Thailand Condo Foreign Quota: The 49% Rule Explained

Foreigners together may hold no more than 49% of the total unit area of a condominium building. A buyer shows evidence of foreign currency, for an amount not less than the unit price. The Land Office does not register a lease longer than 30 years.

By Vincent Nguyen

Foreigners together may hold no more than 49% of the total unit area of a condominium building. Before you pay a deposit, find out how much of this building’s area foreigners already hold.

The 49% quota in the Act’s words

The cap sits in section 19 bis of the Condominium Act. The 49% is measured against the total area of the units in the condominium at the time it was applied for registration.

ถือกรรมสิทธิ์ในห้องชุดได้เมื่อรวมกันแล้วต้องไม่เกินอัตราร้อยละสี่สิบเก้าของ

Editor’s translation: …may together hold ownership of units not exceeding forty-nine percent of…

Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), section 19 bis (มาตรา ๑๙ ทวิ)

When a unit goes to a foreigner, the person transferring tells the official the names of the foreign owners and the share of unit area they already hold. The official registers the transfer when the share of the existing foreign owners and the new one stays within the section 19 bis rate.

Get the building manager’s written statement of the foreign share before you commit. The Land Office checks the share again at transfer.

Who may hold a unit

A foreigner permitted to reside in Thailand under the immigration law may hold a unit, and shows proof of that permission at transfer. Section 19(5) covers a foreigner, or a juristic person the law treats as foreign, who brings foreign currency into Thailand.

The same clause covers a withdrawal from a baht account of a person resident abroad, or from a foreign-currency deposit account.

Proof of the foreign money

The Act asks for evidence of foreign currency brought in, or of a withdrawal from a foreign-currency deposit account. The test is the price of the unit to be bought: the amount must be not less than that price.

The paper is the bank’s credit or debit advice. The Bank of Thailand abolished the FX Form in 2017, so customers fill in no FX Form for foreign-currency transactions with banks, whatever the amount. A commercial bank issues a credit or debit advice with the data the Bank of Thailand requires, as evidence of the transaction.

The bank also screens the money as it arrives. Below USD 200,000 the customer states the purpose and the bank asks for no documents. At USD 200,000 or more the bank asks for documents showing the source of the foreign currency. Buying a condominium is a purpose a sender may state.

The USD 200,000 line for property money first came in a circular of 29 Dec 2025; the circular of 29 Sep 2026 is the current text.

Keep every credit advice, and match the sender’s name to the buyer’s. No Department of Lands text names the paper the Chiang Mai office takes, and the public-relations officer checks documents before you queue. Show the credit advice there before the money moves.

Leasehold when the quota is used

A lease of more than three years must be in writing and registered with the competent official. The registration fee for a lease is 1% of the rent over the lease term, or of key money, or of both together.

When the building’s foreign share is full, a lease is the route left. The Land Office does not register a lease longer than 30 years; a longer lease is cut to 30 years. A separate Act covers leases of immovable property for commerce or industry of more than 30 and up to 50 years.

Before you pay a deposit

1. Get the building’s foreign share against the 49% cap. The person transferring reports it to the official.
2. Confirm your route: residence permitted under the immigration law, or foreign currency brought in.
3. Get the no-debt certificate (certificate of freedom from debt) from the manager. The officer registers a transfer when the unit is free of the section 18 debts, shown by that certificate. The manager must arrange its issue.
4. Keep the bank’s credit advice for an amount not less than the price, and expect document checks from USD 200,000.
5. See the public-relations officer at the Land Office first, for advice, a document check and a queue ticket.

The office is at the Chiang Mai Provincial Government Centre, Chotana Road, Chang Phueak, Mueang Chiang Mai, 50300. The phone number is 0-5311-2983-4.

Offices open Monday to Friday, except official holidays, from 08:30 to 16:30. That statement is general and no Chiang Mai hours are published. A transfer goes to the office or branch for the area where the unit stands.

Charges at the Land Office

The Department of Lands fee page, read on 13 Oct 2026, gives the registration fee for a condominium unit as 2% of the appraised value, minimum THB 20. The seller pays specific business tax of 3.3% on the higher of the appraised value or the sale price.

That tax applies to a sale within five years of acquiring the unit. A sale registered more than five years after the seller acquired the property is outside it. Stamp duty is THB 1 for every THB 200, and it is not charged where the person receiving the payment pays specific business tax.

For the full cost of a transfer and the steps, see Buy a Condo in Chiang Mai as a Foreigner: Quota, Fees, Steps. To move the money in, see Send Money to Thailand: Bank Wire, ACH and Transfer Services.

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Not confirmed: Whether the Chiang Mai Land Office takes the bank's credit advice alone: no Department of Lands text was found, so have the public-relations officer check it before the money moves. The Royal Gazette date of the Sep 2026 Bank of Thailand circular. Whether a higher quota has passed since the Act text read here.

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General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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