Leases and premises

Why the lease makes or breaks a Thailand bar purchase: remaining term, renewal reality, transfer/assignment rights, rent terms, the landlord relationship and the 30-year rule.

The document your whole investment rests on

Since you're usually buying a leasehold (what you buy), the lease is the asset. A brilliant bar on a weak lease is a countdown timer on your money. Read it — properly, translated, with a lawyer — before anything else, and before you fall for the fit-out or the footfall (choosing a location covers assessing the street itself).

What to scrutinise

• Remaining term: how many years are actually left? Buying a business with two years of lease left is buying two years of business;
• Registered vs unregistered: Thai leases over three years should be registered at the Land Office to be fully enforceable for their term; leases can run up to 30 years registered. Understand what you actually hold — an unregistered “long lease” is often, legally, a much shorter one;
• Renewal terms: a “renewal option” is a contractual promise, not an automatic right — its real enforceability and the rent-review terms at renewal are critical (and often where value evaporates);
• Assignment/transfer: does the lease even permit transfer to you, and on what terms? The seller may not have the right to sell you what they're selling;
• Rent & escalation: current rent, increase schedule, deposits, and what's included;
• The landlord: you're entering a multi-year relationship — who they are, their reputation, and whether they're the actual owner all matter enormously.

Registration in practice

A lease term that sounds generous on paper isn't worth much if it was never registered where registration is required. Registration at the Land Office creates a right that generally survives a change of landlord (a sale of the building, an inheritance, a dispute among co-owners); an unregistered arrangement can be far more exposed to exactly those events. Ask to see the registered lease document itself — not a summary, not a translation prepared by the seller — and have your own lawyer confirm what's actually recorded.

Rent reviews and escalation

Long leases without a clear, pre-agreed rent-review formula leave the tenant at the landlord's discretion at renewal — which can quietly convert a “30-year lease” into a series of short, re-negotiated terms on the landlord's schedule. Look for explicit escalation clauses, caps, and the mechanism (fixed increases, index-linked, market review) rather than vague language about “reasonable” adjustment.

If the landlord sells or the building changes hands

What happens to your occupancy if the underlying property is sold, inherited, or becomes the subject of a family or ownership dispute is a real scenario in Thailand, not a hypothetical. A properly registered lease is your main protection here; an informal arrangement resting on goodwill with the current landlord is not — this is one more reason the paperwork, not the relationship, is what you're actually buying.

The classic lease traps

• Buying goodwill on a short or unrenewable lease — you rebuild the crowd, the landlord declines renewal or triples the rent, keeps your fit-out;
• Verbal “don't worry, he'll renew” assurances — worthless; if it's not in writing and enforceable, it doesn't exist;
• Unregistered long leases that don't survive a change of landlord. Get it registered and get it checked (due diligence);
• Assuming the lease automatically transfers with the business — some leases contractually require the landlord's consent to assign, which the landlord can withhold or price highly.