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The factory can be yours. But what about the ground it stands on?

The company was newly set up and the land was agreed. What remained was the harder part — under what structure it could be bought, and who was allowed to file the papers.
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Case facts
Location
Rayong
Client
Overseas investor (newly established aluminium company in Thailand)
Issue
Land holding and transaction arrangements under foreign ownership
SiamPartner's role
Coordination between parties; referral to qualified counsel for filings that must go through a lawyer
Related service  Company Setup & Banking  →
The situation
An overseas investor had just set up a company in Thailand to trade in aluminium, and had found a plot of land in Rayong for a factory. Price and size had already been agreed directly between the client and the seller. What the deal was actually waiting on was the next step: under what structure the land could be held, and who was permitted to submit which documents to which authority.
The problem
Under Thai law a foreign national generally cannot hold land in their own name; it is usually held through a Thai-registered company — and once there is foreign participation, the shareholding and transaction arrangements are themselves restricted. On top of that, parts of the filing must be submitted to the authorities through a lawyer. It is not a matter of completing a form and handing it in yourself. For a company only weeks old, with no familiarity with the local system, the real risk was never failing to buy the land. It was not knowing at which point it had already crossed a line.
A foreign national generally cannot hold land in their own name
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The land is held through a Thai-registered company
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Foreign participation restricts the shareholding and transaction arrangements
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Parts of the filing must be submitted to the authorities through a lawyer
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A misstep at any point can affect both the transaction and the company
What we did
01
REVIEW
Understood the newly formed company's structure and purchase plan, and mapped the constraints that come with foreign ownership.
02
REFER
Referred the client to a qualified Thai legal team; filings that must go through a lawyer were handled by counsel.
03
COORDINATE
Coordinated documents and timelines between the client, counsel and the seller.
04
FOLLOW THROUGH
Explained what each document does, in the client's own language, and stayed with it until completion.
The outcome
The transaction completed in roughly three weeks. The client acquired the land under a compliant structure, and the factory plan proceeded as scheduled.
What this case really shows

In Thailand, “being able to buy it” and “owning it” are two different things.

The foreign investors we meet are rarely trying to get around the rules. The problem usually starts a step earlier — not knowing the line is there at all. The company is new, the system is unfamiliar, the documents are all in Thai, and by the time anyone notices the arrangement is wrong, it has usually been signed and paid for.

So in cases like this we would rather spend the time at the front end. The legal opinion belongs with qualified counsel. Our half is the other one: making sure the client understands what each document does, who is supposed to file it — and which things, in Thailand, you are simply not permitted to do yourself.

Case material is written to illustrate an approach; identifying details have been omitted or adjusted. We make no warranty as to its completeness or accuracy. Every situation differs in background, applicable law and timeline, and no case indicates that any other matter will follow the same course or reach the same result; nothing here is a guarantee of outcome or legal advice.Full disclaimer →
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