Property Due Diligence in Thailand

TL;DR

What does property due diligence in Thailand involve?

Before any deposit, an independent Thai lawyer checks the title deed and its encumbrances at the Land Office, the seller’s identity and authority, building permits, zoning and legal access, and for condos the juristic person’s debt-free letter and foreign quota. In 2026 it typically costs ฿20,000–80,000 and takes one to four weeks.

typical independent lawyer fee

฿20–80k

typical review time, condo to villa

1–4 weeks

maximum foreign share of a condo’s unit area

49%

maximum term of a registered lease

30 years

Thailand’s land registry is reliable for what it records — who owns a plot and what is registered against it — but it does not tell you whether the house was built with a permit, whether the road to it is legally yours to use, or whether a condo building has foreign quota left. Title insurance is rarely used here, so these checks are your protection. The sections below follow the order in which a good lawyer works, then give a printable checklist per stage and the red flags that should make you walk away.

Title deed

How do you check a title deed at the Land Office?

Your lawyer obtains a certified copy of both sides of the deed from the Land Office branch that holds it, then checks the owner’s name, the plot number, the area and the registration list on the back, which records every sale, mortgage, lease, servitude, usufruct and court seizure. A Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) is the title to insist on.

In Phuket the deed is held by the provincial Land Office in Phuket Town or by its Thalang or Kathu branch, depending on the plot. Since the Personal Data Protection Act, Land Offices usually release a certified copy only to the owner or someone holding the owner’s signed authorisation, so ask the seller for a power of attorney for the search at reservation stage. The Department of Lands’ LandsMaps app shows the plot’s location, shape and official appraised value, which is useful for spotting a deed that does not match the land you visited.

Then check the land on the ground. The boundary markers numbered on a Chanote should exist; if they are missing or a neighbour’s wall crosses the line, ask for a Land Office boundary verification (rang wat) before transfer. Our land titles guide explains Chanote, Nor Sor 3 Gor and the documents you should never buy, such as Sor Kor 1 or Sor Por Kor land.

Seller checks

How do you verify the seller and their right to sell?

The person signing must be the registered owner, or hold a valid, specific power of attorney, and must have every consent the law requires. For an individual that means ID matching the deed and, if married, the spouse’s consent for marital property; for a company, a recent registration certificate, the authorised directors’ signatures and a board resolution.

If someone signs for the owner, the power of attorney should be on the Land Office form, specific to this property and recent; a power signed abroad usually needs notarisation and legalisation by a Thai embassy or consulate. Your lawyer should also run the seller’s name and company through the Department of Business Development’s DataWarehouse and the Legal Execution Department’s bankruptcy search: a bankrupt seller cannot validly transfer, and a company with unpaid creditors may see the sale challenged.

Be especially careful with villas and land sold through a Thai company that a foreigner controls. Holding land through nominee shareholders is illegal under sections 111–113 of the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542, and buying the shares of such a company means buying its legal risk. Our guide to Thai company nominee risks explains why.

Permits & zoning

Which permits and zoning rules should you check?

Check that every building on the plot has a building permit (Form Or 1) and that what stands matches the approved plans. Buildings that need an inspection before use, such as condominiums, should also have a building-use certificate (Form Or 6). Then confirm the town-plan zone, hillside elevation and coastal limits allow what you plan to do.

The most common Phuket problem is not a missing permit but extra work: a pool roof, an enclosed terrace or a staff house added after the permit was issued. Ask for the approved drawings and compare them with the villa room by room; your lawyer can ask the local authority whether any order or complaint is on file. Building without a permit or departing from the plans exposes the owner to demolition orders and penalties under section 65 of the Building Control Act.

Zoning and environmental rules decide what you can do next. Land above 80 m in Phuket is restricted, slopes of 35% or more are off-limits under the 2017 rules, and coastal zones cap height and density. If you plan to rebuild, extend or rent daily, check those rules and the building’s regulations now. Our building a house guide covers the hillside regime in detail.

Access & utilities

How do you check road access, servitudes and utilities?

A villa or plot needs legal, not just physical, access: frontage on a public road, or a servitude registered on both your deed and the deed of the land the road crosses. Then confirm that electricity, water and wastewater are connected legally, in whose name the meters are, and that a well, if any, is permitted.

Condo checks

What should you check when buying a condo?

For a condo, the juristic person managing the building is your main source. Ask it for the foreign quota letter confirming that foreign ownership stays within 49% of the total unit area (s.19 bis), the debt-free letter the Land Office needs to register a transfer (s.29), the last audited accounts, the sinking-fund balance, AGM minutes and the building regulations.

Common fees attach to the unit, not to the owner, and the Condominium Act allows surcharges on late payment — up to 12% a year, and up to 20% once fees are six months or more overdue — so buying a unit with arrears means inheriting them unless the seller pays first. Check that the unit’s area on the condo title matches the sale contract, since fees and the foreign quota are both calculated per m².

To register in foreign freehold you must also show that the purchase money came into Thailand in foreign currency, using the Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form your Thai bank issues for transfers of USD 50,000 or more. Our condo foreign quota guide explains how the quota is counted, and our financing guide explains how to move the money correctly.

Off-plan developers

How do you check an off-plan developer?

With off-plan you are lending money to a developer for 18–36 months, so check the company as a lender would: its Department of Business Development record, filed accounts and directors, completed projects and delays, land title and project mortgage, building permit and EIA approval, and how your instalments are protected — escrow is voluntary in Thailand.

Foreign buyers often reserve off-plan units in Phuket from abroad on the strength of a brochure. A two-week lawyer review before the first instalment costs a fraction of one payment. Our buying off-plan guide explains payment schedules and how to negotiate them.

Fees & timeline

How much does due diligence cost and how long does it take?

In 2025–2026, Thai law firms typically charge ฿20,000–40,000 to review a straightforward condo resale, ฿30,000–80,000 for a villa with land, and ฿50,000–100,000 or more for multi-title land, company structures or off-plan projects. A condo review takes one to two weeks; a villa or plot three to four, longer if a survey is needed.

Budget separately for a building inspection by an engineer on a resale villa, a Land Office boundary verification if markers are missing, and translation of key documents. Transfer fees and taxes — the 2% transfer fee, 3.3% Specific Business Tax or 0.5% stamp duty, and withholding tax — are explained in our buying costs and taxes guide. Ask for a written fee quote and a written report: a lawyer who only tells you “it is fine” has not done the job.

Checklist

The complete property due diligence checklist, stage by stage

Use this checklist with your lawyer: stage one before you pay a reservation deposit, stage two during the legal review, stage three for condos or off-plan projects, and stage four on transfer day. Every item should end with a document in your file, not a verbal assurance from the seller, the developer or an agent.

Stage 1 — Before the reservation deposit

Stage 2 — Legal review (all properties)

Stage 3 — Condos and off-plan projects

Stage 4 — Transfer day

Red flags

Which red flags should stop a property purchase?

Walk away, or at least stop paying, when the title is not a Chanote or registered condo title, the seller cannot sign alone, the deed carries a seizure, access is not registered, the building has no permit, the condo has no foreign quota, or someone proposes nominee shareholders. Most of these problems are cheaper to avoid than to fix.