Real estate transactions in Thailand.
Condo freehold purchases, long-term leases, commercial property transactions, sale-and-leaseback structures, real-estate due diligence. We protect the buyer, the tenant, and the investor on every transaction.
Can foreigners own property in Thailand?
In part, yes. A foreigner may own a condominium unit outright, provided it falls within the building's 49% foreign quota, and may own a building or structure in their own name. What a foreigner cannot do is own land directly — that single restriction shapes nearly every property decision a foreign buyer faces in Thailand.
Where land is involved, ownership is held indirectly: through a registered lease, through a usufruct or superficies that grants a right over the land, or through a Thai-majority company that holds the title. Each route carries its own trade-offs in cost, control, and durability. And whichever route you take, the outcome turns on a careful title check and proper due diligence before any money changes hands.
Six routes to holding Thai property.
No single structure suits every buyer. The right one depends on whether you are buying a condo or land, how long you intend to hold, and how much control you need over the asset.
Condominium freehold
The cleanest form of foreign ownership — a unit held outright in your own name, as long as it sits within the building's 49% foreign quota. We confirm the quota at the source before you commit.
Registered leasehold
A lease registered at the Land Office for a term of up to 30 years, the practical route to controlling land or a villa. The term and any renewal arrangement must be drafted with care.
Thai-majority company
Land held through a Thai company in which foreign ownership stays below 50%. Workable when the company has a genuine commercial purpose — but nominee shareholders used solely to skirt the land law are illegal and carry real exposure.
Usufruct (sitthi-kep-kin)
A registered right to use and take the benefit of land or a property for the holder's lifetime. A durable personal right, often paired with other structures, though it cannot be sold or inherited.
Superficies
A registered right to own a building or structure standing on land belonging to someone else — separating ownership of the house from ownership of the ground beneath it.
BOI & treaty exceptions
A narrow set of routes to land ownership — BOI-promoted projects and certain investment-based exceptions — available only where strict conditions are met. We assess whether your case qualifies.
What the title shows — and what the transfer costs.
Two checks decide whether a purchase is safe and what it will cost: the strength of the title and the diligence behind it, and the taxes and fees due on transfer.
Title & due diligence
- A Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) is full, surveyed title — the strongest deed; a Nor Sor 3 Gor sits a step below and confers a confirmed right of possession, not full ownership
- Verify ownership and any encumbrances — mortgages, leases, usufructs — through a search at the Land Office
- Check boundaries, legal access, and that building permits are in order
- For a condo, confirm the foreign-quota position and obtain a debt-free certificate from the juristic person
- Purchase funds are remitted from abroad, supported by a Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form
Taxes & fees on transfer
- A transfer fee of 2% of the appraised value, commonly split between buyer and seller by agreement
- Specific business tax of 3.3% where the property is sold within five years of acquisition; otherwise stamp duty of 0.5% applies
- Withholding tax — a flat 1% for a company seller, or a progressive rate for an individual — is generally borne by the seller
What is actually the law — and what is only proposed.
- The 49% condominium quota and the 30-year lease cap remain the law — proposals to raise the quota to 75% or to extend foreign leases to 99 years have been debated but are not enacted
- A 2025 Supreme Court ruling held that automatic lease-renewal clauses — the familiar "30+30+30" structure — are void and unenforceable
- A temporary cut of transfer and mortgage fees to 0.01% (for property up to THB 7 million, running to 30 June 2026) applies to Thai-national buyers only — foreigners pay the standard rates
If your land sits in a nominee company, the risk is real — and it can be unwound.
For years, foreigners bought land, villas and houses through a Thai company whose Thai "nominee" shareholders held the majority on paper only. That route is now dangerous. Thailand is running its most aggressive crackdown in decades.
As of 2025/early 2026, the DBD has flagged nearly 47,000 high-risk companies for inspection across six sectors including real estate, and Thai authorities have undertaken over 29,000 legal cases over nominee-related offences — with 852 companies being prosecuted and over THB 15.1 billion in estimated damages. The DBD, DSI, AMLO and the Department of Lands are cross-checking company ownership against land titles. In 2025–2026, island raids in Koh Phangan and Koh Samui led to arrests and land seizures, with the task force expanding to Phuket, Pattaya, Krabi, Phang Nga and Hua Hin.
The exposure
- Land held by Thai nationals on behalf of a foreigner is treated under the Land Code as a foreigner acquiring land — without permission, that acquisition is unlawful
- Penalties run to heavy fines, imprisonment, forced sale of the property, company dissolution and deportation — and they reach the Thai nominees as well as the foreigner
- The structure also fails quietly — when a "trusted" nominee dies, divorces, sells, or simply refuses to cooperate, the foreigner has little the courts will enforce
The lawful routes out
- Move to a registered 30-year leasehold, drafted to give you durable control over the land
- Layer a usufruct or superficies so you hold the right to use the land or own the building on it in your own name
- Where the company has a genuine business, rebuild it properly — real Thai shareholders, real capital, real activity and substance
- Where a condominium is an option, exit the land and re-acquire within the foreign-freehold quota
If you hold Thai property through a nominee company, the safe move is to review and restructure it now — before enforcement reaches you. We assess your current holding, explain your exposure plainly, and restructure it onto a lawful footing so you can enjoy Thailand without worry.
How a restructuring runs
Structure review
We map what you actually hold — the company, the shareholding, the land title, the money trail — and assess the exposure honestly.
Choose the target
We set the lawful structure that fits your hold period, your control needs, and your exit — lease, usufruct, a real company, or condo.
Document and register
The new instruments are drafted and registered at the Land Office and the DBD, in the right order, so nothing falls between them.
Unwind cleanly
The nominee arrangement is dismantled and the shareholders released, leaving you with a structure that stands on its own.
How a purchase completes.
From the first title search to the moment your name is recorded on the deed, a Thai property purchase moves through five clear stages.
Due diligence
A title search and encumbrance check at the Land Office, confirming ownership, boundaries, and any charges over the property.
Sale and purchase agreement
The SPA is signed, with the deposit paid and the conditions of the sale set out in writing.
Remittance & FET form
For a foreign condo buyer, funds are remitted from abroad and the Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form is obtained for registration.
Clear the title
The seller's mortgage is cleared and the debt-free and foreign-quota certificates are gathered ahead of transfer.
Transfer at the Land Office
Both parties attend, the taxes and fees are paid, and the buyer is registered on the title deed.
The deal happens at the Land Office. The protection happens before the deal.
Most property problems in Thailand are built into the transaction at the signing. They surface years later — when the foreign-quota register is questioned, when the lease registration is missing, when the developer goes bankrupt, when ownership cannot be transferred because of an unpaid common-fee charge.
Our role is to do the protective work before the transfer at the Land Office. That means full title due diligence (chanote verification, land-office search, encumbrance check, common-fees status); contract review or drafting; price-allocation between land, structure, and fittings (for the buyer's exit position later); foreign-quota verification for condo freehold purchases; lease drafting and Land Office registration for long-term leases; and accompaniment to the Land Office on transfer day.
We act for buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants. We also handle disputes that arise on existing transactions — but that's covered separately under Disputes & Litigation.
What we do
- Title due diligence — chanote, encumbrances, common-fees, foreign-quota
- Sale-and-purchase agreement (SPA) drafting and review
- Reservation and deposit agreements
- Long-term lease drafting and Land Office registration
- Servitude, usufruct, superficies and right-of-habitation agreements
- Commercial property transactions and structuring
- Nominee-structure review and lawful restructuring
- Off-plan condo purchase reviews and developer due diligence
- Land Office representation on transfer day
- Transfer tax, specific business tax, and stamp duty handling
- Real-estate-specific due diligence (separate from corporate DD)
What you get
- We act for the buyer's interest — we do not work for developers as our primary clients
- Land Office accompaniment in person on transfer day
- Foreign-quota verification done at the source, not from developer assurances
- Bilingual SPAs — Thai for registration, English for buyer comprehension
How we work
Pre-contract review
Reservation agreement and proposed SPA reviewed. Title due diligence ordered.
Due diligence report
Chanote verification, encumbrance search, common-fees status, foreign-quota check (for condos). Report delivered in writing.
Contract negotiation
SPA amended where needed; supplementary protections added; price allocation set.
Signing and deposit
Contract signed; deposit paid; closing checklist set.
Land Office transfer
Transfer at the Land Office; taxes and duties paid; title deed handed over.
Speak with our team
Send a message — typical response within one hour during office hours.
WhatsApp +66 95 332 2447 Send an Enquiry Call +66 2 026 0600Frequently asked
Can a foreigner own a condo in Thailand?
Yes — in freehold, up to the 49% foreign-quota limit per condominium building. We verify foreign-quota availability before signing.
Can a foreigner own land in Thailand?
Not directly, with very limited exceptions (BOI-promoted projects, certain investment-based exceptions). Long-term leases (typically 30 years registered, renewable) are the practical alternative.
How long does a transaction take?
From deposit to Land Office transfer: typically 30–60 days for a straightforward condo. Off-plan and commercial transactions take longer. Foreign-currency remittance documentation must be coordinated in parallel.
What's the difference between a chanote and a Nor Sor 3 Gor?
A chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) is the full title deed with GPS-coordinate boundaries — the strongest form of title. Nor Sor 3 Gor is a possession document; it can be upgraded to chanote but isn't equivalent. We always verify which one applies.
I already hold land through a nominee company. What now?
You have options — and acting before a dispute or an audit forces the issue is far better than reacting to one. We review what you hold, assess the exposure, and move you to a lawful structure: a registered lease, a usufruct or superficies, a properly constituted company, or a condominium. The review comes first, with no obligation.
Reviewed by the Khonsu Legal team · 1 July 2026
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