Thailand welcomes foreign buyers — but land and buildings follow different rules. Most of our clients own their condo outright, or hold a villa through a long registered lease.
Freehold, leasehold — and what they mean here.
Condominiums — yours outright
Foreigners can own a condominium in their own name, with full freehold title, as long as foreign ownership in the building stays within the 49% quota. Purchase funds must be transferred into Thailand in foreign currency and documented with a Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form — your bank issues it, and it's what lets you register in the foreign quota and repatriate the money when you sell. We verify the foreign ownership quota before you proceed.
Villas & land — a 30-year registered lease
Land cannot be owned freehold by foreigners, so villas are typically structured as freehold ownership of the building itself plus a 30-year lease on the land, registered at the Land Office. Thirty years is the legal maximum per term; renewal options (30+30, sometimes +30 again) are contractual promises from the lessor, not registered rights — so who your lessor is, and how the renewal is drafted and priced, matters enormously. We negotiate this line by line.
Thai company structures
Holding land through a Thai limited company is widely proposed in the market. Using nominee Thai shareholders purely to hold property is illegal; the structure is only safe when the company is a genuine, active business with legitimate Thai partners.
The most secure way to own a luxury villa in Thailand
Not one document. A set of registered rights, chosen to fit.
Foreigners generally cannot own land directly in Thailand — and for a villa buyer that isn't realistically negotiable; anyone telling you otherwise is selling you a problem. But the gap between a weak villa deal and a strong one is enormous, and it comes down to which protections actually get registered on the deed. Thai law gives your lawyer several registrable rights to work with — some used together, some as alternatives to each other — and on the villas we structure this way, the right combination for the property is registered at the Land Office on transfer day.
Thai law restricts land — not structures. Where the structure allows, the villa itself can be separately owned and registered in your name, independent of the land. Either the construction permit is issued to you, or the building is formally transferred to you at the Land Office. It is genuine ownership of the asset you paid to build — but a building is only as secure as your registered right to use the land beneath it, which is exactly what the next three layers lock in.
Thirty years is the legal maximum per term, and registration is what makes it bind anyone who owns that land after your lessor. An unregistered lease, or a side letter in a drawer, protects nothing.
A registered right over the property, introduced in 2019 and recorded at the Land Office. Unlike a plain lease, Sap-Ing-Sith can be freely transferred, mortgaged and passed to your heirs within its term, and it survives a sale of the land underneath. Because it already bundles those rights, it is used in place of a lease rather than alongside one. Its one limit is duration — a single 30-year term, with any extension negotiated rather than automatic. It's still a relatively new instrument, so availability depends on the project and the landowner's willingness to grant it.
Registered for your lifetime, giving you the legal right to use and enjoy the property — including receiving the income it generates, where permitted. Like a lease, it is a right to use the land, so it is chosen as an alternative rather than stacked on top — but where a lease has a hard 30-year edge, a usufruct runs as long as you do.
And an option on the freehold itself
Where the landowner will agree to it, we go one step further: an undated sale and purchase agreement, held in escrow, that lets you take the freehold the moment Thai law permits you to hold it — or, in some structures, to direct the sale to a Thai buyer of your choosing at any time you want out. And where legally possible, additional security can be registered over the land in your favour, so the landowner cannot sell, borrow against or walk away from the arrangement without dealing with you first.
Renewals are drafted into the same package rather than promised verbally: pre-paid consideration, a named successor you can nominate, and the option exercisable by your heirs.
This structure is not offered by every developer or every owner. It is only possible where the land sits under a Thai individual or a genuine, properly capitalised Thai company — not a nominee arrangement. A landowner using nominee shareholders cannot safely grant these rights, because the structure underneath them is itself exposed.
Which instruments actually go on the deed is a legal judgment: your Thai property lawyer determines the most appropriate combination of registered rights — leasehold, superficies, usufruct, or Sap-Ing-Sith — for the specific property and your objectives.
We ask this question of every developer and every private seller before we list a villa, and we tell you plainly what the answer was.
This guide is orientation, not legal advice. Every one of these instruments is registered by an independent Thai lawyer acting for you, and we introduce you before any money moves.
From offer to keys, step by step.
A reservation agreement and a deposit — up to around 15%, depending on the developer or owner — take the property off the market while diligence runs. Under the reservation agreement, the deposit is refundable if due diligence turns up material title issues.
An independent lawyer verifies the title deed — Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) is the gold standard; lesser titles need real caution — plus encumbrances, access, building permits, and for off-plan, the developer's licences, EIA approval and track record. Due diligence normally takes one to four weeks.
Once due diligence is complete, the contracts are signed and a deposit of 30–35% is paid at the same time as signing. Off-plan purchases then follow a staged payment schedule tied to construction milestones.
You remit the purchase price from abroad in foreign currency. For every transfer, your Thai bank issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form — an FET, the official bank certificate proving the money arrived from overseas. Keep every one: they're what let you register in the foreign quota, and what let you send the sale proceeds back out of Thailand later.
Buyer and seller (or their lawyers with power of attorney) meet at the Land Office. The balance is paid, taxes and fees are settled at the counter, and the freehold title or lease is registered the same day. You leave with the deed.
Utilities transferred, condo juristic person notified, house registration book (Tabien Baan) updated, and — if you're renting the home out — management and tax registration set up. We stay involved for all of it.
What a purchase costs, beyond the price.
And when it's time to exit.
All rates on this page are a guide and depend on the property, the seller and how the deal is structured. Before you sign anything, we put exact figures on paper for the specific home.
Mortgages, honestly.
Thai banks rarely lend to non-resident foreigners, so most purchases are cash. Real options that do exist: a handful of international banks lend against Bangkok and resort condos from Singapore (typically 50–60% LTV, to qualifying nationalities); developers offer staged or post-handover payment plans on off-plan projects; and some buyers borrow against assets at home, where rates are usually better. We'll tell you honestly what's realistic for your passport and profile before you start viewing.
Holding & rental taxes.
Modest — roughly 0.02–0.3% of appraised value per year depending on use, and often near zero for an owner-occupied home. Billed annually by the local municipality.
Condos and managed estates charge a monthly fee per square metre (typically ฿35–120/m² in our markets) covering security, pools and grounds. A sinking fund contribution is paid once at purchase on new buildings.
Taxable in Thailand — progressive rates up to 35% for residents after generous deductions, or 15% withholding for non-residents. Double-tax treaties usually prevent paying twice. A good accountant routinely brings the effective rate well down; we'll introduce you.
The things we'd tell a friend.
Chanote or Nor Sor 3 — nothing less
Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) and Nor Sor 3 Gor are both acceptable title deeds, with Chanote — the only GPS-surveyed, full title — the gold standard. Nor Sor 3 Gor is a confirmed right of possession rather than full ownership, and its boundaries are less precisely surveyed, so it warrants closer checking — and lenders prefer Chanote. Anything below those two we simply don't list.
Renewals are a promise, not a right
A 30+30+30 lease is only as good as the counterparty and the drafting. We weight the lessor's identity — individual, estate or developer — heavily in our vetting, and structure security (mortgage registration over the land, building ownership in your name) around it.
Check the quota before you fall in love
In popular Samui and Phuket condos the 49% foreign quota can be full — Thai-quota units can only be bought leasehold or via company. We confirm quota in writing before you proceed.
Succession
A foreign heir can inherit a foreign-quota condo (they must qualify under the same rules) — but leases end at death unless succession clauses are drafted in. We include them as standard, and recommend a Thai will for any Thai assets.
Every purchase gets its own legal answer.
This guide is orientation, not legal advice. For every deal we work alongside independent, English-speaking lawyers in-country — and we'll introduce you before any money moves.