Seven checks come before a deposit, and each one has a document and an office. The rules here are as of 6 October 2026. The quota and the bank document change fastest, so you ask for them twice: before you pay and again before registration.
| # | Check | Document | Where | When to repeat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The 49% quota | Letter on the area open to foreigners | The condominium's juristic person, Land Department | Before you pay and before registration |
| 2 | The developer | Company profile, permits, EIA | DBD DataWarehouse+, ONEP database | Before the deposit |
| 3 | The land under the project | Certified copy of the Chanote | Land Department | Before the contract and before registration |
| 4 | The contract | Sale contract and a translation | The developer | Before you sign |
| 5 | The money | Bank document for the transfer | Your Thai bank | After every transfer |
| 6 | The reservation | Reservation agreement | OCPB rules | Before you pay it |
| 7 | The payments | Escrow or a staged schedule | The bank, the contract | Before you sign |
Do them in this order. Before the reservation, run checks 1, 2 and 6. Before you sign the contract, run 3, 4 and 7. Before you send money, you need 5, and before registration you repeat 1 and 3.
1. The 49% quota: the juristic person's letter and a Land Department search
A foreigner can own a condo outright only while foreigners in the building hold no more than 49% of its saleable floor area (Condominium Act B.E. 2522, s. 19). The test counts area, not units. Three documents confirm it: the juristic person's letter, a Land Department search by your lawyer and the developer's written confirmation (terms.law, February 2026).
A letter shows the day it was issued, and the quota can change before registration, so you request it twice: before the deposit and before registration. Read the date, the project name and the area still open to foreigners, then compare that area with your unit. If there is no letter and the sales agent keeps saying "the quota is fine", it is too early to pay.
Do not confuse the quota with a headline number. Officials counted 31.48% of condo units as held by companies with foreign investment (Nation Thailand, 8 September 2026), but that is a different statistic, not the s. 19 quota. A 75% quota is a proposal with no bill and no timetable (terms.law, February 2026), and no amendment has passed Parliament (Thaiger, 3 July 2026), so plan around 49%.
2. The developer: DBD DataWarehouse+, the building permit and the EIA
Check the developer in the DBD DataWarehouse+ register, where you can see its registration and financials. Then check the building permit, the condominium's registration and, for large projects, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval in the ONEP database (Palmora, 28 March 2026).
Ask the developer for the permit numbers and match them against the databases, because "everything is in place" is not a document. Also check whether the condominium's juristic person has debts. None of these papers guarantees on-time delivery, so tie payments to construction stages (check 7).
3. The land under the project: the Chanote and encumbrances
The plot under the project should carry a Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor): a full title issued after a GPS survey, and the only type suited to a mortgage and normal conveyancing. Ask for a certified copy and have a lawyer check the Land Department records for mortgages, encumbrances, disputes and seizure. Zoning and access are checked separately (ThaiLawOnline, 26 September 2026).
| Document | What it is | What it means for a buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Chanote, Nor Sor 4 Jor | Full title after a GPS survey | Deals and mortgages are possible |
| Nor Sor 3 Gor | Possession right from an aerial survey | Usually upgradeable to a Chanote |
| Nor Sor 3 | Unsurveyed land | A 30-day public notice comes before registration |
| Sor Kor 1, Por Bor Tor 5 | No title | The Land Department will not register |
Table source: ThaiLawOnline, 26 September 2026.
Zoning shows what may be built on the plot and next to it, and access shows whether there is a lawful way to the road. If the plot has another type of document, ask for a written explanation and show it to your lawyer.
4. The contract: payment schedule, late-payment penalties, language and translation
Read the sale contract for three things: when and for what you pay, what happens if either side is late, and which language version governs. During construction, payments are tied to stages, not to dates (Palmora, 28 March 2026). Compare the penalty for late delivery with the penalty for late payment: they should be proportionate.
The contract should state the unit number and area, the delivery date, the payment schedule and how it can be terminated, and the unit's area should match the quota letter. Ask which version governs and have the answer written in. We found no source for the claim that the Thai version always wins in court, so rely on the contract text. Ask for a certified translation and find out whether it is included in the price. Put these questions to the developer in writing:
- Which version of the contract governs, the Thai one or the translation?
- What is the delivery date, and what do you get if it slips?
- What happens to your payment if the quota runs out before registration?
- Which construction stages is the payment schedule tied to?
- Who pays the transfer fee, and in what share?
5. The money: the bank document for an overseas transfer
Money must come from abroad in foreign currency and be converted to baht by a Thai bank. The Land Department will not register the sale without a bank document, an FET form (formerly Thor Tor 3) or a credit advice, that shows you as sender or recipient and names the unit (Montmari Asia, 25 November 2025; ThaiLawOnline).
Sources disagree on the amount at which the FET form itself is required. An older ThaiLawOnline page puts the threshold at USD 50,000 with a credit advice below it, while Montmari says banks now issue the document for any amount. In practice, ask for a bank document on every transfer and keep it with the contract.
The Department of Lands circulars of 15 May 2026 on source-of-funds checks concern land, and foreign condo purchases stay under the Condominium Act (Juslaws, May 2026). Keep records of where your money came from anyway. Banks are also tightening: on 10 September 2026 the Bank of Thailand and 11 industry associations announced a framework for stronger customer checks and scrutiny of risky cash transactions, with no effective date stated (Thaiger, 10 September 2026). Prepare your explanation of the source of funds before you transfer.
Buying from the UK, US or Australia
Send the money in pounds, dollars or Australian dollars from an account in your own name, and ask the Thai bank for the transfer document after each payment. If you sign a power of attorney or an affidavit at home, it goes through a notary, your foreign ministry and the Thai embassy, then a Thai translation (Bangkok Translation, 16 August 2026). An apostille is due to replace the embassy step on 28 February 2027 for states that do not object, and the objection window runs to about 30 December 2026 (Federal Apostille, 29 September 2026; HCCH, 6 October 2026).
6. The reservation agreement: OCPB rules
Since 31 January 2025 an OCPB notification (B.E. 2567) governs condo reservations. The form is standardised and in Thai, and four clauses are banned: waiving liability for late delivery, keeping the deposit when the buyer is not in default, a fee to assign the reservation and unilateral changes. Penalties reach THB 200,000 and/or a year (Palmora, 28 March 2026).
The pages we could read do not give the allowed deposit size or the refund procedure. So read the refund terms in your own form and keep the correspondence in writing. Ask what happens to the reservation if the quota runs short and who pays on termination. If you are offered a different form, stop and ask why: the standard Thai form exists precisely for reservations.
7. Escrow or staged payments
Escrow under the Escrow Act B.E. 2551 is optional. Most developers take money directly and only some banks offer escrow, so you negotiate escrow or a stage schedule yourself (ThaiLawOnline; Palmora). If there is escrow, the release should be tied to the registered transfer of title, not to the end of construction.
The escrow agent is a commercial bank or an institution licensed by the Ministry of Finance. The fee is usually just under 1% of the amount held, with a minimum charge, and the parties split costs equally unless they agree otherwise. Do not send money to a lawyer's or agent's personal account: unlicensed lawyers who hold client funds risk criminal liability (Hua Hin Legal, July 2025).
8. What it costs and what to check in the budget
The budget includes the 2% transfer fee on appraised value and, on a resale, Specific Business Tax of 3.3% or stamp duty of 0.5% (never both) and withholding tax. By custom the transfer fee is split equally and the seller bears the rest, unless the contract says otherwise (ThaiLawOnline, 4 October 2026). The mortgage registration fee is 1%, and we do not cover mortgage terms for foreigners here.
The 0.01% fee for Thai individuals buying at up to THB 7 million was extended by the Cabinet to 30 June 2027, and foreigners pay 2%. We do not price first sales by developers: their tax treatment is confirmed from the deal documents. After the purchase you pay an annual land and building tax. The rates actually applied to homes are 0.02 to 0.10% against a ceiling of 0.30%. Local authorities publish values in January and send bills in February, payment is due on 30 April (30 June in some municipalities), and foreigners pay on the same terms as Thais (AngloSiam Law, 30 April 2026; ThaiLawOnline). The fee table is on the page Buy a condo in Phuket.
What next
Send us the contract or the reservation and within 48 hours you get a written express review: up to five risky clauses and questions for the developer. It is free. More on how we handle a purchase: Buy a condo in Phuket. If you are choosing a villa, the checks differ: Buy a villa in Phuket legally.