A Bangkok condominium sale agreement runs to twenty or thirty pages, written largely in Thai, with most provisions drafted in the developer’s favour. Most buyers we work with sign without having read every clause. That is not unreasonable. What matters is that the structural questions have been asked first, and the right professional has reviewed the document for the buyer’s protection. Here is the short list of questions that come up in every well-handled signing.
- 20 to 30
- pages in a typical agreementwritten largely in Thai
- 7 to 14 days
- a reasonable review windowanything shorter is a flag
- 49%
- the foreign quota ceilingof total saleable area
The reservation agreement and the SPA are different
The reservation agreement is the short document signed at booking, with a small deposit, that holds the unit while the buyer arranges payment and reviews the full sale-and-purchase agreement (SPA). The SPA is the long contract that governs the transaction. They are not the same instrument and they carry different obligations. The reservation deposit is small, sometimes refundable in defined scenarios, and committing. The SPA is the binding agreement on price, payment, specification, completion, defect liability, and transfer.
Two documents, signed at different moments
Reservation
Short. A small deposit that holds the unit while you review.
The SPA
Binding on price, payment, specification, completion, defect liability, transfer.
The right question to ask at reservation: when will the SPA be issued in final form, in which languages, and with how many days for review before signing? In Bangkok, a reasonable review window is between seven and fourteen days. Anything shorter is a flag.
Title and the foreign quota
For any branded residence or freehold condominium, two facts about the unit must be verified before signing.
- Clean title. The chanote (land title deed) of the development is registered and matches the unit being sold.
- Foreign quota status.For a foreign buyer, the unit is being sold within the building’s foreign quota of up to 49 percent of total saleable area, and the quota is not yet exhausted.
These verifications are done by a Thai lawyer with property experience, against the documents the developer must provide on request. Skipping this step is rare in the top tier of the market but happens.
The specification and the annexes
The SPA references annexes that define what the unit will contain at handover: the floor plan, the finish specification, the FF&E (furniture, fixtures, and equipment) the developer is supplying, and the common-area facilities the buyer is paying maintenance for. The annexes are part of the contract. If something the buyer expects to receive, a particular kitchen brand, a specific facility, a particular handover-state finish, is not in the annexes, it is not in the contract.
The right question: are the floor plan, the FF&E list, and the common-area facilities specification all included as annexes, signed by the developer? A unit described in marketing brochures but not in the SPA annex is a marketing claim, not a contractual obligation.
Payment milestones and protection
Bangkok condominiums are typically sold against a milestone payment schedule: reservation, contract signing, periodic instalments during construction, balance at transfer. The percentages vary by developer and project stage.
The right questions:
- What proportion of the price is due before completion?
- Are the instalment payments protected in any escrow or trust arrangement, or paid directly to the developer?
- If the developer fails to complete, what is the buyer’s recourse, and are completion guarantees in place?
Escrow on condominium purchases is not standard practice in Thailand the way it is in some other jurisdictions. The protection comes from the developer’s reputation, financial standing, and any specific guarantees written into the SPA.
Delays and force majeure
Construction projects run late. The SPA defines what happens when they do, including the developer’s permitted delay window, the buyer’s rights if the delay exceeds it, and what counts as force majeure suspending the timeline.
The right question: what is the latest date the unit can be handed over before the buyer has the right to walk away with a refund, and what does “force majeure” specifically include?
Defect liability period
After handover and acceptance of the unit, the developer remains liable for non-structural defects for a defined period, commonly one to two years on a Bangkok condominium, and longer for structural defects. The handover inspection, covered separately in our journal, is the buyer’s principal protection against the asymmetry that opens up once the unit is accepted; the defect liability period governs what the developer must fix in the year or two after the keys transfer.
The transfer day
On transfer day, the title is registered in the buyer’s name at the Department of Lands and the keys change hands. The day involves several costs, covered in a separate journal piece on transaction fees. The SPA specifies who pays what.
The right question: which fees are split between buyer and seller, which are the buyer’s alone, and which are the seller’s alone? The default convention in Thailand is that the transfer fee is split, but this can be varied in the SPA.
Who should look at it before you sign
A Thai lawyer with property experience reviews the SPA for the buyer. Embark Estate does not provide legal review and never has. The role of the advisor at this stage is to coordinate the introduction to qualified counsel and to stay in the room while the buyer’s questions are answered. The legal review is the safeguard. Sign nothing until it has been done.
A Bangkok condominium SPA is a binding instrument written largely in the developer’s favour. The buyer’s protection is structural questions asked early, annexes signed, payments protected, and a Thai lawyer in the review chain before the signature page.