Owning here
What a foreign buyer can and cannot own in Thailand, applied to Pattaya. This is guidance about the law, not legal advice — your lawyer signs off before you do.
A condominium — yes, freehold, in your own name
- Thailand’s Condominium Act lets foreigners own up to 49% of the total unit floor area of a registered condominium building, freehold, in their own name. The rest is the Thai quota.
- Whether this unit can be foreign-owned depends on how much of that 49% is already used. Every Headland listing states the building’s position: open, limited, or full.
- If the quota is full, a foreigner buys on a 30-year registered lease of the unit instead. It is a different thing from freehold, and it is explained below.
Bringing the money in — the FET form
- To register foreign freehold, the purchase funds must enter Thailand from abroad in foreign currency and be converted to baht by a Thai bank.
- The bank issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction form (FET) — for transfers of about USD 50,000 or more; below that, a bank credit letter. The Land Office needs it on transfer day.
- Ask the bank for it the same week the money lands. It must name you as the sender and state the purpose is buying a condominium.
Land — no. And the three ways around it, honestly
A foreigner cannot own land in Thailand. A house is two things: the structure (can be in your name) and the land under it (cannot).
30-year registered lease
The land is leased to you and the lease registered at the Land Office. Leases over 3 years must be registered to run their full term.
- What it gives you
- Secure use of the land for 30 years. The house can be in your name.
- What it does not
- An automatic renewal. "30+30+30" is a contract promise; only the first 30 years is enforceable by law.
Thai company
A genuine Thai trading company owns the land; you run it.
- What it gives you
- A legal structure — if the company really trades and files accounts.
- What it does not
- Legality if it is a shell with nominee Thai shareholders holding shares for you — that breaches the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act. Headland will not set this up.
Thai spouse
Your Thai husband or wife owns the land. You sign a declaration at the Land Office that the funds are their personal property.
- What it gives you
- Land held in the family.
- What it does not
- Any ownership share for you. If the marriage ends, the land is theirs.
A registered lease — the detail
- 30 years maximum under the Civil and Commercial Code.
- Register it at the Land Office. Registration fee 1% + stamp duty 0.1% of the total rent over the term; usually paid by the lessee, negotiable.
- A renewal clause is only as good as the person who signs the next one. Price the property for the years the lease actually has left — Headland lists the years remaining on every leasehold.
This site is guidance, not legal advice. Your lawyer signs off before you do.
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