A condominium is the one way a foreigner can hold Thai property outright in their own name. There is a 49% ceiling per building, and a piece of financial paperwork that must be in place before transfer.
A foreigner cannot own land in Thailand, but can own a condominium unit outright in their own name. That distinction matters more than any other for a foreign buyer.
The Condominium Act limits foreign ownership to 49% of the total unit floor area in a building.
It is measured by area, not by number of units, and it applies per building rather than per development.
Once the quota is full, a unit cannot be sold to a foreigner in their own name until another foreign owner sells out.
The juristic person of the building can issue a foreign quota certificate. Ask for it before the reservation money moves, not afterwards.
A good unit at a fair price that cannot be transferred because the quota is full is a more common situation than buyers expect, and it usually comes to light close to the transfer date.
This is where foreign buyers most often come unstuck.
The purchase money must be remitted into Thailand in foreign currency and converted to baht here. The receiving bank issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction form, which the Land Office requires on transfer day.
The requirements people miss:
Remitting the money the wrong way is awkward to unwind, and sometimes means sending it back out and starting again.
A foreigner cannot hold land. The structures in common use are:
Arrangements where a Thai company holds land with a foreigner as the real shareholder are scrutinised by the Department of Business Development and carry legal risk that warrants a lawyer's advice first.
A condominium is the direct route. Check the quota before money moves, and get the remittance right the first time. Those two are what most often derail a purchase.
Waterfront land carries building restrictions ordinary land does not: setbacks from the water, Marine Department permits, and zoning. What to establish before paying for a design.
Two riverside plots of identical area can be worth very different amounts, because of how much of each touches the water. Why that is, and how to compare them properly.
A single plot carries at least two prices. The Land Department's assessed value sets the taxes; the market price is what it changes hands for. Knowing which is which keeps the sums right.
