Buying Property in Thailand as a Foreigner 2026: The 49% Condo Quota, the 30-Year Lease Ceiling, the Nominee Trap and What Your Heirs Can Keep

Key takeaways

• Foreigners cannot own land in Thailand. Villas, townhouses and houses come with land, so a foreigner cannot hold them directly in their own name. The US-Thai Treaty of Amity does not change this; it covers business operations and excludes land.
• A condominium unit is the only clean freehold route, but foreign ownership in any one building is capped at 49% of the saleable area. Once that quota is full, no further unit can be registered to a foreigner at any price.
• "90-year" and "99-year" leasehold is a sales pitch, not law. The Supreme Court's judgment No. 4655/2566 of 18 March 2025 held a pre-signed "30+30+30" renewal structure void. What you hold is the first 30 years.
• A Thai lease ends on the death of the lessee unless the contract expressly provides for succession or assignment. Using a lease as an estate-planning tool is a common mistake.
• A Thai nominee company holding land for you is a crime, not a tax technique. Sections 36 and 37 of the Foreign Business Act carry up to three years' imprisonment, and in 2026 the Department of Business Development checks the Thai shareholders' money and cross-checks with the Department of Lands.
• Foreign heirs of a condominium have one year to sell unless they qualify in their own right and the building's quota has room: notify the Land Office within 60 days, dispose within one year, or the Land Office can sell for you.
• Spend 180 days in Thailand in a calendar year and you are a Thai tax resident. Many buyers cross that line without noticing while looking after the property.

I own a condominium in Bangkok.

It is a slightly awkward sentence for a lawyer to write, because I only signed after I had read the Condominium Act, the foreign quota rules and the foreign exchange paperwork from end to end. The property cases I handle for foreign clients mostly arrive after the contract has been signed.

They repeat the same patterns: a unit bought in a building whose foreign quota was already full; a lease marketed as "99-year ownership"; a villa held through a Thai company the buyer was told was standard; a surviving spouse discovering that the land cannot be inherited. The common factor is not carelessness. It is that the buyer's information came from people who carry no legal responsibility for it.

Thai property law is not complicated. It simply runs against the instincts most foreign buyers bring with them: that money buys anything, that what you buy is yours, and that what is yours passes to your children. In Thailand, two and a half of those three statements are wrong. This guide sets out where foreign buyers most often go wrong, so that you at least know which questions to put to the seller.

1. Decide the purpose first: investment, a home, or something to pass on

This is the first question I ask every client, because the three purposes call for different legal structures, and the wrong choice is hard to reverse.

• Pure investment (rent, resale): a controllable holding period and a clean exit matter most. Condominium freehold is almost the only sensible option.
• A home, or retirement: residence status and tax residency come into play, because the longer you stay the more likely you are to trigger Thai tax on money you bring in. The visa side is covered in our guide to retiring in Thailand .
• Passing it to the next generation: this needs the most design in advance. Thailand restricts foreign inheritance of real estate, and many structures that work on the day of purchase collapse on the day of succession.

If your answer is "investment, but I might live there, and I will leave it to the children", pay particular attention to sections 4 and 7. That mixed purpose is where the lease and inheritance traps bite hardest.

2. Land: the red line is a red line

The Land Code prohibits foreigners from acquiring ownership of land. It is not a quota and not a permit; it is a prohibition by status.

Readers from the United States often assume the Treaty of Amity gets them past it. It does not. The treaty lets US nationals and US-majority companies own and run most kinds of business in Thailand on the same footing as Thais, but land is one of its express exceptions. On land, an American is in exactly the same position as any other foreigner.

So a foreigner cannot take title in their own name to:

Advertisements for "villas foreigners can buy" still appear. The product behind them is always one of three structures: a long lease, a Thai company holding the land, or registration in the name of a Thai spouse. Each has its own legal problem, and each is dealt with below.

One point that is easy to miss: Thai law treats a building and the land under it as separable. A foreigner cannot own the land but can own the building on it. In practice that can be done by registering a right of superficies, a real right to own a building on another person's land that can be inherited and is more secure than a lease. But superficies needs the landowner's cooperation, and most developers will not grant it in a standard residential sale, so it is hard to obtain.

A usufruct, by contrast, gives the right to use and take the income from the property but ends with the death of the holder. It answers "can I live here for the rest of my life" and not "can my children stay afterwards". That distinction has to be made clear whenever a usufruct is proposed.

3. Condominiums: the only clean route, but check the quota first

Under the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), a foreigner may own a condominium unit in freehold in their own name, and may sell, mortgage and leave it by will. For most foreign buyers it should be the first choice: the clearest legal title and the most liquid asset.

There is one hard limit. Units owned by foreigners in a building may not exceed 49% of the total saleable floor area; the remaining 51% must be Thai-owned.

How the quota works

Developers manage the ratio as they sell, often by floor: some floors for foreign buyers, others for Thais only. In popular projects the share actually left for foreigners can be well below 49%.

Once the building's foreign quota is used up, the remaining units cannot be registered to a foreigner, however much you are willing to pay. At that point the developer usually offers the unit to foreign buyers as "leasehold" instead. The two are legally worlds apart, and the sales material tends to blur the difference.

In the popular projects of Phuket and Pattaya the foreign quota is frequently close to full.

What I make clients do

Before paying any deposit, obtain from the developer or the condominium juristic person a written statement of the current quota position: the percentage of the building currently held by foreigners, and whether the unit you want falls within the foreign quota.

Do not accept verbal assurances. The most typical line in the disputes I see is "the agent said it was fine", and the agent has long since left.

Off-plan purchases carry higher risk, because the quota position at handover may differ from the position at signing. If you buy off-plan, the contract should say in terms that if the unit cannot be registered to you in freehold at handover, you may cancel and recover the whole price.

4. Leasehold: 30 years is the ceiling, and "90 years" is a sales pitch

This is the most important section of the guide, and the area where foreign buyers have been most consistently misled.

Under section 540 of the Civil and Commercial Code, a lease of immovable property may not exceed 30 years. The rule is mandatory and cannot be contracted out of. A lease of more than three years must be registered at the Land Office or its enforceability beyond three years is in doubt.

The market's answer was a product: one 30-year lease, two pre-signed 30-year renewals, the whole 90 years' rent paid up front, marketed as "90-year ownership" or "as good as freehold". The structure is known as "30+30+30".

The Supreme Court has rejected it

On 18 March 2025 the Supreme Court (Dika Court) gave judgment No. 4655/2566. The case came from a lease dispute in Phuket: the lessee and the landowner signed a 30-year lease and two 30-year renewals at the same time, and the lessee paid the full 90 years' rent shortly afterwards.

The trial court found for the lessee, treating the renewal clauses as valid contractual promises. The Court of Appeal reversed. The Supreme Court upheld the appeal court and dismissed the lessee's claim, holding the renewal clauses void.

The court looked at substance: lease and renewals signed together, with the whole term paid at once, showed that the parties intended from the outset to evade the 30-year ceiling in section 540.

What that means for a foreign buyer

A pre-agreed renewal clause is a personal promise by the person who signed it. It is not a right in the land.

It does not bind the land and it does not bind a later owner. If the landowner sells in year 25, the new owner is in principle not bound by the renewal.

So for any product marketed as 60, 90 or 99 years, what you legally hold is the first 30 years. The years after that are a hope, not a right.

You pay for ninety years and are protected for thirty; the risk of the sixty years in between sits with you, not with the agent or the developer. The one place where Thai law does allow a longer term is commercial and industrial property under a separate 1999 statute, which has nothing to do with residential sales; the difference is explained in our guide to factory land in Thailand .

The less-discussed problem: the lessee's death

A Thai lease in principle terminates on the death of the lessee, unless the contract expressly provides for sublease, assignment or succession.

Section 569 of the Civil and Commercial Code protects the lessee when the landowner sells: the owner changes, the lease survives. It does not protect the lessee's heirs when the lessee dies.

So if you buy a Phuket villa on a 30-year lease intending to leave it to your children, and the contract does not deal properly with succession, the lease may end on the day you die, and the remaining years do not pass to your heirs automatically.

Among the cases I have handled, these are the saddest. The lessee believed to the end that "I paid for 30 years, so at least those 30 years belong to the family".

5. Nominees and Thai holding companies: criminal liability, not tax planning

Since foreigners cannot buy land, the most common "solution" on the market is to register a Thai company, put 51% of the shares in Thai names and 49% in yours, and have the company buy the land and villa. Some agents add pre-signed share transfer forms and proxies from the Thai shareholders, said to secure your control.

Please do not do this. If you already have, see a lawyer soon.

How the law classifies it

Thai law calls this a nominee arrangement. Under section 36 of the Foreign Business Act, a Thai who holds shares on behalf of a foreigner so that the foreigner can carry on a restricted business is criminally liable; section 37 covers the foreigner carrying on the restricted business without a licence. The penalty is up to three years' imprisonment and a fine of THB 100,000 to 1,000,000, with a daily fine of THB 10,000 to 50,000 while the breach continues, and the court may order the company dissolved and the assets forfeited. The land purchase itself also falls within the Land Code's prohibition on foreign acquisition.

Those pre-signed transfer forms do not protect you. They are direct evidence that the nominee relationship exists.

Enforcement in 2026

This has become urgent in 2026 because the Department of Business Development (DBD) has changed how it checks:

• DBD Order No. 2/2568, in force 1 January 2026: in a company with foreign shareholding below 50%, the Thai shareholders must file bank statements showing they had the means to subscribe for their shares and explaining the source of funds.
• DBD Order No. 1/2569, in force 1 April 2026: for changes of registration involving foreign shareholders, the Thai shareholders must attend in person, declare their monthly income and sign documents stating the criminal liability; powers of attorney are no longer accepted.
• The Department of Lands cross-checks company registration data to identify foreign-controlled structures holding land through a company.

In other words, the authorities now look at where the money came from and who takes the decisions, not whose name is on the share register. Keeping your holding at 39% or lower gives no protection at all. The full framework of foreign shareholding, the DBD's checks and the lawful routes to foreign control are in our guide to setting up a company in Thailand .

Buying in a Thai spouse's name

This is the other common arrangement, and it is lawful in itself: a Thai national can buy land, including a Thai married to a foreigner.

But the Land Office will require the Thai spouse to sign a declaration confirming that the purchase money is their separate property (sin suan tua), not marital property and not the foreign spouse's money. The effect of that declaration is that the foreign spouse's room to claim any interest in the land shrinks almost to nothing.

So the route is lawful, but the price is that you have practically no claim to the land. While the marriage lasts, nothing surfaces. On divorce or on the Thai spouse's death, it does.

6. Execution: the Foreign Exchange Transaction form is the precondition of title

This is the technical step foreign buyers most often underestimate.

Under the Condominium Act, a foreigner registering freehold title to a condominium must show that the purchase money was remitted into Thailand from abroad in foreign currency. The receiving bank issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction form (FET, formerly the Thor Tor 3) on that basis. Without the FET, the Land Office will not register the transfer.

In practice:

• The money must come from outside Thailand and, as a rule, from the buyer's own account.
• The purpose stated on the remittance must be correct, or you will have problems later when repatriating or disposing of the funds.
• Joint buyers must each remit separately. Two people buying a THB 9 million unit must each remit the equivalent of THB 4.5 million and obtain two FETs.
• Keep the FET safely. It is not only for the transfer; you may be asked for it on resale, on taking money out, and on inheritance.

Transfer taxes and fees

At the Land Office, the transfer triggers the following, calculated on the higher of the government appraised value and the actual price:

In practice the total comes to roughly 2.5% to 6% of the price, depending on the holding period. By law SBT, stamp duty and withholding tax fall on the seller, but the actual split is whatever the contract says, so negotiate it with the price.

Note that Thailand has at times cut the transfer fee to 0.01% to stimulate the housing market, but that relief has applied to Thai buyers only; foreigners pay the standard 2%.

During ownership there is an annual tax under the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019), charged on the government appraised value rather than your price; for an ordinary residential condominium the burden is light.

7. Inheritance: the part most foreign buyers never think about

This is the section I most wanted to write. Problems in the earlier sections can usually be repaired. Problems at inheritance usually cannot.

Condominiums: the heir's own eligibility and the quota

Under section 19 of the Condominium Act, a foreign heir may register title to the unit if the heir qualifies in their own right, for example by holding permanent residence or by proving an equivalent remittance of foreign currency, and if the registration would not push the building's foreign share above 49%.

Both conditions must be met. In practice most foreign heirs do not meet the section 19 requirements.

If the heir does not qualify, the procedure is:

• Notify the local Land Office in writing within 60 days of acquiring the unit by inheritance.
• Dispose of the unit within one year of acquiring ownership.
• If it is not disposed of in time, the Director-General of the Department of Lands may sell it.

Note the time pressure: a forced sale within a year inevitably weakens your bargaining position.

Land: practically no way to keep it

Section 93 of the Land Code provides that a foreigner who acquires land as a statutory heir needs the permission of the Minister of Interior. The better view is that this permission mechanism was designed to go with the treaty-based ownership regime in section 86, and the relevant treaties have all lapsed since 1970, so the scope for approval is very limited. Note, however, that the Department of Lands still publishes an application procedure for section 93, handled by the Director-General under delegated authority and subject to the area limits in section 87, for residential land not more than one rai. The mechanism exists on paper; the realistic prospect of approval is narrow, and each case should be checked with the Land Office.

The conclusion: a foreign heir can inherit the value of land but cannot keep the land. The heir must dispose of it within the prescribed period and keep the proceeds. The Supreme Court has confirmed in several judgments that even land held unlawfully by a foreigner forms part of the estate on death and may be disposed of for the heirs' benefit.

The separation of building and land also applies at inheritance: a foreign heir can keep the house while being required to sell the land. That position is obviously hard to sustain in practice, but it is the law.

Inheritance tax

Thailand has an inheritance tax, with a threshold of THB 100 million per heir. Most individual foreign buyers will not reach it, but if you hold several Thai assets or a high-value property it should be assessed. US citizens should also remember that the United States taxes their worldwide estate; the two systems run in parallel and need to be looked at together.

My advice

If you hold any real estate in Thailand, make a will, and make a separate Thai will dealing with the Thai assets.

The slowest part of a cross-border succession is usually not the tax but the procedure: the appointment of an estate administrator by the Thai court, the legalisation and translation of documents, and the recognition of your home-country succession documents in Thailand. These steps routinely take months to more than a year, and a foreign heir's one-year disposal period runs from acquiring ownership, so the longer the procedure drags, the greater the pressure to sell.

A properly executed Thai will made in advance costs far less than litigation and a forced sale afterwards.

8. Tax: the Thai side and your home country together

On the Thai side the key point is this: spend 180 days or more in Thailand in a calendar year and you are a Thai tax resident, and foreign income you bring into Thailand becomes taxable. Many buyers cross that line after buying, by visiting often or staying long to look after the property, without realising it. How this interacts with the long-stay visas, and which visa carries a tax benefit, is covered in our retirement guide linked above.

Rental income is Thai-source income and must be declared in Thailand whether or not you are tax resident.

On the home-country side, check how your country treats foreign rental income and foreign property. US citizens are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live, so Thai rent is reportable in the United States as well; the US-Thailand income tax convention, signed in 1996 and in force since December 1997, provides for crediting Thai tax against US tax on the same income, subject to the usual US savings clause. Other nationalities should check the treaty between their country and Thailand, if any.

9. Policy in 2026: two proposals that are still not law

You may have seen these two items in sales material. Their actual status matters.

• A 99-year lease term. The idea of extending the foreign lease ceiling from 30 to 99 years has been proposed and debated, but it has not been enacted. The government that took office in September 2025 has treated it with reserve, and any expansion of foreigners' rights over land continues to meet political resistance in Thailand.
• Raising the condominium foreign quota from 49% to 75%. Also still at the proposal stage. As at autumn 2026, no bill has become law and the 49% limit remains in force.

Neither is law. Yet sales material already treats them as done deals or imminent upside. Pricing a product that the law protects for thirty years as if it ran for ninety-nine puts the whole risk on the buyer.

Until something is formally enacted, plan on the current law and do not pay a premium for policy expectations.

10. Five rules for foreign buyers

• First, ask "is this unit inside the foreign quota", and get it in writing. It is the single most important question in the transaction, and the one most buyers never ask.
• Second, read "90-year" or "99-year ownership" as 30 years. That is not caution; it is the Supreme Court's 2025 position.
• Third, refuse any scheme that needs a Thai name on the shares. It is not tax planning, it is criminal exposure, and from 2026 the odds of being caught have risen sharply.
• Fourth, count your days before you sign. How long will you spend in Thailand each year? Past 180 days, the tax rules change completely.
• Fifth, think about inheritance on the day you buy. A condo passes only if the heir qualifies and the quota allows; a lease may end with your death; land can almost never be kept by a foreign heir. All of this should be designed before signing, not left to the next generation.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Can a foreigner buy a house in Thailand? What exactly can I buy?

Yes, but the type of property is restricted. A foreigner can take freehold title to a condominium unit in their own name, which is the clearest option. Land is not available: the Land Code prohibits foreign ownership of land, so villas, townhouses and houses, all of which involve holding land, cannot be bought directly in a foreigner's name. Such properties are marketed to foreigners as long leases, Thai company holdings or purchases in a Thai spouse's name, each carrying a different degree of legal risk. The Treaty of Amity does not give Americans any land rights. For a first purchase in Thailand, start with a condominium unit inside the foreign quota.

What is the 49% foreign quota and how do I check it?

Under the Condominium Act, units owned by foreigners in a building may not exceed 49% of its total saleable area; the other 51% is reserved for Thai owners. Once the quota is used up, the remaining units cannot be registered to foreigners, and the developer usually switches to selling them as leasehold. Check by asking the developer or the condominium juristic person, before paying a deposit, for a written statement of the current foreign share and confirmation that your unit is within the quota. Never rely on a verbal assurance; that is where most disputes begin.

Is "90-year" or "99-year ownership" in Thailand real?

No. Section 540 of the Civil and Commercial Code limits a lease of immovable property to 30 years, and the rule is mandatory. The "30+30+30" product is one 30-year lease plus two pre-signed renewals packaged as 90 years. On 18 March 2025 the Supreme Court, in judgment No. 4655/2566, held such pre-agreed renewal clauses void as an evasion of the 30-year ceiling. A renewal promise is a personal obligation of the landowner who signed it; it does not bind the land or a later buyer. Whatever the contract says, your legal protection is the first 30 years.

Is it legal to hold land and a villa through a Thai company?

Not if the company exists so that a foreigner can control land and the Thai shareholders are only names on the register. That is a criminal offence for both sides under sections 36 and 37 of the Foreign Business Act: up to three years' imprisonment, a fine of THB 100,000 to 1,000,000, and possible forfeiture of assets and dissolution of the company. From 2026 the DBD requires Thai shareholders to prove the source of their funds with bank statements and to attend registration changes in person, and it cross-checks with the Department of Lands for foreign-controlled companies holding land. The pre-signed share transfer forms agents hand out give no protection and are direct evidence of the nominee relationship.

Can my children inherit my property in Thailand?

It depends on the property. A condominium: a foreign heir must qualify under section 19 of the Condominium Act in their own right, and the registration must not push the building's foreign share above 49%; both conditions are needed to keep the unit. Otherwise the heir must notify the Land Office within 60 days and sell within one year. Land: section 93 of the Land Code keeps a mechanism for inheritance with the Minister of Interior's permission, and the Department of Lands still publishes an application procedure, but with no land-ownership treaty in force the realistic scope for approval is very limited; an heir who is not permitted must dispose of the land within the prescribed period and keep the proceeds. Ask the Land Office about your specific case, and make a Thai will.

What taxes do I pay when buying a condominium in Thailand?

At transfer: a 2% transfer fee (customarily split, but negotiable); specific business tax of 3.3% if the seller has held the unit less than five years, or otherwise stamp duty of 0.5%; and withholding income tax on the seller, calculated progressively after a deduction based on years held. In total roughly 2.5% to 6% of the price, with the split depending on the contract. The reduced 0.01% transfer fee offered in some years applies to Thai buyers only. During ownership there is an annual land and building tax on the appraised value, which is light for an ordinary residential unit. If you stay 180 days or more in a year you also become a Thai tax resident, and rental income is taxable in Thailand in any event.

How Louis Group can help

Louis Group has offices in Taipei and Bangkok, with Thai-qualified lawyers working alongside Taiwanese colleagues in English. For foreign buyers of Thai property we check the foreign quota and title before any deposit is paid, review sale and lease contracts, handle the FET remittance and the Land Office transfer, review existing company or lease structures for nominee and succession risk, and prepare Thai wills and the cross-border succession plan. If you already hold Thai property through a lease, a company or a spouse, a structure review now is far cheaper than a dispute later.

Author: Po-Chang Yu (Raymond Yu) , Chief Lawyer, Founder and CEO of Louis Group.

*This article is general legal information, not advice on a specific case. Quota positions, Land Office practice, tax rates and the status of the policy proposals described may change; take advice from a Thai-qualified lawyer and check the current rules before committing funds.*

Related reading

• Setting Up a Company in Thailand 2026 for Foreign Investors: The 49% Rule, Nominee Shareholder Risk, Capital and Work Permit Ratios, BOI and the New DBD Checks
• Retiring in Thailand 2026: Retirement Visa (O-A and O-X), LTR, Thailand Privilege and DTV Compared for American and Other Foreign Retirees
• Factory Land in Thailand for Foreign Manufacturers 2026: Why You Are Not Limited to a 30-Year Lease, the 50-Year Industrial Lease, BOI and IEAT Ownership and the Registration Trap