In the Thai market, it is better to own an understandable asset in a transparent structure than a beautiful legend in a complex structure. Especially when it comes to buying for a foreigner.
If you listen to the Internet for too long, in Thailand a foreigner can either have everything or nothing at all. Usually both versions speak confidently, which means they are equally dangerous. The reality, as often happens, is more boring, but much more useful.
Let's start with the main thing. As a general practice, a foreigner in Thailand does not buy land outright as freely as he buys an apartment. It is around this point that half of the forum folklore is born. At the level of official government information, there is a separate scenario with an investment of 40 million baht and the right to purchase up to one rai of land for living with a separate permit, but this is not the path followed by the mass market.
But with condominiums the situation is much clearer. A foreigner can own an apartment in a condominium freehold if the conditions of the law are met and if the foreign quota of the project does not exceed 49% of the total area. This is the cleanest, clearest and most internationally readable tool for owning property in Thailand.
The second big scenario is leasehold. It is the one most often used when it comes to villas, houses and land-based projects. It is important here not to confuse the working tool with a magic wand. Leasehold is not freehold in other clothes. It has a different risk profile, a different protection logic and a different exit strategy.
There are other structures: right of use, usufruct, superficiary rights, ownership of a building separately from the land, corporate structures. But the more complex the scheme, the less โmy friends advised me soโ should be in it. If the ownership structure is more complex than a condo freehold, due diligence should not be the icing on the cake, but the cake itself.
A separate practical point is the source of money. When purchasing a condo freehold, funds usually must come from abroad with correct bank confirmation. This is not a quibble, but part of the legal purity of the transaction. When people try to โspend money somehowโ first, and then think about documents, they create problems for themselves where the market offers clear rules.
In the Thai market, it is generally useful to remember one simple idea: it is better to own an understandable asset in a transparent structure than a beautiful legend in a complex scheme.
