How To Measure Land Size In Thailand

Thailand uses the metric system to measure most things except for land size and property size. Rather the country uses a traditional measurement system unique to Thailand. This makes it very hard for foreigners to conceptualize property measurements and so many people relate land area in Thailand to football pitches or the size of swimming pools to visualize their property size.

Thailand is very much a traditional country in many ways and so they still use their traditional land measurement system which is quite different from European, UK, or US measurements. You won’t hear terms such as acre, mile, kilometre, metre, acres or feet but some rather interesting terms.

When you begin the process of purchasing land or a house in Thailand you will hear strange terms such as,

Wah
Rai
Ngan
Talang wah (square wah)

The most commonly heard property measurement is rai. But you’ll want to know,

How much area is a rai in Thailand?
How much is a rai in square metres?
How much is a rai in square feet?
How much is a rai in acres or hectares?

Measuring Area In Thailand: Land Sizes Explained

How Big Is A Rai Of Land In Thailand?

How many square metres is a Thai rai? How much is 1 rai of land? These are very commonly asked questions and we hope this information provides some clarity.

In Thailand, most land sizes in Thailand are measured in “Rai.” One rai is approximately a quarter size of a football pitch and is equal to 1,600 square metres in size. However, when purchasing a house, it’s more common to have a plot size that is about a quarter of a rai which would be 400 square metres of area.

Let’s look at this visual of property measurements in Thailand as an example:

How Big Is A Wah, Talang Wah And Ngan In Thailand?

Having a look at the area measurement table below, we can see that a “Wah” is a simple measurement of 2 metres. Talang means square, therefore talang wah means square wah. This equates to 4 square metres. A ngan is 100 talang wah (100 square talang) which is 400 square metres and finally, a rai is equal to 4 ngan. The size of a rai is 1,600 square metres.

When you see a plot of land for sale in Thailand, the signage will show land measurements in this fashion:

“Land for sale 2-4-10”

The first number represents how many rai, the second number is how many ngan, and the third number shows how many square wah.

Therefore this land size measurement is:

2 rai – 4 ngan – 10 sqw

Land Measurements In Thailand Converted To Imperial And Metric Systems For Your Reference:

If you are in the process of purchasing land or property in Thailand, this would be a great page to bookmark so you always have measurement references at hand.

At 999 Developments we provide detailed property measurement specs so you know exactly how much land area you have and the exact area of your interior living space.

We hope this article has made measuring property sizes and area in Thailand easier for you!