Koh Samui
Sap-Ing-Sith on Koh Samui: property registered in your own name, on the deed
The Land Code will not let a foreigner hold land here. A registered Sap-Ing-Sith right is what you can hold — on the Chanote, in your own name, for up to 30 years.
150+ owners · registration in about 14 days · no obligation
Koh Samui is the most developed property market in the Gulf. There is an airport, a year-round rental market, and hundreds of villas built for foreign buyers. There is also a Land Code that has never allowed a foreign individual to hold land, which is why so much of that villa stock sits inside Thai companies.
Savills Thailand, reported in The Nation in July 2026, counts over 800 villa units across 70 to 80 projects in Samui supply in the first half of 2026.
United Grace is a 100% Thai-owned company with offices in Bangkok, Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. We register Sap-Ing-Sith rights on the Chanote, in the buyer's own name, and manage the villas afterwards. Koh Phangan is a different market and is covered on its own page.
What you can hold here
Five routes, and where each one ends
| Route | Open to a foreigner | Practical limit |
|---|---|---|
| Land freehold | No | Closed by the Land Code |
| Condominium freehold | Within the 49% quota | Almost no villa product on Samui |
| Building without the land | Yes | Splits the asset; unfinanceable |
| 30-year lease | Yes | Landlord's consent to sell |
| 51/49 Thai company | Yes | Nominee exposure |
| Sap-Ing-Sith | Yes, in your own name | Up to 30 years, no renewal |
A lease is a personal contract under sections 537–571 of the Civil and Commercial Code. Assignment needs the landlord's consent, inheritance is contested, and no bank lends against it. The familiar "30+30+30" is a promise of renewal, not a right. Full comparison on lease versus Sap-Ing-Sith.
Where Thai shareholders hold shares on a foreigner's behalf, that is a nominee arrangement, prohibited under the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act, with penalties that reach the land itself. In 2026 five agencies — DBD, DSI, the Department of Lands, AMLO and the Revenue Department — began reviewing companies with foreign shareholders across Surat Thani. See nominee structures and company versus Sap-Ing-Sith.
Reported by The Nation. Not every one of those companies is a nominee structure. Samui carries the largest concentration in the province.
The right
Sap-Ing-Sith on a Samui Chanote
Sap-Ing-Sith comes from the Property-Based Right Act B.E. 2562 (2019). It is not a contract. It is a registrable real right, inscribed on the Chanote at the Land Office next to the freehold owner, and it attaches to the land rather than to the person who granted it.
- Open to any natural or legal person, Thai or foreign.
- Statutory term of up to 30 years.
- Freely transferable without the landowner's consent.
- Inheritable by statute for the remainder of the term.
- Mortgageable as a matter of law. Whether a given bank lends to a given foreign borrower is a credit decision. See financing.
- Survives a change of landowner.
United Grace Co., Ltd. is the legal and beneficial owner of the land it holds. Not in trust, not as a nominee. You hold a separate statutory right in your own name, not ownership of the land. The mechanics are set out on our legal page.
Two ways in
Existing owner, or new buyer
You already own a Samui villa
A clean asset purchase. We buy the property from your existing structure, take title, and register your right on the same deed. The old company is left behind. This is most of our Samui work.
You are buying for the first time
We pay the seller, take title, and register your right in your own name. Only for properties that fit the portfolio.
Days 1–3 — commitment
Terms agreed, pricing track chosen, documents prepared.
Days 4–10 — acquisition
Due diligence and transfer of title to United Grace.
Days 11–14 — registration
Your right inscribed on the Chanote at the Land Office.
About 14 days from signing in the normal case. Completed files are listed on registrations.
Local specifics for Samui: which Land Office branches we have registered through, typical turnaround experienced there, and any area-level notes on where our portfolio villas sit. Add real numbers only.
Pricing
Three tracks, one identical right
- At signing
- The purchase price
- Annual payment
- 3% of the purchase price
- At signing
- The purchase price + 20%
minimum ฿700,000 - Annual payment
- Nothing
- At signing
- Nothing — we fund the purchase
- Annual payment
- 6% of the purchase price
Track A carries no separate one-time service fee. On Track C United Grace funds the acquisition and the annual fee is the only payment; the client does not pay the purchase price. All three produce the identical registered right, and the track can be changed later.
The buyer of the right pays all government fees and taxes: transfer fee typically 2% of the registered value, stamp duty 0.5%, and a fixed Land Office fee for inscribing the right. Independent counsel is separate. Model your own case on the calculator.
After registration
Letting the villa, and selling it later
Samui demand is seasonal. Horizon Homes Samui notes that 60–70% of visitors arrive between November and March, and puts returns at 5–7% net for landed properties after operating costs. Savills Thailand cites 8–10% annually. Both are third-party market estimates, not an offer, a projection or a guarantee for any specific property.
Management covers listings priced weekly against the island, guest vetting, smart check-in, housekeeping, concierge, preventive maintenance, monthly statements and an owner dashboard. Silver is 20% for one villa, Gold 18% for two to three, Platinum 15% for four or more, plus a ฿2,000 per month community fee waived at Platinum. The fee is the greater of the tier percentage or ฿20,000 per unit per month. Detail on operations.
Resale
| Network | Agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | 1.5% indicative | 6–10% |
| To registration | 7–10 days | 6–12 months |
| Due diligence | Same day | 3–6 weeks |
The right transfers without the landowner's signature. The buyer of the right pays the government fees either way. More on the resale network.
Honest limits
What Sap-Ing-Sith does not do
- The Act contains no renewal mechanism. Continuation beyond the term needs a fresh grant and a fresh registration. Anyone quoting 60 or 90 years is describing something the statute does not provide.
- Buildings revert to the landowner at expiry unless separately registered.
- The value of the right declines as the remaining term shortens. Price accordingly.
- Land Offices have registered relatively few of these since 2019 and some are still unfamiliar with the entry. One project was reportedly delayed about two months until Bangkok authorities intervened.
- It is not freehold land. You hold a real right on someone else's deed.
If a structure only works while nobody examines it, it is not an asset. It is a position.
Talk to someone who registers these on Samui
Send us the deed or the listing. We will tell you plainly whether it fits, and what it would take.
Chat on WhatsApp — we reply in minutes Read the legal detailUnited Grace Co., Ltd. · Bangkok · Koh Samui · Koh Phangan · +66 95 257 9212 · office@united-grace.com. This page is general information about Thai law, not legal advice. Confirm your position with independent Thai counsel before you commit to anything.