Signs advertising 'for sale or rent' line several plots along Soi Suan Phak, in Taling Chan district in Bangkok. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)

The Treasury Department has integrated its land appraisal data with Krungthai Bank (KTB) and the Government Housing (GH) Bank in an effort to make appraisal prices more reflective of market prices and increase public access to formal lending systems.

Speaking after presiding over a signing ceremony for the cooperation agreement on Wednesday, Deputy Finance Minister Paopoom Rojanasakul said the Treasury Department, which is responsible for determining official land and property appraisal values used as the basis for collecting the land and building tax, conducts appraisals every four years.

The department wants to ensure these values are as close to market prices as possible.

Both KTB and GH Bank, which provide loans using land as collateral, also maintain their own land valuation databases based on market prices in various areas.

This collaboration allows the land appraisals conducted by the Treasury Department, as well as those by KTB and GH Bank, to be based on shared reference data, making the appraisals much closer to market prices, he said.

This should benefit the public, especially those wanting to use land as collateral for bank loans, by making it easier for them to access credit within the formal financial system, said Mr Paopoom.

He said this integration compiles and exchanges real estate valuation data via the National Property Valuation Center's application programming interface service.

The data can be used for property value management via technologies such as big data analytics and data visualisation.

The effort also supports processing and dissemination of appraisal data through the department's valuation system, making it more convenient for the public, said Mr Paopoom.

The department is preparing for a new round of land appraisals, expected to be completed by the end of 2026, and effective from Jan 1, 2027 to Dec 31, 2030.

He said the department's land appraisal process takes into account prevailing economic conditions, land demand, inflation and the presence of infrastructure such as roads and airports.

Increased staffing and improved technology mean the department can conduct appraisals more often than every four years in the future, said Mr Paopoom.