Property & housing
What foreigners can own, condo quota, leases, deposits — without the folklore.
Land: why foreigners cannot own it, the narrow exceptions, and the nominee trap
The baseline rule is Land Code B.E. 2497 (1954) section 86: a foreigner may acquire land only under a treaty giving that right and with the Minister of Interior's permission. No such treaty is in force today, so the section is a dead letter in practice. The real statutory exceptions are narrow. Section 96 bis (added 1999) lets a foreigner who invests at least 40 million baht in prescribed assets, maintained for at least three years, seek ministerial permission for up to 1 rai (1,600 sq m) of residential land in Bangkok, Pattaya, a municipality or a zoned residential area — and the land must actually be used as a residence within two years or the Director-General can order it sold. Section 93 allows a foreigner to inherit land as a statutory heir with permission, capped by the section 87 quotas (for example 1 rai per family for residence). Companies that are majority foreign-owned are treated as foreigners under section 97. The folklore fix: putting land in a Thai company stuffed with Thai shareholders who hold shares for you, or in a Thai friend's or partner's name, is not a grey area. Acquiring land as an agent or nominee of a foreigner is a crime under section 113 (fine up to 20,000 baht, imprisonment up to two years, or both), the foreigner faces penalties under sections 111–112, and section 94 forces disposal of the land within 180 days to one year, failing which the Director-General sells it. The Department of Lands publishes explicit anti-nominee screening measures and land officers question suspicious structures at registration.
Condos: the 49% quota, the foreign-currency money trail, and transfer at the Land Office
Condominiums are the one form of freehold most foreigners can hold. Section 19 of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979) lists who qualifies; nearly all ordinary buyers use section 19(5): a foreigner who brings foreign currency into Thailand, or withdraws it from a non-resident baht account or a foreign currency deposit account. Section 19 bis caps aggregate foreign ownership at 49 percent of the total floor area of all units in that condominium — floor area, not unit count, a point forums routinely get wrong. Reputable projects issue a foreign-quota confirmation letter from the juristic person before transfer. The money trail is statutory, not bank folklore. Under section 19 ter (5), when registering the transfer you must show the land officer evidence that foreign currency was brought in (or withdrawn from the qualifying accounts) in an amount not less than the price of the unit. In practice the receiving Thai bank documents this with a foreign exchange transaction form or credit advice; send the funds in foreign currency for conversion in Thailand, in the buyer's name, with the purpose noted. Sending baht from abroad is the classic way to fail registration. The Bank of Thailand places no limit on bringing funds in, and repatriation of investment proceeds is freely allowed. Transfer is registered at the Land Office with the fees of an ordinary conveyance (2 percent transfer fee on assessed value, plus tax items). Inheritance is possible, but a non-qualifying heir must notify within 60 days and dispose of the unit within a year.
Leases: the 30-year cap, why leases over 3 years must be registered, and the renewal-clause reality
Two Civil and Commercial Code sections carry all the weight. Section 538: a lease of immovable property needs written evidence signed by the party to be bound, and a lease over three years (or for the life of the lessor or lessee) must be made in writing and registered with the land official — otherwise it is enforceable for only three years, however long the paper says. Section 540: immovable property cannot be leased for more than thirty years; a longer term is cut down to thirty. Renewal is allowed, but for no more than thirty years from the date of renewal. Registration happens at the Land Office and is endorsed on the title deed; the fee is 1 percent of the total rent for the whole term, plus stamp duty under the Revenue Code. The folklore fix: the '30+30+30' structure sold to foreigners as a de facto 90-year title is not what the law gives. A renewal clause is only a contractual promise by the current owner — it is not a registered property right, does not bind heirs or buyers automatically, and cannot be registered in advance. What does survive a sale is the current registered term: under section 569 a registered lease is not extinguished by transfer of ownership, and the buyer steps into the lessor's rights and duties. Subletting or assigning needs the landlord's consent unless the contract allows it (s. 544), and a tenant holding over without objection becomes an indefinite-term tenant (s. 570).
Usufruct, superficies and habitation: the registered real rights foreigners overlook
Beyond leases, the Civil and Commercial Code offers three registrable real rights that a landowner can grant, all endorsed on the title deed at the Land Office. A usufruct (sitthi kep kin, ss. 1417–1428) gives the holder possession, use and enjoyment of the property, including the power to manage it; it can run for a fixed term (capped at thirty years) or for the holder's life, and if no period is stated it is presumed to be for life. It always ends on the holder's death and cannot be inherited, but under section 1422 the holder may let a third party exercise it — Thai courts and land practice accept a usufructuary leasing the property out. The holder bears ordinary maintenance, management costs and taxes (s. 1426). A superficies (sitthi nuea phuen din, ss. 1410–1416) separates building ownership from land ownership: the holder owns the house or structures on someone else's land. Unlike usufruct it is transferable and inheritable unless the deed says otherwise, for a term up to thirty years or for the life of either party; two consecutive years of unpaid rent lets the owner terminate. Habitation (ss. 1402–1409) is the weakest: a rent-free right to dwell, up to thirty years or life, not transferable even by inheritance. These rights are commonly registered for a foreign spouse or long-term resident over a Thai-owned house. The Department of Lands will register them for foreigners, but warns that officers must refuse structures that are really devices to hold land on a foreigner's behalf.
Renting: the 2025 contract-control rules, deposits, and getting them back
Residential renting from a business landlord is now governed by the Contract Committee Notification on residential building rental B.E. 2568 (2025), issued under sections 35 bis and 35 octies of the Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979), published in the Government Gazette on 6 June 2025 and in force from 4 September 2025. It repealed the 2019 version and widened the net: anyone renting out three or more residential units (houses, rooms, condos, apartments — hotels and licensed dormitories excluded), including via online platforms, is a controlled business. It now covers both short leases (up to three years) and long registered leases (over three, up to thirty years), with prescribed standard contract forms. The headline protections: security deposit plus advance rent capped at three months' rent combined (one year of rent for leases priced yearly); electricity and water may not be billed above what the utility charges the landlord, with the calculation method stated in the contract; rent and service rates cannot be raised mid-term; no lock-outs or seizure of a tenant's belongings; the landlord must invoice at least three days before rent is due and must document the property's condition at check-in. At the end, the deposit is returned immediately, or within seven days if the landlord inspects and finds no damage, and any balance within fourteen days after deducting genuine damage — never normal wear and tear, for which the tenant is not liable. A tenant who has stayed at least half the term may terminate early with thirty days' written notice; a landlord terminating for breach must give a thirty-day written warning first. Small landlords under three units fall outside these rules — there the ordinary Civil and Commercial Code lease provisions and your contract govern.
Buying process and due diligence: chanote versus lesser titles, encumbrance checks, transfer costs
Not all Thai 'title deeds' are equal. Only the chanote (Nor Sor 4) is a full ownership title with a surveyed boundary. A Nor Sor 3 or Nor Sor 3 Gor is a certificate of utilisation — a confirmed possessory right that can usually be upgraded to chanote but with weaker survey accuracy and extra procedural steps on transfer. Below that sit documents that cannot be freely bought at all: reservation papers (bai chong) and agrarian-reform allocations (Sor Por Kor), plus land that can never be titled, such as public domain, waterways and protected forest — the Department of Lands publishes which land is even eligible for a title. A seller waving anything other than a chanote or Nor Sor 3 Gor deserves professional scrutiny. Due diligence is done against the original deed at the local Land Office, not the seller's photocopy: check the owner's name matches, and read the registration ledger on the back page, where every registered mortgage, lease, usufruct, superficies and servitude is endorsed. Common scams follow from skipping this: buying encumbered or mortgaged land, buying Sor Por Kor or forest-overlap plots, paying deposits against forged deeds, and nominee company structures that are themselves illegal. All transfers happen in person (or by registered power of attorney) at the Land Office holding the parcel's records, with fees computed on the official assessed value under the Land Code: a 2 percent transfer fee, plus either specific business tax of 3.3 percent or stamp duty of 0.5 percent, and withholding income tax (1 percent for corporate sellers; a progressive computation for individuals). Whoever pays what is negotiable — write it into the contract.
General information, not legal advice. Laws and practice change; for a decision that matters, confirm with the authority named in the sources or a licensed professional.