Know the Thai market: four areas, foreign buyers and ownership rules

Thailand is not one market. A city condo in Bangkok, a Jomtien sea-view unit, a Phuket pool villa and a Koh Samui hillside home attract different buyers, at different prices, under the same strict ownership rules. Knowing both the places and the rules is what makes clients trust you.

The big picture

The best public data on foreign buyers comes from the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), which counts condo units transferred to foreigners.

• 2025: 14,899 units, up 2.2%, worth 60.92 billion baht, down 10.7%. Foreigners took 14.7% of all condo units transferred and 25% of the value (Khaosod English, March 2026).
• First half of 2026: 6,533 units, down 8.8%, worth 28.267 billion baht, down 1.5%. That is 11.7% of units and 21.7% of value, with an average of 4.3 million baht and 43.9 sqm per unit (The Nation, September 2026).
• Second quarter of 2026: 3,292 units, up 1.4%, worth 14.803 billion baht, up 20.2%.

Province	Foreign condo units, 2025	Value, 2025	Average per unit (derived)
Bangkok	7,029	35.39bn baht	about 5.0m baht
Chonburi (Pattaya)	4,164	11.59bn baht	about 2.78m baht
Phuket	1,190	6.09bn baht	about 5.1m baht

The averages are our own division of REIC’s totals, not published figures. Say so when you quote them.

Who buys

By units in 2025: China 4,940 (down 12.9%), Myanmar 1,968 (up 41.8%) and Russia 1,172 (up 8.6%) (Khaosod English).

By value in the first half of 2026, the top ten were China, Russia, Myanmar, the USA, Taiwan, France, the UK, Germany, Australia and India. Americans paid the highest average, about 6.6 million baht a unit (The Nation, September 2026).

Each nationality has its own map (The Nation, August 2026):

Buyers	First half of 2026, by value	Where they buy
Chinese	6.874bn baht, down 27.7%	Bangkok and Chonburi
Russian	3.603bn baht, up 75.9%	Phuket and Chonburi
Myanmar	2.457bn baht, down 16.2%	Bangkok

The four areas

Bangkok is the largest foreign market by far, with 7,029 units and 35.39 billion baht in 2025. Chinese and Myanmar buyers lead. Expect the most agencies, the biggest consultancies and the most competition.

Pattaya (Chonburi) is the second market by units. Pattaya Mail (February 2026) describes structural oversupply rather than a collapse, worst in Jomtien and on the southern beachfront, with developers using discounts and flexible payment terms. Myanmar buyers are the main new source of demand, relocating for schools, healthcare and stability. Units are cheaper than in Bangkok, at about 2.78 million baht on average.

Phuket is growing with foreign buyers and shrinking with developers. Krungsri Research (August 2026) reports:

• 2025 foreign condo transfers up 18.3% to 1,190 units, 82.3% of all foreign condo transfers in the South, and up 52.2% to 420 units in the first quarter of 2026.
• But new launches down 52.6% to 7,205 units and sales down 61.1% to 5,374 units in 2025, with 14,008 unsold units worth 193.7 billion baht.
• Villas average 44.8 million baht, and villa absorption fell to 1.8% a month, about 50 months to sell the stock.
• Main foreign buyers: Russian, Chinese, French, British and American. The 2026 forecast is launches down 4.2% and sales down 7.3%.

Koh Samui is a villa island. Samui Property Group, an agency, reported in May 2026, mostly from C9 Hotelworks data of June 2025:

• A primary market of 2,882 units in 117 projects, worth 30.3 billion baht, split 52% condos and 48% villas.
• A condo median of 88,500 baht per sqm and a three-bedroom villa median of 14.9 million baht.
• Foreign buyers in 85% to 90% of villa deals, citing Colliers.
• More enquiries after the third season of The White Lotus, filmed in Maenam and aired in 2025, but no measured figure.

Rules every agent must know

The 49% condo quota. Under the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), foreigners can own condo units freehold, but the foreign-owned area cannot exceed 49% of the building’s total saleable floor area. Above that, a foreigner can only lease (Bektu, June 2026). In a building with 10,000 sqm of saleable area, foreigners can own at most 4,900 sqm.

No land. Foreigners cannot own land, and a company with more than 49% foreign capital or a majority of foreign shareholders is treated as foreign under Land Code section 97 (Leto).

The 30-year lease. The longest registered residential lease is 30 years. Renewal promises such as 30+30+30 are contractual, and courts generally enforce only the first registered term (Bektu).

The 2024 proposals never became law. In June 2024 the Cabinet agreed in principle to a 75% foreign condo quota and 99-year leases, but the draft was not ready (The Nation, June 2024). As of June 2026 neither had been enacted (Bektu). The right sentence for clients in October 2026: the 49% quota and the 30-year lease limit still apply.

The direction in late 2026 is stricter, not looser. On 19 October 2026 the Prime Minister launched a nationwide crackdown on nominee land ownership, with extra checks on purchases above 2 million baht (Thai Examiner, October 2026; lesson 4).

Off-plan in two lines

Most new condos are sold off plan, under the standard contract of the Condominium Act, usually paid in stages directly to the developer, with escrow only if both sides agree (lesson 6). In Phuket and Pattaya, oversupply means the buyer has room to negotiate, and you have a duty to check the developer.

How to learn your patch

1. Pick one area and learn its streets, transport, schools, hospitals and new projects.
2. Track REIC data through the press, and always name your source and its date.
3. Learn your buyers’ nationalities and languages: Chinese and Burmese in Bangkok, Russian in Phuket, Burmese and Russian in Pattaya.
4. Ask every building how much foreign quota is left, and every developer about its payment terms and track record.

Prices and rules move fast, so check the official source before you act. See the Thailand page and markets for what CloserPass covers.

This lesson is general information, not investment advice.