The Foreigner's Guide to Buying a Condo in Chiang Mai

Thailand lets foreigners own a condominium unit outright, within a quota for each building, while land stays closed to them. This guide covers the law, the purchase in 7 steps, the fees and taxes, and the mistakes that stop foreign buyers in Chiang Mai. Every rule here is dated, with its source at the end.

Can foreigners legally own a condo in Thailand?#

Yes. Under Thailand's Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979; foreign-ownership rules amended 1991, 1999 and 2008), a foreigner can own a condominium unit outright, registered at the Land Office in their own name. Two conditions apply. You must fit one of the Act's categories, which for most buyers means bringing the full price into Thailand as foreign currency, and all foreign owners in the condominium together may hold no more than 49% of the combined floor area of its units.

The Act's categories are foreigners with permanent residence, foreigners admitted under the investment-promotion law, Thai-registered companies that count as foreign, foreign companies with investment promotion, and any foreigner who brings in foreign currency or pays from a non-resident baht account or a foreign-currency account (section 19). Permanent residents and investment-promotion foreigners show their status at the Land Office instead of a money trail.

Land is different. Foreigners cannot own land, so a house or townhouse with its land cannot be bought freehold. The one exception, after investing at least ฿40 million and with the Minister's permission, allows up to one rai for a home (Land Code, sections 86 and 96 bis).

Freehold vs. Leasehold: which one applies to you?#

Most foreign buyers want freehold: it is the cleanest ownership and the easiest to resell. Leasehold is the route when the 49% quota is full, when you want a house with its land, or when a project was sold as leasehold from the start. A lease of more than three years binds beyond three years only when it is registered at the Land Office, and no lease of property may run longer than 30 years. Side by side:

Where do foreigners buy a condo in Chiang Mai, and what does it cost?#

Chiang Mai's condos stand mostly in Nimman, with its cafés, coworking and walkable sois, and in the towers by the river and the Night Bazaar; further from the centre a condo costs less. The typical asking price for a condo on property portals, read April to August 2026:

A typical price is the middle of the asking prices we read; a building's own units can sit well above or below it. Areas with fewer than three asking prices, the Night Bazaar's riverside towers among them, are left out rather than guessed.

The 7-step purchase process#

Assuming you have found a unit and confirmed the building has room in its foreign quota, here is the path from offer to title:

1. Reservation agreement and deposit, in an amount the developer or seller sets. Get in writing when the deposit is refundable.
2. Due diligence: a title search at the Land Office, the juristic office's statement of any common fees owed on the unit, and how much of the 49% foreign quota is left.
3. Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA), bilingual and reviewed by your lawyer before you sign. Write in it who pays each fee and tax, and the transfer date.
4. Proof of foreign funds: bring at least the full price into Thailand in foreign currency, ideally sent by you, giving the purpose as buying your unit, or pay from a Thai foreign-currency account or a non-resident baht account. Ask the receiving Thai bank which certificate or credit advice it issues for the Land Office, and ask the Land Office which document it accepts. For any single transfer of US$200,000 or more meant for Thai property, the bank must see supporting documents such as the sale contract (Bank of Thailand rule, as of October 2026).
5. Pre-transfer inspection of the unit.
6. Transfer day at the Land Office that covers the building's district: the Chiang Mai Provincial Land Office or one of its branches. The office needs the juristic office's latest debt-free certificate and, for a foreign buyer, its certificate that foreign ownership stays within 49%, with your passport and the bank's evidence from step 4. Fees and taxes are paid there on the day; ask the office how it takes payment.
7. Your name is registered on the condominium title deed and you take the owner's copy home. Give the juristic office your contact details, and keep every bank document from step 4.

Taxes and fees: what you actually pay#

By law the costs of a sale contract are shared equally unless buyer and seller agree otherwise (Civil and Commercial Code, section 457), and in practice the seller pays the seller's taxes. Write who pays what into the SPA. The rates, as of October 2026:

Common mistakes foreign buyers make#

• Paying without a paper trail: the Land Office registers a foreign freehold only on bank evidence that at least the full price came in as foreign currency, or from a Thai foreign-currency or non-resident baht account. Money paid out in baht by a transfer service, or from an ordinary baht account, may not give that evidence: ask your bank and the Land Office before you pay.
• Trusting oral quota claims: ask the juristic office in writing how much of the 49% is left before you pay a deposit. At transfer it issues the certificate the Land Office needs.
• Buying before due diligence: unpaid common fees block the sale. The Land Office registers a transfer only against the juristic office's latest debt-free certificate, which the manager must issue within 15 days once the fees are paid.
• Using a non-specialist lawyer: Thai property law has traps unfamiliar to international counsel. Use a Thai lawyer with condo-transfer experience.
• Assuming a 30+30+30 lease is 90 years: only the registered term of up to 30 years is secure (Supreme Court decision 4655/2566).
• Holding a house's land through Thai nominees: a company counts as foreign when foreigners hold more than 49% of its shares or make up more than half its shareholders, and holding land for a foreigner, through a company or in a person's name, is a criminal offence.

What happens after you own it?#

The building's juristic person sets the Common Area Maintenance (CAM) fee per square metre per month. Ask it for the current rate, and for the sinking fund, the building's fund that owners pay into under its by-laws (Condominium Act, section 40). Late fees carry a surcharge of up to 12% a year, and up to 20% a year after six months (section 18/1).

Each year the local government collects the Land and Building Tax on the official appraised value. Rates for homes run from 0.02% to 0.1% a year, set by Royal Decree. If your name is in the unit's house registration on 1 January, the first ฿50 million of land and building value is exempt, or ฿10 million when you own only the building. Sources differ on which of the two applies to a condo, so ask the municipality, and ask whether a foreigner's yellow house book qualifies.

Rent from a Thai unit is taxed in Thailand whether or not you live here. Get a tax identification number, declare the rent on form PND 94 for January to June and on the annual PND 90, and deduct either 30% or your actual costs; the rest is taxed at progressive rates. If you live abroad, a tenant who pays you rent must withhold 15%, which counts toward your tax.

This guide is general information about Thai law as of 28 October 2026, not legal or tax advice. For a specific purchase, ask a Thai lawyer.