The three ways foreigners actually hold Thai property

Strip away the forum myths and there are three clean structures a foreigner can use to hold residential property in Thailand. Each has a different trade-off between security and what you can buy. Here they are, in order of simplicity.

1. Freehold condominium

The Condominium Act lets foreigners own condo units outright — same title deed, same rights as a Thai owner — as long as foreign owners hold no more than 49% of the building's total floor area.

Two practical checks before you transfer money:

• Quota confirmation in writing. The building's juristic person issues a letter confirming foreign quota is available. No letter, no deal.
• Funds from abroad. The purchase price must arrive in Thailand as foreign currency, documented by a Foreign Exchange Transaction form from the receiving bank. The Land Department will ask for it at transfer. Wire the money correctly the first time; fixing this after the fact is painful.

This is the only structure where the word "own" means what you think it means. If a condo suits your life, it is the simplest path by a wide margin.

2. Registered leasehold

Foreigners cannot own land, but a lease of up to 30 years, registered on the title deed at the Land Department, is a real property right — it survives the sale of the land and does not depend on the owner's goodwill.

The details that matter:

• Three years is the registration line. Unregistered leases are only enforceable for three years, whatever the contract says. If someone offers you a 30-year lease "by contract" without registering it, you have a 3-year lease.
• Renewal promises are promises. A "30+30+30" structure is common in marketing. Only the first 30 years is a registered right; the renewals are contractual promises against a future owner who may not honour them. Price the property on 30 years, and treat anything beyond as upside.

3. Own the house, lease the land

Thai law separates the building from the land under it. A foreigner can hold registered ownership of the villa itself — via a superficies right or a properly documented sale of the structure — while leasing the land it stands on.

This is how most foreign-owned pool villas are legitimately held. It matters at the exit: you can sell the house, and the lease transfers with the buyer's own registration.

The structure we won't arrange

You will still meet agents proposing a Thai company that exists only to hold land for you, with Thai shareholders who signed blank transfer forms. Nominee shareholding is illegal under the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act, and enforcement reviews of dormant landholding companies have been tightening for years. The structure fails exactly when you need it — at sale, at inheritance, at divorce, in a dispute.

We do not list properties that only work with a nominee structure, and we will tell you when a "great deal" depends on one.

Before you commit

Whatever the structure, the sequence is the same: verify the title deed at the Land Department, use an independent lawyer (not the seller's), and get the numbers — transfer fee, taxes, who pays what — in writing before the deposit. If you want a second pair of eyes on a specific property, ask us. Looking at deals is what we do all day.