July 2010by

EMORN PRASITTISOOK

T H A I L A N D Total area 513,115

Sq.km. (51.3 Million

ha) 76 ProvincesPopulation 64 million

Estimate of Land Type and Use• Forest 2 3

million ha• State land 77.

million ha• Public land 4.2

million ha

Department of Lands

Evolution of Land AdministrationEvolution of Land Administration

Historically land belonged to the King but people had right to use and to transfer to their heirs

Red stamp title for tax collection purposes introduced in 1360

Private rights in land introduced in 1872Private rights in land introduced in 1872 First title of ownership issued in 1901 Law consolidated into the Land Code in aw consolidated into the Land Code in

19541954

Department of Lands

Institutional Arrangements

Department of Lands

• Land Registration Department created in 1901

• At various times:• Separate survey and registration

functions• Other functions part of Lands (eg Mines)• Part of MA and MOI

• Single agency in MOI since 1943 responsible for:• Land registration• Cadastral survey and mapping• Collection of land related fees and

charges

Land Code 1954

Department of Lands

• Land Code in Thailand provides clear basis for:

• Recognition of rights in land• Allocation of public land• Systematic & sporadic registration of

private rights• Cadastral surveys and registration of

dealings• Administrative procedures to settle

disputes and correct records• Changes to Land Code fundamental for

Land Titling Project

Land Tenure Typology

Department of Lands

• State Land• Forest and protected areas• Government real estate• Land manageded by local administration• Public Domain

• Private Land (under Land Code)• Title Deeds (NS4)• Certificates of utilisation (NS3/NS3K)• Pre-emptive certificates (NS2)• Claim certificates (SK1 and others)

Adjudication Processes

Department of Lands

• Sporadic application (in 76 Provincial and 435 Branch land offices)

• Systematic adjudication• Ground survey• Using photomap as a map base• Office conversion of NS3K

• Issuance of pre-emptive right (in 396 District land office)

Adjudication Processes

Department of Lands

• Systematic process undertaken on a village-by-village basis (units of sub-village)

• Undertaken by teams from central office with limited interaction with land offices

• Concrete corner marks emplaced (except for NS3K conversion)

• Village officials paid a fee to participate

• Single fee charged at the end of process – only covers part of the cost

• Process (including 30 day public display) routinely produces titles in 3 months

• Very few disputes

Systematic Adjudication Output

Department of Lands

• Systematic output between 1985 and 2009 - 12.357 million titles• Ground survey 4.919 million (39.8%)• Photomap survey 4.078 million (33.0%)• NS3K Conversion 3.361 million (27.2%)

• Title register in 1984 was 4.4 million; in 2009 was 26.898 million

• Sporadic titles issued between 1985 and 2009 was 10.14 million

Land Document

Department of Lands

LAND DOCUMENT in 2009

Document

Parcels Area (ha.)

Title Deed

26,898,345

15,507,050

N.S.3 K 3592, ,433

29891, ,26

N.S.3 1 ,100,840 16066, ,80

Pre-emtive

153,782 231,273

Total 31,745,400

20,334,131

Land Registration

Department of Lands

• DOL is the only agency responsible for registration

• System based on Torrens Title system• System supported by good records

management system• More than 143 types of registration• Registration on day of application

(unless legal issue or survey required)• One stop service• Very efficient with high public

acceptance

Land Records

Department of Lands

• Land office holds all land records (title, dealings, survey)

• Cannot issue title unless parcel is charted on a cadastral map

• Cadastral maps at a range of scales (1/4,000, 1/2,000, 1/1,000, 1/500)

• Dealings held in parcel files• Use of national personal identification

system as proof of identity • Pragmatic approach to survey:

• Accuracy specified at map scale• First order – with TS/GPS• Second order using graphical

means/photomaps

Land Registration

Department of Lands

• Legal basis for registration• Civil and Commercial Code• Land Code

• Land records can only be updated by registration

• The land records have strong legal recognition (by law and in practice)

Land Registration

Department of Lands

• Registration fees and taxes collected by DOL:• Transfer fee (2%, 1%, or 0.5% of CVA

value)• Income tax (similar to a capital gains tax)• Surcharge for property held less than 5

years (3.3% of CVA value)• Stamp duty (0.5% of CVA value or declared

price)

Land Registration

Department of Lands

Fee and Tax Collected in 2009Registration 5,618,470 applications

Type Thai Baht US$ m

Fee 11,809,113,175 366.6

Income Tax 15,356,349,849 476.8

Surcharge (held < 5 Years) 2,081,369,121 64.6

Stamp Duty 2,479,867,157 77.0

Total 31,725,867,157 985.0

ThailandThailandLand Titling ProjectLand Titling Project

(1985-2004)(1985-2004)

• 20 year plan, designed as 4 five-year phases

• Implemented with support of World Bank and the Australian government

Land Titling Project

Department of Lands

PHASE I

PHASE II

PHASE III

PHASE IV

Title Deeds Completed

Land Titling Project

Department of Lands

DOL difficulties prior to LTPDOL difficulties prior to LTP::• Insufficient control for title issuanceInsufficient control for title issuance• Lack of up-to-date cadastral map Lack of up-to-date cadastral map

sheetssheets• Inconsistencies in Province/District Inconsistencies in Province/District

recordsrecords• Land records degradingLand records degrading• Limited systematic registration Limited systematic registration

capacity (200 years to complete capacity (200 years to complete task)task)

Land Titling Project

Department of Lands

Land Titling Project

Department of Lands

• Key outputs:• Systematic registration of 11.2 million

titles• Establishment of 345 provincial/branch

land offices• Generation of 105,101 rural and 38,298

urban cadastral maps• Socio-economic studies have

demonstrated:• Titled land is more valuable• Increased access to institutional credit• Increased use of farm inputs on titled land• Productivity increased for titled land• Increase in cultivated area

Continuing Challenges

Department of Lands

• Recruiting and keeping staff

• Facilitating access to mostly manual records

• Definition of boundaries of forest and other public land

• Need to further develop land policy

Department of Lands