Buy Property in Phuket: Rules for Foreigners, Prices and Checks

You can buy property in Phuket as a foreigner, but the law limits what you can hold in your own name. A condominium unit can be registered to you freehold as long as the building's foreign share of 49% of the floor area is not used up. A private foreign individual cannot register land, so villa deals usually combine a freehold house with a registered land lease (leasehold) of up to 30 years.

Homes that owners are selling rather than renting out are collected in the property for sale in Phuket section. At the time of writing it lists villas with 3-4 bedrooms and a private pool in Bang Tao, Layan and Rawai, each priced in baht for the whole property. The site takes no prepayment: you send a viewing request and the manager arranges a time with the seller.

Owning a home does not give you a visa or residence rights by itself. If you plan to live on the island long term, sort out a suitable visa in parallel with the purchase rather than after you move in.

Local agency estimates put the average price of a condominium square metre in Phuket at about 130,000-150,000 THB in 2025-2026, rising to 170,000 THB and more in new projects near the west coast beaches. At those rates a 30-35 m² studio comes to roughly 4-5 million baht and a 45-60 m² one-bedroom unit to 6-9 million. Older buildings and Phuket Town are cheaper, while a sea view or a beachfront location adds a clear premium.

Villas are priced by plot, bedroom count and distance to the sea rather than per metre. In Rawai and Nai Harn in the south, mid-range houses sell for roughly 5 to 45 million baht, while in Bang Tao the range runs from about 10 million to 100 million baht and beyond for beachside residences. If you want to buy a villa in Phuket with 3-4 bedrooms and a pool, our catalog currently shows options at around 20-25 million baht.

The price also moves with the type of title (freehold usually costs more than leasehold for the same space), the construction stage (off-plan is cheaper but riskier), the view, plot size, furniture and whether a management company is in place. The seller sets the listed price; the manager confirms the current figure and room for negotiation when you request a viewing.

Freehold is ownership with no end date: the property is registered in your name at the Land Department, and you can sell it, give it away or leave it to your heirs. For a condo unit the title document is the unit title deed (Or Chor 2); for land the strongest title is called a chanote.

Leasehold is a long lease registered at the Land Department for no more than 30 years, the cap set by the Thai Civil and Commercial Code. A "30+30+30" clause does not guarantee renewal: in 2025 the Thai Supreme Court confirmed that terms beyond 30 years from the start of the lease are void. Any extension has to be agreed again with the landowner and registered anew.

A draft law allowing 99-year leases has been discussed since 2024-2025 but had not been passed at the time of writing, so plan on 30 years. Registering a lease costs about 1.1% of the total rent for the whole term: a 1% fee plus 0.1% stamp duty. A house on leased land is registered to the buyer separately, often together with a right of superficies. Check how the contract handles assigning the lease and passing it to heirs.

Under the Condominium Act, foreigners may own no more than 49% of the total floor area of all units in a building. When you look at a Phuket condo for sale as a foreigner, the first question is whether that quota is still open: once it is used up, the remaining units can only be sold to foreigners on leasehold. Before paying a deposit, ask the condominium juristic person for a letter on the current foreign share, which the Land Department also needs for the transfer.

For a freehold condo, the purchase money must arrive from abroad in foreign currency and be converted into baht by a Thai bank. For transfers equivalent to 50,000 US dollars or more, the bank issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form, and for smaller amounts a confirmation of receipt; you present this document at the Land Department. State the purchase of the specific unit as the purpose of the payment.

Cash you bring with you and change on the island does not qualify for a freehold registration. Currency exchange is useful for everyday costs while you search: taxis to viewings, rent, an interpreter. Make the deal payments themselves only by bank transfer, so that every amount has a paper trail.

Land used to be put into a Thai company whose Thai shareholders were nominees on paper. The Foreign Business Act prohibits nominee arrangements, and in 2026 the authorities tightened control: company registrations and amendments now require proof of the source of funds, and company owners are cross-checked against land titles. Penalties include fines, criminal cases and a forced sale of the land.

If you buy property in Phuket in the name of a Thai husband or wife, the land legally belongs to the Thai spouse alone, and the foreign partner signs a statement at registration that the money is the spouse's own property. After a divorce or a death, recovering what you invested is difficult. Discuss any non-standard structure with a lawyer before the deposit.

Be careful with listings that describe a villa with land as "freehold". That may be true for a Thai buyer, but a foreign individual still cannot register the land. Ask straight away whose name the plot will be registered in and which document you will receive.

A chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) is a full land title with boundaries tied to survey coordinates. Weaker documents such as Nor Sor 3 Gor, and especially Sor Kor 1, give less protection: Sor Kor 1 only confirms a right of possession, and a sale cannot be properly registered on it. The check is done at the Land Department, where the lawyer confirms the owner, encumbrances such as mortgages, servitudes or existing leases, and the history of transfers.

Beyond the land, check the building permit and whether the house matches it, legal road access to the plot, zoning, and restrictions on hillsides and protected areas, of which Phuket has many. A large condominium needs an approved environmental impact assessment (EIA), and the developer should be a registered company with completed projects. For a finished property, ask for proof that there are no unpaid common fees or utility bills.

Hire your own lawyer rather than one recommended by the seller, since their job is to protect you. The visas and lawyers section can put you in touch with a lawyer in Phuket and handle your visa question at the same time; ask whether they handle property deals and get a cost estimate in advance. Sign a reservation agreement only if it returns the deposit when the checks reveal title problems.

Before you buy property in Phuket, budget for the fees charged at registration. The transfer fee is 2% of the appraised value. If the seller has owned the property for less than 5 years, a 3.3% specific business tax applies, otherwise a 0.5% stamp duty, and the seller's income tax is withheld on top. Altogether this comes to roughly 4-7% of the appraised value, and the contract decides who pays what; in Phuket the transfer fee is often split 50/50.

A condo has two costs on top of the price: a one-off sinking fund contribution, usually around 400-1,000 THB per m², and a monthly common area fee, most often 30-100 THB per m². The annual land and building tax on a home is small, a fraction of a percent of the appraised value. With a villa, add pool and garden care, electricity, home insurance and repairs after the rainy season.

If you plan to rent the home out, note that stays shorter than 30 days require a hotel licence under the Hotel Act, and many condominiums ban daily rentals in their rules. Rental income is taxable in Thailand. Test any "guaranteed yield" promise against the contract: who pays, from what money, and what happens if the management company closes.

Bang Tao and Layan in the north-west are valued for long beaches, gated complexes and a drive of roughly 20-30 minutes to the airport, and they have the most new villas and serviced condominiums. Kamala and Surin cost more because of their hillside views. Rawai and Nai Harn in the south suit people who live on the island year-round: calmer streets and plenty of services for everyday life, but about an hour to the airport.

Patong and Karon offer strong rental demand but are noisier and more crowded. Phuket Town is cheaper and closer to the large hospitals, though the beaches are a drive away. Before you commit, live in the district for at least a month: rent a villa or a condo there and check rush-hour traffic, nearby construction and how the street copes with a tropical downpour.

On the property page, press "Request a Viewing" and leave your name and phone number. The manager will message you on Telegram or WhatsApp, confirm your dates and budget, agree a time with the owner, and send extra photos, the floor plan and any documents the seller is ready to share.

The viewing is free and nothing is paid on the site. The seller sets the price, and you pay it without any markup from us. If the property has already been sold or reserved, the manager will suggest similar options in the same area and budget.

From there the deal follows the usual Thai sequence: a reservation agreement with a deposit, legal due diligence, the main sale and purchase agreement with a payment schedule, the money transfer from abroad, and registration at the Land Department. You agree the deposit amount and deadlines directly with the seller, and your lawyer runs the checks.

When people buy property in Phuket for the first time, the costliest mistakes are paying a deposit before the documents are checked, believing a verbal promise to extend a lease to 90 years, paying in cash and ending up without an FET form, and buying off-plan from a developer with no completed projects and no approved EIA. Another trap is viewing only in the dry season: from May to October you can see whether the drainage works, whether the plot floods and whether the roof leaks.

A short checklist: decide whether you need a freehold condo or a villa with leasehold land; check the building's foreign quota or the lease terms; hire an independent lawyer; verify the chanote, building permit and road access; add up fees, taxes and annual charges; transfer money from abroad with paperwork; register the deal only at the Land Department.

The rules keep moving: proposals for 99-year leases and a larger condo quota have been debated for years, while checks on nominee structures are getting stricter. Treat any advice on buying real estate in Thailand as a foreigner, including this article, as something to confirm with a lawyer on the date of your deal.