Phuket property for foreign buyers: condo prices, ownership rules and costs

Kvartiry-Phuket is a Russian-language guide to Phuket property that publishes its own open data. This English section is for buyers who read English: what a condo costs in our listing sample, what a foreigner may own, and what is paid at the Land Office. Requests from the form below go to our agent in Phuket, who replies in English or Russian.

What a condo costs in Phuket: our asking-price sample

Asking prices from public listings (DotProperty, FazWaz) observed 19 April – 15 October 2026: 1,064 listing URLs after deduplication — not transaction prices. Listings under THB 1,000,000 are left out as likely rentals or errors. Full dataset with methodology and downloads: Phuket condo asking prices. The official Treasury Department rates that set the assessed value of a unit, the base of the transfer fee: Phuket condominium assessment rates.

Can a foreigner buy property in Phuket?

Yes, a condominium unit: a foreigner can be its registered owner under the Condominium Act. The buyer must fall into one of the categories of Section 19 — the one open to any foreign buyer is bringing the purchase money into Thailand in foreign currency — and all foreign owners together may hold no more than 49% of the total floor area of all units in the building (Section 19 bis). At the transfer, the Land Office checks both the foreign share of the building and the evidence of the money transfer. Land is a different matter: foreigners generally cannot own it, and the exceptions in the law are narrow (for example a permission under Section 96 bis of the Land Code — Department of Lands), so a house or villa comes through other structures, such as a registered lease, that need a lawyer. The full answer: who qualifies, the quota, land and villas, costs and a checklist.

What you pay on top of the price

Official rates, collected at the Land Office when the sale is registered:

• Transfer fee: 2% of the official assessed value of the unit, not of the sale price (Department of Lands).
• Specific business tax: 3.3% — 3% plus a local tax of 10% of that amount — of the sale price or the assessed value, whichever is higher. It is the seller's tax on a sale that counts as commercial, for example a developer selling its units or a resale within five years of acquisition, unless an exemption applies (Revenue Department).
• Stamp duty: THB 1 per THB 200 (0.5%) of the sale price or the assessed value, whichever is higher; it is not charged when specific business tax applies (Revenue Department).
• Withholding income tax: the seller's tax, collected at registration — 1% of the sale price or the assessed value, whichever is higher, when the seller is a company; for an individual seller it is calculated from the assessed value and the years of ownership (Department of Lands).

Who pays which item between buyer and seller is a matter of the sale contract: the Department of Lands names the seller as the payer of specific business tax and withholding tax, and its fee table does not assign the transfer fee to either party. Detailed guide with worked examples (in Russian): Transfer fee и stamp duty при покупке квартиры на Пхукете.

Living by the sea: our open data in English

• Phuket sea conditions today and calm beaches by month — the share of calm days at 25 beaches in every month (NOAA WAVEWATCH III, 2017–2026) and where the sea is calmer right now.
• Phuket beaches compared — coast side, length and drive times for 25 beaches.
• Phuket weather by month — rain, rain days, day and night air, sea temperature, waves and cloud cover for every month (2015–2025 data).

Speak Russian?

The main site is in Russian: Купить квартиру на Пхукете (the buyer's guide) and Цены на квартиры на Пхукете (prices by district).

Sources

Official sources, checked on 15 October 2026:

• Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), as published by the Department of Lands (PDF, in Thai): Sections 19, 19 bis, 19 ter and 19 quater — who may own a unit as a foreigner, the 49% floor-area quota and the evidence shown at the transfer.
• Department of Lands: fees, taxes and duties at registration (in Thai): the registration fees, specific business tax, stamp duty and withholding tax collected when a sale or a lease is registered.
• Revenue Department: specific business tax on the sale of immovable property (in Thai): which sales are taxable, the five-year rule and its exemptions, the rate and the base.
• Revenue Department: stamp duty on the sale of immovable property (in Thai) and the Stamp Duty Schedule, item 28(b) (in English): the rate, the base and the exemption when specific business tax applies.
• Department of Lands: land for a foreigner's residence under Section 96 bis of the Land Code (in Thai): how a foreigner applies to acquire land for a residence under Section 96 bis.
• Department of Lands: lease registration guide (PDF, in Thai): a lease is registered for at most 30 years, and a lease of more than three years must be in writing and registered.
• Our data: Phuket condo asking prices (methodology and downloads; the figures on this page come from this JSON file) and official Phuket condominium assessment rates (Thai Treasury Department data, not market prices).

Last checked: 15 October 2026. Rates and rules change: confirm them with the Land Office and a licensed lawyer before paying.