Buying a condo (apartment) in Thailand is an attractive option for many foreigners predominantly because there are less nationality restrictions in the Thailand condominium laws than with land ownership. Condo ownership is therefore popular in Thailand for real estate investment as well as residence and retirement purposes.
Thailand’s land laws allows foreigners to own a condo outright, as long as that ownership does not amount to them owning more than 49% of the total floor space of the condominium building. This requirement is evidenced by “foreign quota” documents filed with the Land Department.
If the potential purchaser does not have a Thailand residence permit, they must be able to prove that the funds for purchase of the condominium will be brought from outside of Thailand. Foreigners who have legal residence permits are not required to show evidence of funds coming from outside of Thailand for the condominium purchase.
Thailand land law allows condominiums to be leased to foreigners for periods of up to 30 years and also allows foreigners to be granted options to renew for additional 30 year periods. Leases of longer than 3 years in Thailand must be registered with the Land Department.
Property ownership of a condo may be inherited by either Thai or non-Thai descendents under normal circumstances.
