THAILAND · PROPERTY · DUE DILIGENCE
Buying Property in Thailand: What to Check Before You Pay Anything
Thailand
Most property problems foreigners hit in Thailand are not bad luck. They are checks that were skipped, usually because a deposit was paid before anyone looked at the title. The checking is unglamorous, it is finite, and it is almost always cheaper than the problem it prevents.
The short answer
Two rules shape everything. A foreigner can generally own a condominium unit in their own name, subject to a limit on how much of each building may be foreign-owned. A foreigner generally cannot own land in Thailand in their own name, which is why houses and villas get structured through registered leases, through a Thai spouse, or through a company — and why some of those structures are lawful and some are not. Before any deposit, four questions are worth answering: what class of title is this, who is registered as the owner today, what is registered against it, and is the structure being proposed to me actually legal. Thai counsel answers those from the Land Office record, not from the brochure.
Is this you?
People come to us at very different points in a purchase, and the point you are at changes what is still fixable. See which of these sounds like your situation.
- You have found a condominium or a house you like, an agent is pressing for a deposit this week, and you have not yet seen the title document.
- You are being told the land can be held through a Thai company, or in a friend or partner's name, and it is being described to you as completely normal.
- You are buying off-plan from a developer, and all you have is a brochure, a payment schedule and a contract in Thai.
- You want a condominium in your own name, and nobody has yet confirmed in writing that the building has foreign ownership capacity left.
- You have already paid a deposit, something about the paperwork does not add up, and you want to know where you stand before you pay any more.
If any of those sound familiar, the useful next step is a title check, not a bigger deposit.
What a proper purchase check actually involves
We establish what you are actually buying
A condominium unit, a house on land, a registered lease, or shares in a company that owns something are four different transactions with four different risk profiles. People frequently do not know which one they have been offered. That gets settled first, because everything downstream depends on it.
Thai counsel searches the title at the Land Office
The title document itself, the class of title, who is registered as owner today, and anything registered against it — mortgages, servitudes, rights of way, court orders, other people's interests. This comes from the official land record, not from the seller's photocopy. It is the single check that prevents the most expensive mistakes.
We check the things the title does not show
Legal access to the property, boundaries against the survey, zoning and building permissions, and whether what was built was actually permitted. For a condominium: the juristic person's finances, outstanding common-area charges, and whether the building still has foreign ownership capacity for you. A clean title on something nobody can lawfully sell you is still a dead end.
The structure is assessed for legality, not just for convenience
If land is involved, someone will propose a structure. Some are lawful; some are not, and the unlawful ones are usually presented casually by people who do this every week. You get a written answer from Thai counsel on whether what is proposed is legal, and what happens to your position if it is ever challenged — before you commit, not after.
The contract and the money route are set up before the deposit moves
What the deposit actually buys, what happens if the title check fails, who pays which transfer taxes and fees, and what the seller must deliver at the Land Office. For a condominium purchase in a foreigner's name, funds generally have to be remitted into Thailand from abroad in foreign currency and converted to baht, with the receiving bank issuing the certificate the Land Office will ask for. That is arranged at the start, because it is very hard to reconstruct later.
Transfer at the Land Office, and the file you keep afterwards
The transfer happens at the Land Office with both sides present or properly represented. You end up with the registered title, the tax receipts, the translations and the bank certificate in one file. If you ever sell, or if anything is ever disputed, that file is the answer.
This is the Thai process specifically. Title systems, foreign-ownership rules and conveyancing practice differ sharply between Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia — do not carry assumptions across a border, and be careful with confident advice from someone whose experience is in a different country.
What it typically costs
Two different pockets of money, and we will never blur them. Official and third-party charges are set by other people and paid to them; we do not mark them up. Our fee is ours, quoted in writing before we start, and it does not move because your purchase turned out to be complicated.
| Connect Consult | Official / third-party charge | |
|---|---|---|
| Land Office title search and official land recordsThis is the check most disputes trace back to. It belongs before any deposit, not after one. | Included in our coordination — we brief counsel to run it and read the result back to you in plain English | Government charge, set by the Land Office |
| Transfer fees and taxes at the Land OfficeWho pays which portion is negotiable and is often split. Get the split written into the contract, not agreed verbally. | — | Set by law and calculated on official values. Typically a transfer fee, plus stamp duty or specific business tax, plus withholding tax |
| Thai property lawyer — title due diligence and contract reviewYou always see the local firm's fee as its own line before you instruct them — never folded into ours. | — | Not a government charge. Quoted per matter, in writing, before you instruct |
| Certified Thai and English translation of contracts and title documents | — | Not a government charge. Per document, quoted before work starts |
| Condominium juristic person documents — debt-free letter and foreign-ownership confirmation | We make sure these are in hand before money moves, rather than after | Charged by the building's juristic person, not by the government |
| Bank remittance and the foreign exchange certificate for a condominium purchaseGetting the remittance route right at the start is straightforward. Reconstructing it afterwards is not. | — | Bank charges, set by the bank |
| Lease or mortgage registration at the Land Office, where applicable | — | Government registration charge, set by the Land Office |
| Connect Consult coordination fee | USD 490 – 1,100* — published, fixed, the same for everyone | — |
* Indicative price range only. This service is a tailored solution, assembled after consulting a specialist and budgeted against your case's specific requirements, third-party costs, your goals and your personal circumstances. Figures are guidance, checked against official sources and dated on this page. Official amounts are set by the authority and can change without notice — before you commit to anything, we confirm the exact figures for your case in writing. We do not mark up official charges or counsel fees.
Doing it yourself vs doing it with us
Plenty of foreigners buy in Thailand without anyone like us and it works out fine. Here is an honest view of where that is true and where it is not.
| On your own | With Connect Consult | |
|---|---|---|
| Resale condominium, in your own name, cash, no rush, cooperative seller | Genuinely achievable. Land Office transfers happen every day, and the juristic person will provide the documents if you ask for them | Little to add beyond an English read of the paperwork — and we will say so rather than invent work |
| Anything where the asset is land rather than a condominium unit | Not a do-it-yourself matter. Foreign-ownership restrictions shape the entire transaction, and the workarounds range from lawful to criminal | A written view from Thai counsel on whether the structure is lawful — including when the answer is that it is not |
| Buying off-plan or under construction | You are relying on a Thai-language contract against a counterparty who knows far more about their own project than you do | Contract reviewed and the developer's permissions and track record checked before the deposit, while you still have leverage |
| Someone has proposed Thai shareholders, a friend's name, or a company to hold the land | This is where foreigners lose assets, and the proposal almost always arrives sounding routine | A written legal answer on what is being proposed, plus the lawful alternatives, before you commit anything |
| The title is not a full title deed, or access and boundaries are unclear | Very hard to assess from outside the Thai land system, and easy to be verbally reassured about | Title class, survey and legal access checked against the official record before any deposit |
| You have already paid a deposit and something feels wrong | Hard to unwind alone, and the contract usually says more than people remember agreeing to | We establish what the contract and the title actually say, and what your realistic options are |
The honest version
The honest version: a straightforward resale condominium, bought in your own name, in a well-run building, from an unhurried seller, with time to read everything, is genuinely a do-it-yourself transaction. Plenty of people manage it and keep their money, and we would rather tell you that than invent work. The moment land is involved, or someone proposes a structure to work around who is allowed to own what, it stops being a paperwork exercise and becomes a legal one. That is the line worth paying at.
Common questions
Can a foreigner own property in Thailand?
In your own name: a condominium unit, yes — subject to a limit on how much of each building may be foreign-owned. Land, generally no. That is why houses and villas get structured through registered leases, through a Thai spouse, or through a company, and it is why the structure being proposed to you deserves at least as much scrutiny as the property itself.
How do I know whether the condominium has room for a foreign buyer?
Thai law caps the proportion of each condominium building that may be foreign-held, so the practical question is never the percentage in the abstract — it is whether this building still has capacity today. That is confirmed in writing by the building's juristic person, and it should be in your hand before you pay a deposit. We deliberately do not publish the percentage here: what protects you is the letter for your building, not a number from a web page.
Do I have to bring the purchase money in from overseas?
For a condominium purchase in a foreigner's name, funds generally have to be remitted into Thailand from abroad in foreign currency and converted into Thai baht, with the receiving bank issuing the certificate the Land Office requires. Arrange this before you transfer anything. It is simple at the start and genuinely difficult to fix afterwards.
What is a Chanote, and does the class of title really matter?
Yes. Thailand has several classes of land document. A Chanote is the strongest — fully surveyed, with the boundaries fixed. Lesser documents confer weaker or less precisely defined rights, and what can lawfully be done with the land, including selling or mortgaging it, can depend on which one you have. Establishing the class of title is one of the first things counsel does, and it is not something to take on trust from a photocopy.
Can I buy land through a Thai company?
A genuine Thai company carrying on a real business can own land. A company set up so that Thai shareholders hold shares on a foreigner's behalf, in order to get around the restriction on foreign land ownership, is unlawful — for the foreigner and for the Thai nationals who agreed to help. That distinction is not cosmetic and it is not a grey area, even though it is very often presented as one. Get the answer in writing from Thai counsel before you form anything.
Can I buy land in my Thai spouse's name?
Your spouse can own land. The thing to be clear-eyed about is that it is their land, and the Land Office will typically want a declaration about the source of the funds used to buy it. That does not make it a bad idea — many families do exactly this — but you should understand your position before you fund it, including what happens if the relationship ends, and take advice on what can and cannot lawfully be done to protect your interest.
What actually has to be checked before I pay a deposit?
The class of title and who is registered as owner today. Anything registered against it. Legal access to the property. Boundaries against the survey. Zoning and building permissions. Whether the person signing has authority to sell. And for a condominium, the juristic person's finances, outstanding charges and foreign-ownership capacity. Most of that comes from the Land Office record and takes days rather than weeks.
The agent says the deposit is refundable if there is a problem. Is that enough?
It depends entirely on what the deposit document says, and deposit terms are frequently less generous than the conversation was. Have the terms read before you sign — that is short, inexpensive work — and make sure the contract states explicitly what happens if the title check fails.
Can you guarantee the purchase will be safe?
No, and be careful with anyone who says otherwise. What we can do is make sure the checks that catch the known problems are actually done, in the right order, before your money is committed, and that you are told plainly when a structure is not lawful. That is the part that is within anyone's control, and it is where most of the damage gets prevented.
Are you a Thai law firm?
No. Connect Consult is a legal-services concierge. Thai property law advice, title searches and contract work are done by counsel licensed to practise in Thailand, whom we brief and manage. We hold your relationship, translate the process, and stay accountable to you until it is done — which, when you are the foreigner in the room, is also the more useful arrangement, because we are on your side of the table rather than the firm's.
Before the deposit · no obligation
Send us the listing and the title document.
A photograph of the title document, the address, and one line on what you have been offered. That is usually enough for us to tell you what you are actually buying, what needs checking, and whether the structure being proposed to you is one to walk away from.
Connect Consult is a legal-services concierge for foreigners in South East Asia. We are not a Thai law firm and we do not hold a Thai legal practising licence. Title searches, structuring advice and contract work are carried out by counsel licensed to practise in Thailand — instructed, briefed and managed by us, with their fee quoted to you before you instruct them. Advice on Thai property law comes from those Thai-qualified professionals. No one can guarantee a transaction, or how a Thai authority or court would treat a structure, and we never suggest otherwise. This page deliberately does not publish the condominium foreign-ownership percentage, lease terms, tax rates, remittance thresholds or fee schedules: those change, and they are applied to your specific transaction — we confirm the real figures for your case in writing. Last reviewed August 2026.
Official sources
- Department of Lands, Thailand — the authority that administers condominium ownership records ↗We looked hard for an official Thai government text of the Condominium Act and its foreign-ownership quota, and could not reach one. That is worth saying plainly, because of what it means for everything you will read elsewhere: every English-language version of the Act in circulation is a private translation prepared by a law firm or a property platform, not a government publication. Under Thai law only the Thai text published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette carries legal force — English versions, however widely quoted, are working references. So we have not published a percentage here. The Department of Lands is the authority that actually holds the ownership records for a given building, and the quota is checked against that specific building, not against a figure on a website. Verified August 2026.
Where to go next
Other situations in Thailand
The same situation elsewhere in South East Asia