Thailand

There is one rule for the whole country; districts and resorts do not change it:

• A condominium apartment — in full ownership, in your own name, within the quota of 49% of the building's area. The availability of the quota in a particular building is confirmed in writing before the deal.
• Land — is not sold to a foreigner.
• A house or villa — through a land lease for a term of up to 30 years, registered at the Land Department.
• Commercial property — premises in a condominium on the same terms as residential; a separate building on land — lease only.
• The money for the purchase must come from abroad in foreign currency. The bank issues a certificate of the transfer; it is presented at registration and is needed later to take the sale proceeds out of the country.

Hence the difference between places:

Buying:

The buyer of a ready apartment usually pays about 1% plus a lawyer. The relief that is widely written about — a fee of 0.01% instead of 2% and 1% until mid-2027 — applies only to citizens of Thailand for a price of up to 7 million baht (about $210k); it does not apply to a foreigner.

Holding:

• Land and building tax is annual, on the appraised value. For housing that is not the owner's main home, the rate is 0.02% to 0.30%. We have not confirmed the exact bands against the official table.

Selling:

• There is no separate capital gains tax. On sale, the Land Department withholds income tax on the general scale (up to 35%), calculated on the appraised value with a deduction that depends on the number of years of ownership.
• Plus business tax of 3.3% or stamp duty of 0.5% (see the table).
• There is no tax exemption after any holding period: after five years only the second payment changes.

• 30 days or more — permitted for the apartment owner and the land lessee; no separate licence is needed. A usual contract is 6–12 months, with a deposit of two months.
• Under 30 days — prohibited without a hotel licence: a fine of up to 20 thousand baht and up to 10 thousand for each day it continues. Condominium rules, as a rule, prohibit it separately. On Samui a licence or notification is possible for villas.
• Income guarantees from the developer (5–10% a year for 3–10 years) offered in Phuket are noted in our base as often not honoured.

Rental tax:

Either 30% without documents or the actual expenses are deducted from the income. On rent paid to a non-resident, 15% is usually withheld — an advance against the tax on the scale.

This is the tax in Thailand. The tax in the investor's country of residence is calculated separately.

• There is no citizenship by investment.
• Buying an apartment or a lease from 3 million baht (about $89k) gives the right to a one-year visa with renewal. It is not permanent residence, and work is not allowed on it. The terms of such visas in Thailand change often, so they should be checked again before a deal.

Q1 2015 — Q2 2026, housing for the country as a whole:

What this means:

• The rows in baht and in dollars without adjustment almost coincide: the exchange rate has not changed over eleven years.
• Housing has not risen above dollar inflation. The peak was at the end of 2019 (116), the low in spring 2024 (87), now 97.
• For a resident of Thailand, housing rose by 1.7% a year above local inflation, which was itself low: 14% over eleven years.
• In the same units: Dubai over 2020–2025 — +5.4% a year in real dollars, Turkey over eleven years — +0.9%, Thailand — −0.3%.

A caveat: the index is for the country as a whole. Foreigners buy in four places, and prices in Phuket may have behaved differently; we do not yet have our own series by place.

The directory holds 89 areas: Bangkok 41, Phuket 22, Pattaya 16, Samui 10. All are based on the pages of developers, agencies and guidebooks; there is no official list of areas in Thailand, because the ownership rule does not depend on the area.

Prices we read on dated pages (asking prices, not deal prices):

For Bangkok, recent prices by area are not yet available: listing portals are closed to reading, and the open figures date from 2018, so we do not quote them. For Samui, prices are not yet available at all.

• Permitted; the first instalment is usually 10–30%.
• Whether a separate account for buyers' payments is mandatory by law, we have not confirmed. A penalty for late handover (recorded in the base as 0.01–0.05% per day) is worth writing into the contract.
• Before buying, check whether the building has any foreign quota left.

The directory holds 12 developers, among them Sansiri, AP (Thai), Supalai, Land and Houses, SC Asset, Pruksa, Noble; in Phuket — Laguna Phuket (Banyan Group).

Listings: DDproperty, Thailand-Property, FazWaz, Hipflat, Dot Property. Auctions: the state Legal Execution Department.

What a foreigner can own. A foreigner does not buy land. An office or shop in a condominium is possible, in your own name, as long as the foreign share in the building is no higher than 49% of the area. This is a rule from the condominium law and is recorded on the government portal. A letter confirming a free quota is obtained from the building's juristic person. A separate building on land — lease only.

Whether a company or licence is needed. For premises in a condominium — no. For a business inside it, it is different: according to law-firm pages, a cafe or bar is opened through a Thai company in which Thais hold 51%. For Pattaya the base records a licence for 3 million baht (about $89k); the page does not explain what exactly it gives. For Samui a licence under the foreign business law is named.

How it differs from residential:

• Business tax of 3.3% is paid by the seller company. The buyer does not pay VAT: the rate is 0%. Both records are based on law-firm pages; official pages do not confirm them.
• The registration fee is 2% of the appraised value, split equally unless agreed otherwise. Rental tax is withheld at source, as for residential. The base does not yet give the rate itself for commercial rent.
• Land and building tax is annual, on the appraised value, from 0.15% to 1.20%. This is from a law-firm page; we have not checked the exact rate for commercial premises against the official table.
• A lease of property cannot exceed 30 years. A renewal written into the contract in advance was held void by the Supreme Court: it is made by a new contract. For commercial leases there is a separate law with a term of up to 50 years; we have not opened its page.

Hotel rooms and serviced apartments. A condominium cannot be used for a hotel business: this is stated in a Land Department circular of 6 November 2023, as summarised by a law firm. A hotel is possible only after the building's registration as a condominium is cancelled.

Residence permit. The link between a commercial purchase and residence is not yet recorded in the base.

Rents and vacant space, Bangkok, consultants' data:

A different sample from CBRE gives 1,020 baht for the centre for Q2; on the Cushman & Wakefield page for Q3, vacancy of grade A as a whole is 23.5%. We will not choose between the figures. The agencies' figures describe the upper end of the market: grade A buildings and main shopping streets, not what a private investor usually buys.

Where it is concentrated. The catalogue of commercial areas in the base is not yet filled in. All that is known is that the data relate to the central business district and the central retail district of Bangkok.

What is not yet available: yield on commercial properties, prices of small premises, vacancy and rates outside Bangkok, a mortgage for commercial property, VAT and the rate of tax on commercial rent, the link between a purchase and residence.