Freehold and leasehold are the two ways to hold property in Thailand, and for a foreign buyer the choice is driven by what you are buying rather than by preference. A condo unit can be owned outright; a house with land only through a registered long lease or a Thai company. Here is what each term means, how it is registered, which clauses should worry you, and how ownership form shows up in price and resale.
Freehold: outright ownership, no expiry
Freehold is full ownership with no expiry: you can sell, gift, bequeath and rent out the property. Title is registered at the Land Department in your own name.
For foreigners, freehold in Thailand applies to condominium units only, and only within a building’s foreign quota. A foreign individual cannot hold land in their own name, so houses and villas use different structures, covered below.
Leasehold: a registered long-term lease
Leasehold is a registered right to use a property for a fixed term. The maximum the Land Department registers in one entry is 30 years. Renewals are written into the contract with the owner, but they are contractual promises, not registered rights: each renewal is registered afresh, and whether it happens depends on who owns the land at that time.
Leasehold is the standard route for villas and land, and also appears in condominiums where the foreign quota is full and a Thai-quota unit is offered to a foreigner on a lease.
What a foreigner can actually own
Condos: freehold within the 49% foreign quota
Under the Condominium Act, foreigners may hold no more than 49% of a condominium’s residential floor area. While the quota is not full, the unit is registered to you freehold. Purchase funds must arrive from abroad in foreign currency with a Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form. The full sequence is in our guide on how to buy a condo in Thailand as a foreigner.
How much the quota matters is visible in our inventory. As of September 2026 we list 391 condos for sale in Pattaya:
- Jomtien: 151 units, 83 of them in the foreign quota;
- Pratumnak: 90 units, 57 in the foreign quota;
- Wongamat: 65 units, 30 in the foreign quota;
- Central Pattaya: 26 units, only 7 in the foreign quota.
Roughly half of the condos for sale in our inventory are available to you outright; the rest sits in the Thai quota, which a foreigner can only take on a lease or through a company. The filtered inventory is on our foreign quota condos in Pattaya page.
Villas and land: leasehold or a Thai company
Villas in Pattaya work differently. Since the land cannot be titled to a foreigner, two structures are used in practice:
- A 30-year registered lease on the land with contractual renewals. The house itself can often be titled to the foreigner separately from the land; check this per property.
- A Thai company that holds the land. The foreigner holds no more than 49% of the shares. The main risk is nominee shareholders: a company with no real business and paper partners is legally vulnerable, so discuss it with a lawyer before the deal.
Freehold vs leasehold at a glance
| Criterion | Freehold | Leasehold |
|---|---|---|
| Right held | Full ownership | Registered long-term lease |
| Term | Indefinite | Up to 30 years per registration; renewals by contract |
| Land Department registration | Yes, title in the buyer’s name | Yes, the lease is registered against the owner’s title |
| Resale | Free; ownership passes to the buyer | Remaining term is assigned; owner consent is usually required, terms per contract |
| Inheritance | Passes to heirs | Depends on the wording; without an explicit clause the right may end |
| Mortgage | Thai banks lend to foreigners on a limited basis; check current terms | Rarely financed in practice |
| Condo voting rights | Vote at owners’ meetings | No vote; it stays with the owner |
When leasehold makes sense
Leasehold is a different tool, not a worse freehold. It fits when:
- you are buying a villa or a house on land and do not want a company;
- your holding horizon is clear, say 10 to 15 years, after which you plan to exit;
- the building you want only has Thai-quota units left and no foreign-quota alternative.
If the goal is an asset for life that goes to your children, look for a freehold condo even if that means another building or district. Our Pattaya apartments listings let you compare where foreign quota is still available.
Red flags in a leasehold contract
These clauses usually deserve attention. This is not legal advice; have any lease reviewed by a lawyer who works with Thai property law.
- Verbal renewals. No renewal clause with procedure and price means the term is exactly 30 years.
- Renewal tied to the current owner only. The obligation should bind any future owner of the land.
- No inheritance or assignment clause. The right to pass the lease to heirs or sell the remaining term must be stated explicitly.
- Unregistered lease. A 30-year contract not registered at the Land Department lacks the protection of a registered right. Registration is normally done on completion day.
- Open-ended renewal fees. “At market value at the time of renewal” means you will learn the price in 30 years.
- Existing encumbrances. A bank mortgage registered before your lease: check what happens on foreclosure.
How ownership form affects price and liquidity
In the same building a foreign-quota unit generally sells for more than the equivalent Thai-quota unit, because its buyer pool is wider: both foreigners and Thais can take it. There is no universal “leasehold discount”; the gap depends on the building and the quota left, so ask us about a specific project.
For scale: as of September 2026 the median asking price of a condo listed for sale in Jomtien is THB 3.8M, on Pratumnak THB 3.0M, with a median of roughly THB 72,000 to 73,000 per square metre in both areas.
Liquidity favours freehold for the same reason: the buyer receives ownership, not the remainder of a lease. A leasehold villa can be sold, but the fewer years remain, the narrower the buyer pool and the more the renewal clause matters.
Transfer costs apply either way. On a transfer of ownership expect a 2% transfer fee on the appraised value, plus either specific business tax of 3.3% (if the seller has owned the unit for less than 5 years) or stamp duty of 0.5%, plus withholding tax. Who pays what is negotiated and written into the contract. Condo maintenance fees and the sinking fund are charged per square metre regardless of ownership form.
Bottom line
For a condo the answer is almost always the same: buy freehold in the foreign quota. It is the simplest to register, the cleanest to resell and the easiest to pass on. For a villa the choice is between a leasehold and a Thai company, and the quality of the contract decides, not the label. Keep one thing separate: buying property does not grant a visa; check the current conditions of long-stay options such as the DTV, retirement Non-O and LTR when you apply.
Not sure which quota a unit is in, or whether a lease is drafted properly? We will shortlist freehold options and review lease terms on a specific property. Message us on Telegram or WhatsApp.
