United Grace

The objection, answered

Can a Sap-Ing-Sith right be mortgaged?

Two questions get mashed into one misleading sentence. One of them is settled law. The other is somebody else's commercial decision.

We do not arrange financing and we will not promise you a bank

Can I borrow against it? If I need liquidity in year eight, is this asset dead or alive?

The answer has two halves. One is legal, one is commercial, and only one is settled.

Mortgageability is a question of law. A Sap-Ing-Sith right under the Property-Based Right Act B.E. 2562 (2019) is a real right inscribed on the Chanote. It is mortgageable, including with Thai banks.

Whether a bank lends to a particular foreign borrower is a credit decision. It turns on the institution, the borrower, the remaining term and internal policy. That is not settled.

The competing claim

What the skeptics say, quoted directly

"Thai banks rarely lend against Sap-Ing-Sith if at all."

That comes from a competing structure vendor, and as a description of the market it may well be accurate. Thai bank lending to foreign individuals is conservative and the Act is only from 2019. A buyer who assumes finance will be waiting for him assumes something we would not.

But the sentence describes bank appetite, not the legal character of the asset. Appetite changes. A registered real right does not.

  • The right can be mortgaged, because it is registered on the title.
  • Whether a given bank will accept it, and on what terms, is unresolved.
  • A lease cannot be mortgaged the same way. Nothing on the title exists to secure, and that is structural rather than a matter of appetite.
DATA NEEDED

United Grace must supply, for this section, the exact source citation for the competing vendor quote: publisher name, page URL, and date accessed. Quoting a competitor without a citation is the one thing that makes this page look weaker than the claim it answers. Do not publish this page until that citation is inserted here as a plain-text attribution line beneath the blockquote.

What a lender can attach to

Three structures, one question: what is on the title?

Question a lender asks30-year lease51/49 Thai companyRegistered Sap-Ing-Sith
What is on the Chanote?An annotated contractThe company, as landownerThe right itself
A real right?No — personal contractCorporate, one step removedYes
Can it be mortgaged?NoOnly the company's landYes, in law
Transfers without consent?NoShare transfer, with limitsYes
If the land is sold?Contested in practiceRisk sits in the sharesSurvives
Risk underneathRenewals are promisesNominee exposureNo renewal; value declines with the term
Lender outcome todayNo securitySecurity over exposed structureSecurity in law; appetite unresolved

Borrowing through the company is not the fix

A company that genuinely owns land can genuinely mortgage it. The defect, where there is one, sits upstream: shares held on a foreigner's behalf are a nominee arrangement, prohibited under the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act. A mortgage adds a lender to that exposure rather than curing it. See nominee structures and Sap-Ing-Sith vs a Thai company.

The other criticism, answered

Enforcement: revendication and interference

The holder "lacks both revendication rights and the right to prevent unlawful interference," requiring notification to the landowner rather than direct action.

The same vendor, on remedies rather than existence. Where a third party interferes, the holder notifies the landowner rather than suing in his own name.

We do not deny it. It governs how a dispute is prosecuted, not whether the right exists on the title, survives a sale, transfers or can be mortgaged. Under a lease, remedies run through a counterparty who can sell the land.

DATA NEEDED

United Grace must obtain a short written opinion from independent Thai counsel addressing, in order: (1) the specific statutory sections governing a Sap-Ing-Sith holder's remedies against third-party interference; (2) whether and how those remedies differ from an owner's; (3) what contractual undertakings from the landowner can practically close the gap. Publish the firm name, the date and a downloadable PDF here. Until that exists, this section must not go further than the paragraph above.

What we will and will not say

Our position on financing, in writing

  • The right is mortgageable in law, including with Thai banks, because the Act provides it.
  • We do not say your bank will lend. We do not know your file.
  • We name no banks and quote no rates or loan-to-value figures.
  • We do not broker financing and take no fee from those who do.
  • If you are buying only in order to refinance later, say so first.
DATA NEEDED

This is the single highest-value evidence item on the site. If and when United Grace has a completed transaction in which a mortgage was registered against a Sap-Ing-Sith right, publish here: month and year of registration, the Land Office, the type of lender by category only (Thai commercial bank / Thai non-bank lender / private lender), the remaining term at the time of registration, and a redacted copy of the Land Office entry showing the mortgage inscription with all personal identifiers removed. Do not publish the bank's name without that bank's written permission. Do not publish rates or LTV. If no such registration exists, this block stays visible and empty — an empty, honestly-labelled block is worth more than a claim.

Practical

If you intend to use the right as security

01

Register the right first

Nothing exists to secure until it is inscribed, normally about two weeks from signing. See how registration runs.

02

Ask your own lenders

Take your file to them and get the answer in writing. Theirs is the only one that matters.

03

Watch the remaining term

Up to 30 years, with no renewal mechanism in the Act. Value declines as the term shortens, and a lender prices that.

04

Register what you rely on

Buildings revert to the landowner at expiry unless separately registered. Compensation promises bind third parties only once registered.

05

The exit that does exist

The right transfers without landlord consent, through our resale network at an indicative 1.5%.

The buyer of the right pays all government fees and taxes, outside any service fee: transfer fee typically 2% of registered value, stamp duty 0.5%, plus a fixed Land Office fee. Model it on the calculator.

2019Act in force
30 yrsMaximum term, no renewal
~14 daysSigning to registered right
150+Owners, 10+ nationalities

Ask us the version of this question that applies to you

We will separate the settled law from somebody else's commercial decision. Where we do not know, we say so.

Read the legal basis

General information, not legal advice, and not an offer of finance. No representation is made that any lender will advance funds against any right. Confirm your position with independent Thai counsel before signing.

Questions owners ask.

Is a Sap-Ing-Sith right mortgageable under Thai law?
Yes. The Property-Based Right Act B.E. 2562 (2019) creates a registrable real right inscribed on the Chanote, and that right is mortgageable as a matter of law, including with Thai banks. That is a statement about the legal character of the asset, not a prediction about any bank's answer.
So will a Thai bank actually lend me money against it?
That is a separate question. It depends on the bank, the borrower and the file. Lending to a foreign individual in Thailand is a credit decision governed by each bank's internal policy, not by the Property-Based Right Act. We do not promise financing and you should not accept a promise of financing from anyone.
Can a bank take security over a lease instead?
In practice, no. A lease under CCC ss.537-571 is a personal contract. Leases over three years are annotated at the Land Office, but the instrument remains a contract between two parties. There is no real right on the title for a lender to attach a mortgage to.
What about borrowing through a 51/49 Thai company?
A Thai company that genuinely holds land can grant a mortgage over that land. The risk is upstream: if Thai shareholders hold shares on a foreigner's behalf, that is a nominee arrangement prohibited under the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act, and the security sits on top of a structure that is itself exposed.
Does the remaining term affect what a lender will do?
Yes. A Sap-Ing-Sith right runs for a statutory term of up to 30 years and its value declines as the remaining term shortens. Any lender assessing it will look at the years left, and the Act contains no renewal mechanism.
Who pays the government fees on registration?
The buyer of the right pays all government fees and taxes. They sit outside any United Grace service fee: transfer fee typically 2% of the registered value, stamp duty 0.5%, plus a fixed Land Office fee for inscribing the right.
Does United Grace arrange financing?
No. We register the right in your own name, manage the villa and run the resale network. We do not broker loans, we do not introduce financing as a selling point, and we will not tell you a bank has agreed to something it has not.