Technical article

Thailand: The Condominium Quota, the Lease and What a Foreign Heir Can Take

The questions are the ones many families ask: what can a foreigner hold in Thailand, and what happens when the holder dies?

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Imagine a retired couple from Canada who spend winters in Bangkok. They would like a place of their own, and they have two children in Toronto and London. The couple, the city and the amounts here are examples. The questions are the ones many families ask: what can a foreigner hold in Thailand, and what happens when the holder dies?

What a foreigner can hold

A Thai government site says a foreigner may own a condominium unit outright, as long as foreigners together hold no more than 49% of the building's total area and the money is sent in from abroad. That is a tier A source.

Land is different. The same government page says a foreigner may own land only with at least THB 40 million invested (about US$1.2 million), up to 1 rai for a home, and ministerial permission. A rai is a Thai land measure. The page also says foreigners may hold no more than 49% of a Thai company that owns property, so a company with a foreign majority is not a route.

For land, the usual door is a lease. One property-law site says a residential lease is capped at 30 years per term. It passes to heirs only if the registered contract allows it. Renewal needs a new registered contract. The same site notes that a usufruct, another form of right to use land, ends when its holder dies.

What a foreign heir can take

One law firm's guide says a foreign heir may receive land by inheritance but must dispose of it. It says the Land Department commonly applies a one-year window, and that some official guidance mentions an initial 180 days that can be extended to one year. Practice varies by Land Office. If the land is not sold, the guide says the Director-General may order a sale.

For a condominium unit, the same guide says the heir keeps it only if the building's foreign quota has room. A second guide says the heir reports to the Land Office within 60 days of the probate order. The sources differ on some details, so the windows above are the range the sources give.

Thailand's own inheritance tax is a separate matter. The tax-summary page from a large accounting firm (tier B) gives 10% above THB 100 million per person who died (about US$3 million), and 5% when the heir is a parent or descendant. Two older sources put the threshold for heirs who are not descendants lower, near THB 10 million (a 2015 newspaper) or THB 50 million (a 2026 law-firm guide). A spouse pays none.

What it costs to buy, hold and sell

One tax guide, tier C, gives the transfer fee on a freehold at 2% of appraised value and stamp duty at 0.5%. On a lease the figures are 1% and 0.1%. The fee is often split between buyer and seller by agreement.

Each year, land and building tax on a home runs from 0.02% to 0.1% of appraised value, by band. On a leased property the lessor pays, not the lessee.

On a sale, the specific business tax is 3.3% if the property is sold within five years. After five years a stamp duty of 0.5% applies instead. The Keller Henson guide itself gives 3% in one place and 3.3% in another, and a 2014 table from a large firm gives 3.3%, so the range is 3% to 3.3%. One guide lists inherited property among the exemptions from that tax. Individuals also face a withholding tax that falls with the years owned.

And a trust?

Two sources, from a law-firm site and a trust provider, say Thailand does not give effect to a private trust. One of them adds that a trustee's title to Thai land cannot be registered. A will that sets up a trust may be recognised if the law of the maker's home allows trusts.