Can a foreigner buy property in Thailand
The short answer is yes, and it is far less complicated than the internet makes it sound. A foreigner can own a condominium apartment outright, in their own name, with the title registered at the Land Department. Land is the one thing that is closed to you personally, and everything built around that single restriction is a set of legal structures with different costs and different timelines. I will show you how it actually works, without the language that belongs in a sales deck.
Start with the part that is simple
An apartment in a licensed condominium is the one asset a foreigner registers in their own name in full ownership. That is freehold. The entry in the Land Department register carries your name, it has no expiry date, it passes to your heirs, and you can sell it without anyone else's consent.
Thousands of foreign buyers do this every year in Phuket alone. There is nothing heroic or exotic about it, and there is no special permission to chase. The process is ordinary, the paperwork is standard, and it usually takes a single morning at the Land Office.
The one restriction that matters is the quota. No more than 49% of the total residential floor area of a building can be held by foreigners in freehold. That is the foreign quota. When the quota in a building is used up, the remaining units are sold to Thai nationals in freehold or to foreigners in leasehold.
Getting the money in is part of the ownership, not a formality
For a freehold registration, the purchase funds must arrive in Thailand from abroad in foreign currency and be converted to baht inside the country. The bank then issues a document confirming the inbound transfer, and the Land Department will not register the title without it.
This is why paying cash locally, or settling through a friend's Thai account, does not produce a freehold title. It is not a rule anyone bends. I cover the mechanics in more detail in how to transfer money to Thailand for a property purchase, because this is the step buyers most often leave to the last week and then regret.
Land: here there genuinely are no options
A foreign individual cannot own land in Thailand in their own name. This is not a question of difficulty or cost. It is a direct restriction in the Land Code.
The Code does contain an exception: a foreigner may be permitted to own a limited plot of residential land with ministerial approval, against a large qualifying investment held in Thailand for a set period. It exists, it is real, and it is worth knowing about so nobody tells you the law says something it does not. In practice it is applied rarely and on a scale that has nothing to do with buying a home, so I do not present it to clients as a working route.
So when someone promises you land in full ownership, there is one of three structures behind the phrase: a registered long lease, a Thai company, or nominee shareholders. The first two are lawful. The third is not, and that is exactly why I do not work with it.
Could you confirm which quota the unit I am looking at sits in, and send me the ownership terms in writing?.
Message me on WhatsApp →Leasehold: a normal instrument, priced correctly
Leasehold is a long-term lease registered at the Land Department. The registered term is up to 30 years. Anything promised beyond that, the familiar 30 plus 30 plus 30, is not recorded in the register. It stays an obligation of the landlord rather than a right of yours.
That does not make leasehold a trap. It makes it a 30-year right that should be priced as a 30-year right. For hotel-branded projects run by an international operator, leasehold is often the only format the project offers, and there is nothing alarming about that as long as the price matches the term. The comparison is laid out properly in freehold or leasehold on Phuket.
Villas: the house and the land are two separate things
In Thai law a building and the land under it are distinct objects of ownership. A foreigner can hold the house in their own name. The land underneath, no. That produces the standard villa structure: the house in freehold, the land on a registered 30-year lease.
The second route is a Thai company that owns the land. It exists and it is widely used, and I will explain it to anyone who asks, but I do not recommend it to my clients for buying a home. A company like that has to be a real company, with activity, filed accounts, paid-up capital and annual running costs. A paper company created purely to hold a plot becomes a problem at resale, when the buyer's lawyer opens the file.
If what you actually want is space rather than a plot of land, there is a cleaner answer. Penthouses and duplexes in condominiums register in freehold, in your own name, with no structure around them at all. That is what I offer instead, and it is the version I would buy myself.
What I check before a deposit moves
- Which quota the specific unit sits in, freehold or leasehold, with written confirmation from the developer
- Who owns the land under the project and whether there are any encumbrances on it
- Whether the project holds a construction permit, and an environmental report where the site is coastal or on a slope
- How the lease term is written in the draft contract: a registered 30 years is one thing, an option to renew is something else entirely
- How the funds will be routed and who prepares the bank document confirming the inbound foreign currency
Who does what
I am an investment strategist, not a lawyer. The quota, the developer's track record, the building's running costs, rental performance in the area and the net yield calculation are mine. Title documents, the contract, land rights and legal risk sit with the Thai lawyers I work with, and I bring them in before the deposit, not after. You can see the full list in what to check in a condominium before buying.
None of this is unusual. A foreigner buying a condominium in freehold in Thailand is one of the most ordinary transactions on the island, and the rules that govern it have been stable for decades. The parts that require care are narrow and identifiable: the quota on your specific unit, the way your money enters the country, and the wording of the lease if a lease is involved. Every one of them is a document request, not a gamble. I check them before anything is signed, and when something does not add up, I say so and we look at the next building instead.
- Projects I work with — developments where I hold direct terms from the developer
- Investment property selection — net yield calculated on specific units
Legal, visa and tax work is not mine — it belongs to partners I use constantly
I am an investment strategist: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and run the transaction. Anything that needs a legal, immigration or tax qualification goes to specialists I have worked with for years.
- Thai lawyers — document and contract review, land title, registration at the Land Office, wills, powers of attorney, corporate questions
- Visa partners — choosing and filing the right route for your situation: investment-based, LTR, Thailand Privilege, retirement, DTV
- Tax specialists — reporting in your country of tax residence, treaty credit for Thai tax, declarations on foreign assets
- Company formation in Thailand — when a structure is genuinely needed and lawful
- Rental management and concierge — letting the property, transfers, yachts, events
I introduce partners personally, matched to your actual question, so that you speak to the specialist who handles it rather than to a general inbox. Message me and I will make the introduction.
Frequently asked
Can a foreigner own land in Thailand?
What is the 49% foreign quota?
How many years does a leasehold actually give me?
Lyubov Fortunova
Investment strategist and founder of Fortunova Capital Group. I have lived on Phuket for more than five years and run every deal myself: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and hold the process together until the keys are handed over. Lawyers, visa and tax specialists come from my own circle.
“I count net, not dreams”
Could you confirm which quota the unit I am looking at sits in, and send me the ownership terms in writing?
I answer personally, within the working day, in any time zone. No calls unless you want them. A question about the article is free and commits you to nothing.
