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Can a foreigner buy an apartment in Thailand?
Answered by Sea Inside · checked 20.09.2026
Yes. A foreigner can buy a condominium unit in full ownership (freehold), provided it falls within the 49% of the building’s floor area set aside for foreign owners. Land cannot be owned by a foreigner, so villas are normally taken on a long lease (leasehold) of 30 years with renewals written into the contract. The purchase money must arrive from abroad in foreign currency — without that the unit will not be registered in your name.
What the foreign quota is
- No more than 49% of the residential floor area of any condominium may belong to foreigners; the rest must be held by Thai citizens or Thai companies. It is counted by area, not by number of units.
- If the quota is full, the same unit can be taken on a lease or through a Thai company. The second route calls for caution: a company set up purely to hold a home is a risk, and we do not recommend it without a lawyer looking at your specific case.
- The quota is checked before any deposit. It is the first thing we establish about any property.
The money must come from abroad
- Registering freehold ownership requires a document from a Thai bank showing the funds arrived from abroad in foreign currency and were converted to baht inside Thailand (the FET form).
- So you cannot simply bring cash or pay from a Thai resident’s account: without that paper the Land Department will refuse.
- The transfer reference must state that it is for the purchase of a specific property. We help word it so nothing has to be redone.
Villas and land
- Land is not registered to foreigners. The standard solution is a 30-year lease with renewals set out in the contract.
- One thing to be honest about: those renewals are guaranteed by the contract, not by law. How reliably they will work in 30 years depends on the developer and on the wording — worth having a lawyer check before the deal, not after.
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