed in advance makes a 90-year lease from day one. Addleshaw Goddard reports the court's position this way: an agreement that creates a lease of more than 30 years from the outset is void, whatever freedom of contract might say.
Does the ruling void the whole lease?
No. Section 540 cuts an over-long term to 30 years rather than cancelling the lease, so the first 30 years stand and the court voided only the pre-agreed renewals. A dispute arises when the term ends, still years away for most buyers: the earliest Phuket leasehold developments are under 20 years old (Addleshaw Goddard, 10 March 2025).
Addleshaw Goddard says one can only hope developers will not use the judgment to deny a lessee a new term. A hope is not a right: without a new agreement, the contract gives no guaranteed right to a new term.
What should you check in a lease with a 30+30+30 clause?
Read what is registered at the Land Department and how the renewal is worded: automatic, at the lessee's option, or only after a new agreement. Count the years left in the first term. Budget on the basis that only those years are guaranteed and that a renewal must be agreed afresh as the term nears its end.
Registration matters: a registered lease binds later owners of the land. A promise to renew, however, generally does not bind a new owner, and only the current registered term is protected (terms.law, February 2026). Registration costs about 1.1% of the total rent for the term (terms.law, February 2026).
For new leases, Addleshaw Goddard suggests these terms (10 March 2025):
- the lessee may choose to register a new 30-year term at the end of the current one, which is not an automatic renewal;
- rent for the new term equals the current rent plus an escalation based on, for example, the CPI;
- at the end of the term the lessee transfers the structures to the lessor, and the lessor pays their market value unless a new term is agreed;
- if the law changes and longer leases are allowed, the lessee may ask to replace the lease with a longer one, for extra rent.
An option like that does not guarantee a renewal, but it describes honestly what can be promised. For how a contract gets rewritten after the ruling, see this typical situation assembled from practice: A 30+30+30 lease rewritten after the Supreme Court ruling.
How much is the promised term worth?
If a seller bases the price on 90 or 99 years, you pay for a term that does not exist. With made-up numbers: a THB 20 million lease costs about THB 667,000 a year over the 30 guaranteed years, but about THB 222,000 over 90. That threefold gap is the price of the promise.
For scale, THB 20 million is roughly USD 570,000 or GBP 425,000 at illustrative rates of 35 and 47 baht. Resale makes this worse: according to terms.law (February 2026), leasehold units resell for less and are hard to mortgage. So the term written into the registered contract sets both your entry price and your exit price.
| What you are told | What the law guarantees |
|---|---|
| "A 90-year lease, 30+30+30" | 30 years; the renewals are void (judgment No. 4655/2566) |
| "A 99-year lease" | A proposal: not before Parliament, not in the Royal Gazette (ThaiLawOnline, September 2026) |
| "The renewal is yours" | No: a renewal needs a new agreement at the time |
| "It will pass to your children" | Sources disagree, so name your heirs in the lease |
| "You can transfer it and mortgage it" | That is a leasehold-asset right, Sap Ing Sith (B.E. 2562): transferable, inheritable and usable as security, but also capped at 30 years (ThaiLawOnline, September 2026). We have not confirmed that a foreigner can hold it for a private home |
What about the 99-year lease proposal?
A 99-year lease is still a proposal. The government pushed amendments in 2025, but the draft stalled after the change of government in September 2025: as of September 2026 nothing had gone to Parliament, no text is in the Royal Gazette and the maximum stays at 30 years (ThaiLawOnline, September 2026).
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2024 | The government told the Interior Ministry to study longer terms |
| 21 July 2025 | The government of Prime Minister Paetongtarn made the bill a priority. Under the concept the owner first transfers the land to a state agency; the right-holder, foreigners included, gets up to 99 years of use, and the property stays with the state afterwards (Nation Thailand, 21 July 2025) |
| 22 August to 5 September 2025 | The Land Department held a public consultation on the draft amendment |
| From September 2025 | The draft stalled after the change of government |
What lawful options replace a long lease?
Options include a registered lease with superficies over the house, usufruct and a condo within the 49% quota. Superficies lets you own a building on another's land for up to 30 years or for life, and usufruct runs for life or up to 30 years, with a fixed term only for a company (ThaiLawOnline, 27 September 2026).
The leasehold-asset right (Sap Ing Sith) is also capped at 30 years, and our sources do not say whether a foreigner can hold it for a private home. A nominee company is not a lawful route and risks prosecution. Villa held through a nominee company: DBD checks and lawful exits covers what the Department of Business Development (DBD) and the Land Department check, and Freehold vs leasehold in Thailand compares what each route gives you.
Thai leasehold is not UK leasehold
If you know leasehold from the UK, forget long UK-style terms. A 99- or 125-year lease on a flat is routine in the UK. In Thailand the statute caps a registered lease at 30 years and treats every renewal as a new agreement.
A Thai lease does not make you an owner of the land either: it gives you a right to use it for a term. Sources disagree on whether a Thai lease passes to the lessee's heirs or ends with the lessee, so name your heirs or successors in the lease itself (ThaiLawOnline, September 2026). Documents you sign at home for a renewal usually go through a notary, your foreign ministry and the Thai embassy until the apostille takes effect on 28 February 2027 for states that do not object; the exact order depends on the document (Bangkok Translation, 16 August 2026; HCCH, 6 October 2026).
What next
Describe your situation in the form on the leasehold villa page: a lawyer licensed by the Lawyers Council of Thailand replies within 24 hours and tells you which lease terms are worth changing. See how we handle these deals on Buy a leasehold villa in Phuket and Buy a villa in Phuket legally. If you are weighing a condo, read Buy a leasehold condo in Phuket.
Rules checked as of 6 October 2026.
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