Answered
Can foreigners buy property in Phuket?
Yes, within limits set by the format: a foreign buyer can hold a Phuket condominium freehold in their own name inside the 49 per cent of a building's sellable area that Thai condominium law reserves for foreign ownership, while villas and land are ordinarily offered on a registered lease instead.
The Phuket coast guide, where tenure is examined project by project
The 49 per cent is measured on sellable area rather than on unit count, and it is finite. On a fast‑selling building it can be substantially allocated before completion, so the question to put before reserving is how much of the quota remains unallocated and whether any of it is being held back for specific units.
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A villa is the different case, because it sits on land and foreign freehold ownership of land is not available. What is offered instead is a registered lease, commonly 30 years, with renewal options presented as 30 plus 30 or 30 plus 30 plus 30. Those renewals are contractual promises rather than registered rights, and the difference is the whole point: a registered 30‑year term binds a later owner of the land, a promise to renew binds only the party who made it.
Never let that language compress into a claim of sixty or ninety years. Establish who owns the freehold, what happens if it is sold, and what the renewal clause actually obliges. This is general information as it stood in September 2026 and not legal advice; a Thai property lawyer should read the papers before money moves. For the quota position on a specific building, ask Embark Estate; we reply within 4 hours on WhatsApp or LINE.
How we know this
Thai condominium and land law as it stood in September 2026, and the tenure position recorded project by project in Embark Estate's own coastal catalogue. General information, not legal advice.
