Buying property in Thailand: where to start
Buying property in Thailand does not begin with a shortlist of units. It begins with three answers: how much money the entry actually takes, what you are entitled to hold in your own name, and what job this purchase is doing for you. This page is the map I walk a client through in the first conversation.
I have lived on Phuket for more than five years and I run every deal personally. In that time I have become certain of one thing: almost every expensive mistake happens before the unit is chosen, at the stage where the buyer has not yet decided why they are buying. So I start with the frame rather than the floor plans: money, title, format, location. Each has a full article behind it, but the whole picture is here.
What the entry budget really is
The Phuket market starts at roughly 4.5 million baht, which buys a 35-40 m2 studio in a project still under construction. From there the steps in size and price look like this.
- studio, 35-40 m2, from about 4.5M THB, the most rentable format on the island;
- one-bedroom, 50-55 m2, from 6.5M THB;
- two-bedroom, 85-95 m2, from 10.8M THB;
- villa, from 18M THB, which is roughly $550,000.
That is the price of the property, not the cost of the transaction. On top sit registration fees, the one-off sinking fund contribution at a benchmark of 1,000 THB per square metre, furniture and fit-out. Then ownership begins: common area fees are charged by floor area at around 80 THB per square metre per month. I ask people to put those lines in on day one, because they turn an attractive price list into a real number. What is and is not inside a developer's price is in Phuket apartment prices.
What a foreigner can hold in their own name
This question matters more than the budget. In your own name you can hold an apartment in a licensed condominium, and only inside the 49% foreign quota of the building's residential area. Land is never registered to a foreigner. Everything else you will be offered is a lawful structure built around that limit, with its own term and its own price. I do not ask a developer whether the project has quota. I ask which quota a specific unit on a specific floor is counted in, because that is visible only in the documents. The forms of ownership are set out in what a foreigner can and cannot buy in Thailand.
Condo or villa
These are two different assets answering two different questions. An apartment means a lower entry price, freehold in your own name inside the quota, predictable running costs, a management company that already exists, and a faster resale. A villa means a larger cheque from 18M THB, a different ownership structure because of the land, higher maintenance, a narrower pool of buyers on exit. Neither is better; one of them fits your goal, and I would rather you decide that before viewings than during them. The comparison is in condo or villa in Phuket.
Off-plan or completed
Buying during construction is cheaper, and growth to handover in a well-chosen project runs at 20-30%. The payment structure makes it workable: around 30% on signing, then equal instalments every six months across roughly two years, interest free, or a 35/25/25/10/5 schedule. A completed unit costs more, starts earning immediately and carries no construction risk. There are no mortgages for foreigners in Thailand, so the instalment plan is the financing. Both routes are compared in off-plan or completed property in Phuket.
The area decides the income
Location on Phuket is not a matter of taste, it is the yield. Bang Tao and Laguna are the most established rental locations and deliver roughly 4-6% net, or 7-9% gross before the management fee and running costs come out. Realistic occupancy across the year is 60-70%, and the management company takes 20-30% of revenue. Where each district sits on demand, seasonality and entry price is in the best areas in Phuket to buy property, and the arithmetic behind a net figure is in calculating net rental yield.
- What is this property for: income, your own stay, a move, or a share of both?
- How many months a year will you use it yourself? Every one of them comes out of the rental calendar.
- What is your exit horizon, and are you comfortable with resale exposure of several months to a year?
- Is the budget the price of the unit, or the price plus fees, furniture and the first year of ownership?
If those four answers are clear, the shortlist assembles itself and it is usually short. If they are not, no amount of viewing will help. I go through who this purchase genuinely suits, who it does not, and what a calm deal looks like from the inside in is buying property in Thailand worth it.
One boundary I keep clearly. I am an investment strategist, not a lawyer, and I do not give legal, visa or tax opinions. Those go to the vetted partners I work with here, and I introduce you personally so you speak to the specialist rather than to my summary of one.
Articles in this section
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.
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”
Read in order: prices and title first, then format and area. If a specific project is still an open question after that, I go through it with you personally, with the numbers and the documents in front of us.
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.
