There is a misconception that a non-Thai can have a 99 year lease upon Thai Real Estate. Strictly speaking, this is untrue. Under the laws of Thailand, a lease is only valid for 3 years at a maximum if it is unrecorded at the local Thai land office and for only 30 if recorded. It is possible to put renewal clause in the lease, but it is not “automatic,” but instead the lease must be re-recorded at the local land office in Thailand. It goes without saying that this is much different than an automatic renewal. Should the Thai landowner and non-Thai leaseholder have some sort of falling out, then it could be very difficult to force the Thai landlord to record the new lease. For this reason (albeit a worst case scenario) it is wise to think of a lease as exactly that: a lease upon Thai Real Estate for 30 years and possibly renewable for another 30 years.