Thailand's 99-year leasehold bill: why it was shelved and what the law allows in 2026

Is Thailand about to let foreigners lease land for 99 years? No. The government shelved the proposal in September 2025, and no bill is currently before parliament. Every villa purchase on Koh Phangan today should still be structured, priced and negotiated around the existing 30-year statutory lease term — not a longer term that does not yet exist in law.

What the bill would have done

The draft Rights over Leasehold Asset Act would have let a lessee hold long-term use rights over non-agricultural land for up to 99 years, with the asset registered through a Treasury Department structure rather than sold outright to the foreign lessee — the land itself would still revert to the state at the end of the term. During the term, a lessee would have been able to mortgage, transfer or pass the lease to heirs. The stated goals were to attract long-term foreign investment and skilled workers against a backdrop of demographic decline, and to give buyers a genuine legal alternative to nominee structures.

Why it stalled

The bill was a flagship Pheu Thai policy, but it needed the Interior Ministry's cooperation — a portfolio then held by the Bhumjaithai Party — and sat stalled for over a year. It was briefly revived and fast-tracked in mid-2025 when Pheu Thai took over the Interior Ministry, with officials aiming for parliamentary passage by the end of the year. The political landscape then shifted again: on 16 September 2025, Bhumjaithai deputy leader Siripong Angkhasakulkiat announced the plan would not be pursued, stating that "this government has a limited mandate, and we will not push legislation still under study, as there is insufficient time," and noting the proposal had "sparked debate among MPs and society."

What's actually in force today

• 30-year statutory ceiling — Civil and Commercial Code Section 540 caps a registrable lease of immovable property at 30 years; nothing about this has changed.
• Stacked "30+30+30" leases are void beyond the first term — the March 2025 Supreme Court ruling (Case No. 4655/2566) confirmed that pre-agreed, simultaneously signed renewals don't survive past year 30. See Renewing a 30-year lease.
• Building ownership via superficies — a foreigner can still own the villa structure outright and register a superficies independent of the lease term. See Superficies, usufruct and lease.
• BOI-promoted land ownership — a narrow, business-linked route remains available for specific promoted investments, not for a personal residence.

What replaced it on the policy agenda

Rather than extending lease terms, the current government's stimulus lever for the struggling property sector is a proposed 50% cut to land and building tax for 2026, under review as of mid-2026. Some officials have floated a scaled-back 60-year alternative paired with a fee-and-tax fund for foreign lessees, but nothing of that kind has reached bill form.

The practical takeaway: if a leasehold bill is revived, it would still need public consultation, Cabinet approval, and passage through the House and Senate before Royal Assent — a process of months at minimum, not something that changes overnight. Until then, treat any listing or agent pitch promising a 99-year lease as, at best, premature and at worst a red flag. Structure your purchase around the 30-year lease and superficies combination described in How foreigners legally own a villa.