July 2010 by EMORN PRASITTISOOK

T H A I L A N D Total area 513,115 Sq.km. (51.3 Million ha) 76 Provinces Population 64 million Estimate of Land Type and Use Forest 23 million ha State land 7.7 million ha Public land 4.2million ha Department of Lands

Evolution 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 1872   First title of ownership issued in 1901  aw consolidated into the Land Code in 1954  Law consolidated into the Land Code in 1954 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 million titles Ground survey million (39.8%) Photomap survey million (33.0%) NS3K Conversion million (27.2%) Title register in 1984 was 4.4 million; in 2009 was million Sporadic titles issued between 1985 and 2009 was million

Land Document Department of Lands LAND DOCUMENT in2009 Document ParcelsArea (ha.) Title Deed26,898,34515,507,050 N.S.3 K3,592,4332,989,126 N.S.31,100,8401,606,680 Pre- emtive 153,782231,273 Total31,745,40020,334,131

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 2009 Registration 5,618,470 applications TypeThai BahtUS$ m Fee11,809,113, Income Tax15,356,349, Surcharge (held < 5 Years)2,081,369, Stamp Duty2,479,867, Total31,725,867,

Thailand Land Titling Project ( ) 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 LTP : Insufficient control for title issuance Insufficient control for title issuance Lack of up-to-date cadastral map sheets Lack of up-to-date cadastral map sheets Inconsistencies in Province/District records Inconsistencies in Province/District records Land records degrading Land records degrading Limited systematic registration capacity (200 years to complete task) Limited systematic registration capacity (200 years to complete 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