Can foreigners own property in Thailand? What you can, and cannot, buy

The short answer is yes, with one important line drawn through it. A foreigner can own a condominium in Thailand outright, within limits. A foreigner generally cannot own land. Almost everything else about foreign property ownership here follows from that distinction. Below is a plain breakdown of how each route works, as the rules stand in mid-2026.

49%

of a building's floor areathe foreign freehold quota

30 years

maximum registrable leasethe secure period

None

land a foreigner may own outrightaside from narrow, approved exceptions

Freehold: owning a condominium

Under the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), foreigners can own up to 49 percent of the total floor area of all the units in a registered condominium. Within that quota you hold your unit outright, freehold, with a share of the common areas. There is no age limit and no time limit on the ownership, and it passes to your heirs.

One check matters before you commit: confirm the building still has foreign quota available. Once the 49 percent is taken, further units in that building can only be sold to Thai buyers or held through other structures, so a unit that looks available may not be available to you as a foreigner. A lawyer verifies this as part of due diligence.

Leasehold: a registered long lease

Where freehold is not available, a long lease is the common alternative. A lease can be registered at the Land Department for a maximum of 30 years, and a registered lease survives a sale of the land, so it remains valid even if the owner changes. You can also separately own the building or structure that sits on leased land.

One point is widely misunderstood, and it matters. Lease agreements often promise a renewal for a further 30 years, presented as “30 plus 30”. Under Thai law that renewal is a contractual promise between the original parties, not a right that can be registered in advance or guaranteed against a future owner of the land. Treat the registered 30 years as the secure period, and take legal advice on anything beyond it rather than assuming the renewal is automatic.

Land and the Thai company question

Foreigners cannot own land outright in Thailand, aside from narrow exceptions such as certain large, government-approved investments. A Thai company can own land, and this route is sometimes described as a way for a foreigner to hold land. The detail it skips is the important part.

A company can own land only if it is a genuine, majority Thai-owned business with a real commercial purpose. Setting up a company whose Thai shareholders hold their shares on a foreigner’s behalf, a nominee arrangement, is illegal under Thai law and has drawn increasing scrutiny from the authorities. In 2026 this tightened further: the Land Department and the Department of Business Development began cross-checking company shareholder records against land-title registries to flag suspected nominee arrangements at the point of registration. Anyone considering a company structure for land needs proper legal advice on whether it is legitimate for their situation, not a workaround sold as routine.

Paying for it: foreign currency and the FET form

To register a condominium in a foreign buyer’s name, the purchase funds generally have to be brought into Thailand from abroad in foreign currency and converted to Thai baht here. For that reason, payment is made by telegraphic transfer, not in cash. On a qualifying inward transfer the receiving Thai bank issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form, the FET form, which is the document the Land Department needs as evidence of the foreign remittance. For smaller amounts a bank credit advice can serve the same purpose. Keeping this paperwork in order is what allows the unit to be transferred into the buyer’s name.

Inheritance

Thai property passes to heirs, with two things to understand. Inheritance tax applies only to the part of an inheritance received by a single heir that exceeds 100 million baht, taxed at 5 percent for direct ascendants and descendants and 10 percent for other heirs. A spouse who inherits is exempt. Below 100 million baht to a given heir, no inheritance tax applies.

For a condominium there is a second point. A foreign heir can keep an inherited unit only if it still fits within the building’s 49 percent foreign quota. Where it does not, Thai law generally requires the unit to be sold within a set period, commonly a year. This is a question worth settling in advance rather than leaving to an estate.

What is changing in 2026

Two reforms are under public discussion in 2026: one to lower the 49 percent condominium quota, another to raise it in designated special economic zones. Neither has been enacted, and the 49 percent rule that has stood since 1979 remains in force. Separately, off-plan buyers gained new deposit protections that took effect in January 2025. None of this changes the basic routes above, but it is worth confirming the current position at the time you buy rather than relying on a figure read months earlier.

Own the condominium, lease the land, and treat any company structure with real caution. That covers most foreign buyers in Bangkok.

In short

Freehold condominium ownership, within the foreign quota, is the cleanest and most common route for a foreign buyer in Thailand. Leasehold is the usual alternative where freehold is not on offer. Company ownership of land is a specialist question, not a default. In every case, confirm the quota, follow the remittance process, and take independent legal advice before you commit.

Ownership is one decision of many, and for most people it is not the first. The whole sequence of a move, from the visa and the arrival card to the address registration, the bank account, the schools and the 180-day tax line, is set out in our guide to moving to Thailand.