Price Sanond

What is the Land Department?

  • February 18, 2014
  • Comments Off on What is the Land Department?

The Land Department (in Thai: กรมที่ดิน) is the government agency responsible for issuance of land title deeds, registration of real estate transactions in Thailand and land topography and cartography matters. As a matter of legal formality and for the legal effect, Thais and foreigners entering into transactions concerning real estate (including transactions involving land, buildings and condominium units) in Thailand generally must (with an exception for short term leases) register the transactions with this agency.

The origin of the Land Department can be traced back to 1902 when, by royal command of King Rama V, the Ministry of Agriculture was ordered to issue the first land title deed and the Department of Land Registrations (in Thai: กรมทะเบียนที่ดิน) was subsequently established under the Ministry of Agriculture by a royal proclamation. Interestingly, the first Director-General of the Department of Land Registrations was a westerner who is referred to by the name of “W. A. Graham”. Today, the Land Department is under the supervision of (but at the same time is a separate legal entity from) the Thai Ministry of Interior, which oversees six other department-level agencies .

The Land Department is primarily responsible for regulating and enforcing the following laws:

  • the Land Code;
  • the Land Development Act;
  • the Act on Leases of Immovable Properties for Commerce and Industry Purposes;
  • the Condominium Act; and
  • the Private Surveyors Act.

The Land Department is headed by the Director-General and is currently assisted by four Deputies Director General, one Advisor on Survey Engineering, one Advisor on Performance Efficiency and several Inspectors.

The Land Department’s head office is located in Bangkok. Ministerial Regulations provide that the Land Department's central administration consists of eight bureaus, six divisions, three offices and two groups as follows:

  • Bureau of Public Land Management
  • Bureau of Cartographical Technology
  • Bureau of Surveying Standards and Promotion
  • Bureau of Land Registry Standards
  • Bureau of Land Document Issuance Standards
  • Bureau of Real Estate Business Promotion
  • Bureau of Information Technology
  • Bureau of Legal Affairs
  • Finance Division
  • Printing Division
  • Personnel Division
  • Supply Division
  • Training Division
  • Planning Division
  • Office of the Department’s Secretary (the LD’s secretariat)
  • Office of Private Land Surveyors Licensing
  • Bangkok Metropolitan Land Office (with 16 branch offices spreading throughout Bangkok)
  • Administrative System Development Group
  • Internal Audit Group

In addition to the head office and branch offices in Bangkok, the Land Department also has an office in every province and several major districts, each of which is generally responsible for a certain designated area.

The responsible area and contact information (in the Thai language) of each land office can be found by clicking on the following:

For Bangkok Metropolitan Land Office and its 16 branch offices, click here

For land offices in other provinces, click here

Land offices are the main point of contact for most business people. Each land office is responsible for, among others, the registration of rights and transactions relating to real estate (such as land or building transfer, lease, mortgage, etc.), issuance and amendment of real estate documents (such as land title deeds, land possession deeds, condominium unit title deeds, etc.), conducting official land surveys and maintenance of land records and map archives in relation to the land in their respective jurisdiction.

For more information on the Land Department, please see the Land Department's website: www.dol.go.th.