Foreigners may own up to 49% of the total floor area of all units in a condominium building. Thai nationals hold the rest.
Two things people get wrong: it is measured by floor area, not unit count, and it is
per building — there is no national or personal limit.
Foreign quota and Thai quota
The same apartment can be sold either way:
- Foreign quota — you own it in your own name. This is what you want.
- Thai quota — transferable only to a Thai national or qualifying Thai company. Often
cheaper, and that discount is exactly what it looks like: a smaller pool of future buyers.
Confirm which quota a unit is in before paying anything. We state it on every
condominium we list.
The money must come from abroad
To register foreign ownership, the Land Office needs evidence the funds arrived in
foreign currency and were converted in Thailand. Your bank issues a Foreign Exchange
Transaction form — still often called the Bor Tor 3.
Without it, the transfer cannot be registered, however much money sits in your Thai account.
- Send foreign currency; convert it in Thailand, not before
- State the purpose, e.g. “purchase of condominium”
- Ideally in the buyer’s own name
- Keep every document — you need it again when you sell
If the quota is full
Buy a Thai quota unit through a lawful Thai structure, take a registered lease of the unit,
or look at another building. Leasing a condominium is legal but is not ownership — see
leasehold.