In short
- Foreigners can own up to 49% of a building's saleable floor area. The limit counts area, not units (Condominium Act B.E. 2522, s. 19; as of 6 October 2026).
- A quota letter from the condominium's juristic person and a Land Department search show what is left. It can change before registration (terms.law, February 2026).
- Money must arrive from abroad and be converted to baht by a Thai bank. Without a bank document naming you as sender or recipient, the sale will not be registered (Montmari Asia, 25 November 2025).
- A 75% quota and 99-year leases are proposals, not law (Thaiger, 3 and 31 July 2026).
- The 0.01% transfer fee is for Thai individuals only. Foreign buyers pay 2% (Nation Thailand, 2 July 2026).
How do you check the 49% foreign quota?
Three documents confirm the quota: the juristic person's letter on the area open to foreigners, a Land Department search by your lawyer, and the developer's written confirmation. One letter is not enough. As of 6 October 2026 the quota counts floor area and keeps moving until registration, so another buyer can take the remaining area (terms.law, February 2026).
What matters is how much area is registered to foreigners today. Your lawyer requests the letter, checks it against the register and records the remainder.
| What we check | With whom | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free quota | The condominium's juristic person | A letter on the area open to foreigners |
| Registered foreign area | Land Department, searched by a lawyer | Register data on the check date |
| What the seller promised | The developer | Written confirmation that your unit fits the quota |
What should you check in the developer, the title and the contract?
Check the developer in the DBD DataWarehouse+ company register, the land through a certified copy of the Chanote, and the permits in the project file. Large projects need an environmental impact assessment (EIA). Tie payments to construction milestones or to escrow (ananasinsider, 21 August 2026; Palmora, 28 March 2026).
On the Chanote we look for mortgages, encumbrances, disputes and seizure. Since 31 January 2025 a notification of the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB, B.E. 2567) governs condo reservations. It sets a standard Thai-language form and bans clauses that keep your deposit when you are not in default, charge a fee to assign a reservation or change terms unilaterally (Palmora, 28 March 2026). Our sources do not confirm the allowed deposit size or the refund steps, so we read them in your form.
Escrow under the Escrow Act B.E. 2551 is optional. Most developers take payments directly and only some banks offer escrow, so you must negotiate escrow or staged payments yourself (ThaiLawOnline; Palmora, 28 March 2026).
Money and fees: what does the buyer pay?
Money must come from abroad and be converted to baht by a Thai bank. Without a bank document naming you as sender or recipient, the Land Department will not register the sale. On a resale the 2% transfer fee is customarily split equally, and the seller bears SBT or stamp duty and withholding tax (ThaiLawOnline, 4 October 2026).
| Charge | Rate | Who customarily pays on a resale |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer fee | 2% of appraised value | Split equally unless the contract says otherwise |
| Specific Business Tax (SBT) | 3.3% | Seller; for an individual it depends on the holding period (under 5 years) and house registration, for a company it always applies |
| Stamp duty | 0.5% instead of SBT, never both | Seller |
| Withholding tax | 1% for a company; the Land Department computes it for an individual | Seller |
When a company sells, the rates add up to 6.3%: 2%, 3.3% and 1%. That is the load on the whole deal, and your share depends on the contract. First sales by a developer are not in the table: we confirm their tax treatment from the deal documents.
Buying from the UK, US or Australia
Send the money in foreign currency from your own account and ask the Thai bank for a transfer document on every payment: sources disagree on whether the old USD 50,000 trigger for the FET form still matters. A power of attorney or affidavit signed at home goes through a notary, your foreign ministry and the Thai embassy (Bangkok Translation, 16 August 2026) until 28 February 2027. After that an apostille replaces the embassy step 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).
What we do
- You send the contract or reservation. Within 48 hours you get a written express review: up to five risky clauses and questions for the developer. It is free.
- We check the quota (juristic-person letter and register), the developer (DBD DataWarehouse+, EIA, permits), the Chanote and encumbrances.
- We read the contract and reservation in full, compare them with the OCPB rules and tie payments to milestones or escrow.
- Before you send money, we tell you and your bank which document the Land Department needs, then check it after the transfer.
- On registration day a lawyer licensed by the Lawyers Council of Thailand goes with you to the Land Department.
Price and scope are on the service card; we agree the estimate before work starts.
