Thai Law Articles

Supreme Court 1511/2569: a developer cannot keep 2.8M baht of instalments as a forfeited deposit. Earnest-money rules (CCC s.377-378) for condo buyers.

You paid the reservation fee. You picked the unit. Then the sales office called: the foreign quota is full. This page is for that moment. It sets out the five legal options a foreign buyer has in Thailand when a condo’s 49% foreign quota is exhausted. They’re ranked from lowest risk to highest, with the statute behind each one.

Short answer. When the foreign quota is full, the Land Office will not register the unit in your name (Condominium Act B.E. 2522, Section 19 quater). You have five options. (1) Walk away and recover your reservation fee. (2) Move to a unit or building that still has quota. (3) Register a 30-year lease. (4) Buy in a Thai spouse’s name. (5) Buy through a real Thai-majority company. Options 1 and 2 are low risk. Option 3 is medium. Options 4 and 5 carry real legal and financial exposure. Nothing else on offer (joint ownership with a Thai, “30+30+30” leases, a promised 75% quota) actually works.

We’ve handled this call many times while advising foreign clients in Thailand since 2006. The buyer is usually a few days into a transaction and under pressure to “just sign the lease version”. Don’t. Read this first. It takes ten minutes, and it can save you from paying for a unit you never legally own.