A foreigner may buy a condominium unit in Thailand and hold it outright, but not in every building. The law allows foreign buyers to own no more than 49% of the combined floor area of all units in a registered building. Once foreign owners have taken up that share in full, the next buyer will not have freehold registered in their name. The sale itself still goes ahead: the contract is signed and the money is accepted. What changes is the form of ownership — instead of freehold the buyer receives a long lease of up to 30 years. Most people find this out on registration day at the Land Office, by which time the purchase money has already been transferred into the country.
Checking the limit is straightforward: write to the building's management once and the answer normally arrives within two or three days. Buyers skip this step most often when purchasing remotely, running the whole deal by email and settling for a verbal assurance. We covered the transaction as a whole — forms of ownership, stages and paperwork — in our guide on how a foreigner buys property in Thailand. This article deals only with the limit: who counts it, which document confirms the remaining share, and what to do when the building has none left.
Content:
- Why the limit is counted in square metres rather than units
- Who keeps the record and which document to ask for
- The money has to arrive from abroad
- How long the check and the whole purchase take
- If the building has no room left for foreign owners
- Who does not need freehold within the quota
- What has changed in the rules, and what is still under debate
- Frequently asked questions
Why the limit is counted in square metres rather than units
The rule sits in Section 19 bis of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522. Foreign nationals together may own up to 49% of the total floor area of all units in one registered building — this share is known as the foreign quota. The remaining 51% belongs to Thai nationals and Thai companies. Three consequences follow from that wording, and all three are commonly misread.
- Square metres are counted, not the number of units. In a building with 100 units, foreign buyers may end up with 40 of them or with 60, depending entirely on size. The larger the units, the sooner the limit runs out: a building of spacious three-bedroom flats closes its quota earlier than a building of studios.
- Every building has its own limit. Not the development as a whole, and not the developer. In a project of four towers, one may still have room for foreign owners while the next sold its share at launch.
- The remaining share is checked on the day the transfer is registered. Neither a reservation nor a signed contract holds a place in the quota for the buyer.
The last point deserves a closer look, because it is what sends deals off course. A purchase has three separate dates: reservation, signing, and registration of the transfer at the Land Office. Between the first and the last lie anywhere from one month to six, and on an off-plan project several years while construction runs. The Land Office looks only at the position on registration day: how much floor area in the building stands in foreign names on that date. Whatever happened before it carries no weight.
Take a worked example. In April the sales manager reports that 300 sq m of foreign quota is available in the tower, and the figure is genuine. Over the summer four more buyers register their units and take up 260 sq m. You arrive for registration in October with a 65 sq m flat, and 40 sq m remain. Freehold will not be registered, even though there was room to spare in the spring. Queuing does not apply here: the space goes to whoever reaches registration first, not to whoever paid a deposit earliest.
Who keeps the record and which document to ask for
The record is kept by the condominium juristic person — the legal entity that manages the building. Neither the developer nor the agency can issue this certificate; they have no authority over the register. The certificate states how much floor area in the building is already held by foreign owners and how much remains available. Its formal name is the condominium juristic person's foreign quota certificate.
Without it the Land Office will not register freehold, so you will need the document in any case. The only question is when you obtain it: before the deposit, or afterwards, when there is no way back. Word the request precisely. Ask "is there any quota left?" and the answer will almost always be yes, because some share is nearly always free in formal terms. Ask instead:
- how many square metres in the building are registered to foreign owners as of today;
- how many square metres make up 49% of the total saleable area;
- how many unsold units the developer is holding back for the foreign quota;
- whether the unit you are looking at falls within that allocation.
Take the answer in writing rather than as a message in a chat app: registration calls for a document, not correspondence. On the resale market your solicitor makes this request alongside the checks on encumbrances and on the registered owner, and it rarely carries a separate fee.
The money has to arrive from abroad
Available floor area is only half of the requirement. The other half: money for a unit bought as freehold must reach Thailand from overseas and in foreign currency. If the sum came from a domestic account, or was paid in cash in baht, the transfer into the foreign quota will not be registered, however much space the building has left. The rule admits no exceptions and does not depend on the size of the purchase.
The supporting document is the Foreign Exchange Transaction form, formerly the Tor Tor 3. The bank issues it automatically once a single inward transfer exceeds $50,000 (around 1.65 million baht). Below that threshold banks provide a credit note or a letter confirming receipt of foreign currency; the Land Office accepts those too, but you have to request them yourself, as nothing is sent by default.
"The problem usually starts with the payment reference rather than with the quota itself. The money is in the country, the bank confirms receipt, but the transfer says 'personal expenses' — and that will not support registration of freehold. No bank can rewrite the reference after the event. The transfer has to state its purpose: the purchase of property, with the address of the unit," says a sales specialist for Thailand.
How long the check and the whole purchase take
The juristic person prepares the certificate in anything from two days to a week. That is modest in itself, but it has to fit into the overall schedule of the deal, and that schedule runs longer than most buyers expect.
"Across our Thai transactions the median time from first enquiry to signing is 27 days, yet one deal in seven runs beyond three months. Around half of our buyers complete without setting foot in the country. In a deal like that the quota certificate is worth requesting twice: before the deposit and again a few days before registration," says a sales specialist for Thailand.
It is precisely on the drawn-out purchases that buyers discover the available area has gone. One request is therefore not enough. A sensible sequence looks like this.
Step 1. Ask for the remaining share before you pay a deposit, and obtain a written answer from the building's management.
Step 2. Record in the contract that the unit is being bought as freehold, and set out what happens if registration into the foreign quota proves impossible: return of the deposit, or a switch to leasehold at the buyer's choice.
Step 3. Send the money in foreign currency from abroad, with the correct payment reference, and collect the FET form or credit note from the bank straight away.
Step 4. Confirm the remaining share once more a few days before registration. How the day itself unfolds and why timelines slip, we cover in our guide to how a transfer of ownership works at the Land Office.
Step two matters more than the rest: it protects you if the space in the quota goes between the deposit and registration. Without that clause the choice is an unpleasant one — accept a lease or lose the deposit.
If the building has no room left for foreign owners
Buyers rarely have to walk away because of this. The same unit is usually taken on a leasehold instead — a long lease of up to 30 years, registered at the Land Office. The rights that come with it are different, and the difference shows up years later rather than on completion day.
| Point of comparison | Freehold within the quota | Leasehold |
|---|---|---|
| Duration of the right | indefinite | up to 30 years under the contract |
| Renewal | not required | not guaranteed by law |
| Inheritance | passes to heirs, who also need room in the quota | depends on the terms of the contract |
| Resale | a foreign buyer again needs quota | the remaining term is transferred |
| Funds from abroad | mandatory | not required |
The gap in duration and renewal is fundamental. The arrangement offering an automatic renewal for 30 years three times over stopped working after a court ruling in March 2025. What a renewal clause is worth today we cover separately: how a 30-year leasehold works and what to expect on inheritance.
A third route will almost certainly be put to you: registering the unit to a Thai company. That is lawful in form; in practice such structures have been investigated across the country since 2025, and convictions have followed. Before you agree, read the signs by which a Thai company is treated as a nominee arrangement.
Who does not need freehold within the quota
For some buyers this chase after square metres only adds work.
- Anyone buying to let who does not plan to hold the property beyond seven to ten years. Yields differ little between the two forms of ownership, and leasehold is usually cheaper at entry. What the exit costs, we set out separately in our guide to selling property in Thailand and the taxes and fees involved.
- Anyone whose money already sits in Thailand. Funds in a domestic account will not support freehold, and moving them abroad only to send them back costs you on the exchange rate and in fees.
- Buyers of villas and townhouses. The quota applies to condominiums alone. A detached house cannot be registered to a foreigner as freehold at all; different mechanisms apply there.
- Anyone set on one particular unit with one particular view. If that unit falls outside the quota, there are two roads: a different form of ownership or a different unit. Waiting achieves nothing — space returns to the quota only when a foreign owner sells to a Thai buyer.
Transfer fees and taxes on resale are the same for both forms; we covered them in our guide to property taxes in Thailand and which side pays what.
What has changed in the rules, and what is still under debate
The rule itself is unchanged: 49% by floor area, Section 19 bis, checked at the moment of registration. What has changed is everything around it.
- The proposal to raise the quota to 75% in resort areas — Phuket, Samui, Pattaya — remains a draft and has not become law. Developers presenting a higher quota as a rule already in force are describing a wish rather than a fact.
- A 99-year leasehold is likewise still a draft. It has been under discussion since late 2024, with no decision taken.
- Automatic renewal of a lease under the 30+30+30 arrangement was held unenforceable by the court in March 2025. If you have read that property in Thailand can be held for 90 years, that information is out of date.
- Structures involving Thai nominee shareholders have been under investigation since 2025, with six waves of raids by August 2026. The quota itself is untouched by this, but workarounds have become markedly riskier.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner own a condo in Thailand outright?
Yes, provided the building still has room in the foreign quota and the money arrived from abroad in foreign currency. Both conditions are mandatory.
How do I find out whether any quota is left?
Request a certificate from the condominium juristic person, the legal entity managing the building. It takes between two days and a week to prepare.
What happens if the quota runs out while my purchase is under way?
Freehold will not be registered. The unit can be taken on a leasehold instead, or the deposit returned if the contract provides for it.
Does the money really have to come from overseas?
For freehold, yes. Leasehold carries no such requirement and can be paid from a Thai bank account.
Is the quota about to rise to 75%?
The proposal is under discussion but has not become law. A higher quota cannot be treated as a rule in force.
Does the quota apply to villas and townhouses?
No, it covers condominiums only. Land and a house standing on it cannot be registered to a foreigner as freehold.