According to the local law in Thailand, only Thai nationals or Thai registered companies can access to full ownership on the land. Yet, it is still possible for a foreigner to buy and own a property in Thailand. The freehold ownership, which is the legal scheme under which a foreigner can own a property in the Kingdom of Siam, concerns only apartments and condominium. The Freehold scheme enables foreigners to become owners within a residence. Under this ownership system, 51% of the units for sale in a project are reserved for Thai citizen (either individual owners or Thai registered companies). But these 51% of the units can be owned also by Thai registered companies which are held partly by foreign investors. These companies owning some of the 51% units which are staying exclusively under Thai ownership can then sell these units under a leasehold scheme even to non Thai citizens. The leasehold is a kind of very long term rental contract. The leasehold in Thailand is usually a 30 years long rental contract, which can be renewed twiced, with one renewal published at the Land Department.

For a non Thai citizen, buying a house or a villa will be possible under the combination of two systems. The foreign buyer will be directly the owner of the building itself, and will be the tenant of the land lot thanks to a long term leasehold.

The long term rental contract are agreed for thirty years, and published at the Land Department in an official book registering the properties (cadastre) and the mortgages on these properties. The rental contract renewal can be directly agreed during the deal. The price of the transaction is then the total rent for the 30 or 60 years duration. The transaction is then published at the Land Department. This official formality is a solid garanty to keep the land for a full life time or more. The property can then be sold, the official deed including the building resale possibility and the transmission of the lease contract for the remaining time.

During the purchase of a property, it is important to choose reliable intermediates. The official deed have to be written in Thai langage, and, even certified, the translation will have no legal value. Furthermore, the legal operations necessary to acess to ownership can be complex to implement for a non professionnal. A real estate agent, specialist of the destination and talking your home langage, as well as a lawyer or athorney company to provide you with good advice, will be a wise precaution.

 

Preparing your project before living your home country will be a great gain of time, and you will avoid many troubles when you are there. It will be a pity to feel that you are doing an excellent bargain with a very friendly intermediate, but to find out later that you do not really own the property you are living in, or maybe just for a 10 years time. It will be to late, and your exotic dream will turn out into a non profitable operation.

You are buying under full ownership or freehold scheme

An apartment or a condominium (a serviced residence) among the 49% of the units that can be purchased by a foreigner without ownership restriction, the purchasing scheme will be similar to what exists in your home country when you are buying, as a local citizen, a property with full ownership in a residence or a condominium. The condominium regime in France for instance, called “achat en copropriété” is more or less the same than the condominium regime in Thailand for these 49% units. You will usually have to pay the purchasing price, the ownership transfer fees, the sinking fund, and the management and maintenance fees. The amount to pay will generaly depend on the property size. You can then use your property as you want, either live in it, either rent it out. You can also sell it freely.

For a house or a villa, you will become the owner of the building and the tenant of the land lot for a duration of 60 years or more. You will pay the purchasing price of the house and the totality of the land rent, before receiving your property. You will also have to pay the sinking fund if there is one and the maintenance fees for the common ammenities.

You will then be able to live in your property or to rent it. You can also sell it. At the resale, the new buyer will become the new owner of the building and will succeed to you in the rental contract.

The projects of invidual houses or villas targeting particularly foreigners are usually developed by developers working in connection with Thai companies specialized into tourism property business, and banking activity. The company holding the land will usually be a Thai registered company hold mainly by Thai capital, in order to meet the legal requirement for land ownership. But the legal structure will give to the company managing the property the entire control on the company owning the land. This mechanism requires solid knowledge and means. We definitly not recommand people who would like to buy a property in Thailand to buy with a nominee. This practice is illegal and you can lose your property.