Property Rights, Land Markets, and Land Use in Bangkok: Consequences of Siam’s 1901 Land Act

This paper assesses the impact of Siam’s 1901 Land Title Deed Act on land markets and land use in Bangkok. Using a sample of orchard title deeds issued in the 1880s, this study investigates the incidence of land transfers and subsequent land use patterns both before and after the transition from usufruct to full private ownership rights as a result of the 1901 Act. Survival analysis shows that introducing full private property rights led to an acceleration of urban orchard title transfers. In addition, qualitative analysis suggests that institutional change facilitated land use diversification away from agriculture and towards alternative economic activities. JEL Classifications: N95, O17, O18, R14 ∗Contact information: Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, Phayathai Rd., Pathumwan, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand. Tel.:+66-2-218-6182; Fax: +66-2-218-6226; Email: [email protected]. Financial support for this project comes from the Chulalongkorn Economics Research Center. I am grateful to the staff of the Department of Land Museum for granting access to museum’s document collection. I would also like to thank Papungkorn Kitcharoenkarnkul, Kawita Niwatananun, Phacharaphorn Phanomwan, and Patitta Sriboontham for providing research assistance.