Buying Property on Thailand's Islands: Phuket, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Krabi

Published on: September 13, 2026

Last reviewed: September 2026. Thai property law moved materially in 2025 and 2026 and further reform proposals remain live. General information, not legal, tax or investment advice.

Quick answer:

• Freehold condominium inside the 49% quota is the only true foreign ownership. The quota has not been raised to 75%.
• Thirty years is the lease ceiling. A March 2025 Supreme Court ruling held that stacked 60 and 90 year renewals do not create an enforceable longer term.
• The Thai company route is now an enforcement target, and it is also a diligence problem when you buy a resale villa held that way.
• A foreign condo owner cannot lawfully let nightly. The small-scale hotel exemption excludes condominiums and is restricted to Thai nationals.
• The 0.01% transfer fee cut does not apply to you. It is limited to individual Thai buyers; foreigners pay the full 2%.

Thailand's island property market sells a version of ownership that Thai law does not recognise. Ninety-nine year leases, guaranteed renewals, villa "freehold" through a Thai company, and rental income from nightly bookings are all marketed openly across Phuket, Samui, Phangan and Krabi. Each of the four is either unenforceable, unlawful or both.

That is not an argument against buying. It is an argument for buying the thing that actually exists rather than the thing in the brochure. Foreigners hold hundreds of thousands of legitimate property interests in Thailand, the legal structures that work are well established, and the islands offer rental yields that most Mediterranean markets cannot match.

This guide sets out what is enforceable in 2026, what changed in 2025 and 2026, and how the four island markets differ. For the mainland and the north, see our guide to Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and inland Thailand.

The four structures, ranked by how well they hold up

1. Freehold condominium, inside the 49% quota

This is the only route to true freehold ownership in a foreign name, and it is clean.

The Condominium Act B.E. 2522 permits foreign nationals to own units in a registered condominium up to an aggregate 49% of the total saleable floor area of the building. Once that quota is exhausted, no further foreign freehold registration is possible in that building at any price.

Two conditions attach. The purchase funds must be remitted into Thailand in foreign currency and converted to baht, and the receiving Thai bank must issue a Foreign Exchange Transaction form (formerly the Tor Tor 3) evidencing this. Without the FET, the Land Department will not register foreign freehold. Funds already sitting in a Thai baht account do not qualify. Plan the transfer accordingly, using our guide to moving money abroad to buy property.

Proposals to raise the quota to 75%, in some versions limited to designated zones such as Phuket and Samui or to units above a price floor, have been under discussion since late 2024. As of 2026 no amendment to the Condominium Act has been passed. The 49% figure is the law.

What to verify before any deposit: the building's registration status under the Condominium Act, and the remaining foreign quota confirmed in writing by the juristic person, dated. A developer telling you the quota is "fine" is not a document. In early 2026 the Land Department introduced tighter digital tracking that flags buildings approaching their quota, which helps but does not remove the buyer's obligation to check.

2. Registered leasehold, 30 years, and not a day more

Thai law caps a registrable lease at 30 years. Contracts routinely promise one or two further 30-year renewals, marketed as 60-year or 90-year terms.

On 18 March 2025, the Supreme Court of Thailand ruled on those stacked structures and held that provisions purporting to grant a term exceeding the statutory maximum do not create an enforceable extended right. A renewal clause is a contractual promise by the current landowner. It is not a registrable property right, and it does not reliably survive the sale of the land, the landowner's insolvency, or the landowner's death.

Treat any lease marketed as 60, 90 or 99 years as a 30-year lease with unenforceable promises attached, because that is what a Thai court will most likely treat it as. The general framework is in leasehold versus freehold for foreign buyers.

The separate proposal to amend the law and permit 99-year leases on non-agricultural land has been discussed since 2024, was said to be heading to Parliament in late 2025, and remains unenacted. The incoming government indicated in September 2025 that it would not pursue it. Until a Royal Gazette publication says otherwise, 30 years is the ceiling.

What does improve a lease: registration at the Land Office (an unregistered lease over three years is enforceable for only three years), prepayment of the full rent for the term, a registered right of superficies alongside the lease so you own the building independently, and a clause requiring the lessor's consent to any transfer of the land to be conditioned on the buyer honouring the lease.

3. Superficies and usufruct

A right of superficies (sitthi nuea phuen din) allows a foreign national to own a building on land owned by someone else, registered at the Land Office and capable of running for up to 30 years or for the life of the holder. A usufruct (sitthi kep kin) grants the right to use and take the fruits of the property, and can be granted for life.

Paired with a registered lease, these are the strongest villa structure genuinely available to a foreign buyer. They are not ownership of the land, and no competent Thai lawyer will tell you otherwise, but they separate the building from the land in a way Thai law explicitly permits.

4. The Thai company route, which is where the enforcement is

Foreign nationals cannot own land under the Land Code Act B.E. 2497. The workaround sold for two decades was a Thai limited company in which Thai shareholders hold the majority while the foreigner holds control through preference shares or side agreements. Where those Thai shareholders have no genuine economic interest, the structure is a nominee arrangement and it is unlawful under the Land Code and the Foreign Business Act. The pattern, and why it fails, is set out in nominee ownership: buying property in a local's name.

Enforcement moved from theory to practice in 2025 and 2026. Thailand launched a nominee investigation covering tens of thousands of companies. The Department of Business Development issued orders requiring proof of genuine source of funds and signed Investment Confirmation Letters for company incorporations and amendments, with DBD Order No. 2/2568 taking effect on 1 January 2026 and DBD Order No. 1/2569 on 1 April 2026. The Department of Lands has been cross-checking corporate ownership data against land titles.

This has two consequences for a buyer. First, do not enter a nominee structure now. Second, and less obvious: if you are buying a resale villa, ask how the seller holds it. A large share of the Samui and Phuket villa resale stock sits in company structures assembled under the old assumptions. That is a liquidity problem for the seller and a diligence problem for you.

The title deed matters more on islands than anywhere else

Thailand issues several classes of land document and they are not equivalent.

Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) is full title with surveyed, GPS-referenced boundaries. It is the only document that supports confident transaction, mortgage and long-term lease registration.

Nor Sor 3 Gor is a confirmed certificate of use with approximate boundaries, upgradeable to Chanote but not yet surveyed to the same standard. Boundary disputes with neighbours are the usual failure mode.

Sor Por Kor 4-01 is agricultural land allocated under a land reform programme. It cannot be sold, transferred or leased to a foreign national or to a Thai who does not qualify. It appears on island markets, priced attractively, and it is not buyable.

On Koh Phangan and parts of Koh Samui in particular, a meaningful share of the hillside land offered to foreign buyers sits on Nor Sor 3 Gor or worse, and some sits inside forest reserve or national park boundaries where private title was never validly issued. Commission your own title search through an independent Thai lawyer, not through the seller's lawyer, and check the boundary against the physical plot. Our guide to land registries and cadastres explains what a title search should actually return.

The four islands

Phuket

Phuket is the most institutional of the four. It has a year-round international airport with direct long-haul routes, branded residences, international schools, private hospitals and the deepest rental management infrastructure in Thailand.

It is also where the condo quota pressure is highest. Phuket and Pattaya together account for the majority of foreign condominium transactions in Thailand, and in the established beachfront buildings the foreign quota is frequently exhausted.

Entry pricing across the island runs roughly 120,000 to 180,000 baht per square metre for condominium stock, with gross rental yields commonly quoted in the 6.5% to 8% range, the highest of Thailand's major markets. The 2026 development pipeline has shifted noticeably toward pool villas, with new launches across Cherng Talay, Phuket Town, Patong, Rawai and Bang Tao. Knight Frank data puts Phuket villa pricing across an extremely wide band, from around 5.9 million baht to 255 million baht, with Bang Tao at the top.

Buy Phuket if you want the deepest management and resale market and you are prepared to pay for it. Be careful about quota exhaustion in prime buildings, oversupply in the mid-market condo segment, and any villa presented as owned rather than leased.

Koh Samui

Samui is where the money has been rotating. Foreign buyer transfers in Surat Thani province rose sharply through 2025, and Koh Samui and Koh Phangan together have been described as a 61 billion baht investment cluster on Q1 2026 data.

The structural argument for Samui is scarcity by regulation. Building height on the island is capped at three storeys and roughly 12 metres, which has prevented the tower development that reshaped Phuket and Pattaya. The consequence is a villa-led market where condominiums represent only around 11% of available stock, and around 85% of that condo stock is priced below 10 million baht.

Villa pricing across the island averages around 30.5 million baht on listings, with a median closer to 17.2 million and the most active transaction band between 10 and 15 million baht. Entry prices run roughly 20% to 30% below comparable Phuket locations. Gross yields on well-managed villas have been reported around 7% with net closer to 5.4%, and Choeng Mon, Bophut and Chaweng are the consistent performers.

The two constraints are seasonality and access. Between 60% and 70% of visitors arrive between November and March. Samui Airport operates as a private concession with limited international routing, so most guests connect through Bangkok, Phuket or Singapore. That caps nightly rates relative to Phuket and concentrates demand.

Buy Samui if you want villa scarcity at a discount to Phuket and you can accept a shorter season. Be careful about the company-structure legacy in the resale stock, villa rental supply growth, which grew 34% year on year in early 2025 and compressed mid-market nightly rates, and any hillside plot without Chanote title.

Koh Phangan

Phangan is Samui's cheaper flank and it is a genuinely different risk profile. There is no airport; access is by ferry from Samui or Surat Thani, which limits the guest profile and makes the island materially harder to reach in bad weather. The visitor economy is younger, more wellness and event driven, and more seasonally concentrated.

Land prices are well below Samui, the development stock is smaller and less professionally built, and the title quality issues described above are at their most acute here. Foreign buyers who do well on Phangan are generally those who buy a Chanote plot with a registered lease and superficies, build to their own specification with a Thai architect and contractor, and manage the property themselves or through a small local operator.

Buy Phangan if you want the earliest-stage entry price of the four and you are hands-on. Be careful about everything a professional market would ordinarily handle for you: title, permits, build quality, water supply and access roads.

Krabi

Krabi has the clearest infrastructure story of the four in 2026. The airport has added terminal capacity and a runway expansion that permits larger aircraft and more daily flights, road connectivity across the province has improved materially, and development competition is lower than Phuket. The relationship between air access and second-home value is set out in direct flights and property value.

Investment is following. Klong Muang and Tab Kak on the northern coast have attracted the province's largest mixed-use projects, with condominium pricing reported from around 70,000 baht per square metre, well below Phuket. Ao Nang remains the established tourist centre, Railay is inaccessible by road and therefore structurally supply-constrained, and Koh Lanta operates as a separate, quieter market.

Buy Krabi if you want Phuket-style coastline at a pre-Phuket price and you are comfortable with a three to five year infrastructure thesis. Be careful about the same national park and forest reserve boundary issues that affect all Andaman coast land, and about buying into a first-generation project from a developer without a delivered track record on the island. Our guide to vetting a property developer abroad covers what to ask for.

The rental question, answered honestly

This is the part of Thai island investment that is most consistently misrepresented, and it is worth being precise.

Under the Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004), any property let on a nightly or weekly basis for compensation falls within the statutory definition of a hotel. Section 15 prohibits operating a hotel business without a licence. Thai court decisions have confirmed that only lettings of 30 days or more fall outside that definition, because those are residential tenancies under the Civil and Commercial Code.

There is a lighter-touch exemption for small-scale accommodation that avoids the full hotel licence, but it carries two absolute restrictions. It applies only to private houses and villas, and condominium units are expressly excluded. And the person making the notification must be a Thai national. A foreign individual cannot apply for it, whatever property rights they hold.

Put together, that means a foreign condominium owner in Thailand has one compliant income structure: residential lettings of 30 days or more. Not nightly. Not weekly. If that is your plan, our guide to mid-term rentals of 30 to 180 days is the relevant playbook.

Most condominium buildings also impose their own rules through the juristic person, and many prohibit short lets in their bylaws regardless of the Hotel Act position. Enforcement varies by island and by building, and Phuket in particular has run periodic enforcement campaigns. The cross-country picture is in holiday let licensing.

What this changes in practice: a villa inside a licensed hotel-operated resort, where the operator holds the licence and you participate in a rental pool, is a legitimate structure, and the trade-offs of that model are in leaseback and condo-hotel schemes. A standalone condo let nightly through a booking platform is not, and the yield figures built on that assumption are not yields you can lawfully realise as a foreign owner.

Rental income is taxable in Thailand at progressive personal rates from 0% to 35%, with a standard 30% deduction available on gross rental income from buildings without itemising expenses.

Transaction costs, and one widely misquoted number

The widely misquoted number is the fee reduction. Thailand has cut transfer and mortgage registration fees to 0.01% for purchases where the price, the appraised value and any concurrent mortgage are all at or below 7 million baht. That measure took effect in 2025, and was extended by Cabinet from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.

It is available only to individual buyers who are Thai nationals. Thai companies and foreign nationals are expressly excluded. A foreign buyer pays the full 2% transfer fee and 1% mortgage registration fee. If an agent quotes you the reduced figure, they have either not read the notification or are hoping you have not.

Separately, buyers should note that escrow is available in Thailand under the Escrow Act but is optional and not market standard. On an off-plan purchase, protections introduced by the Office of the Consumer Protection Board in January 2025 restrict deposit confiscation, but they are not a substitute for a developer with a delivered track record on the same island. Compare the regimes in off-plan deposit protection.

Frequently asked questions

Can foreigners own land in Thailand?
No, not in general. The Land Code prohibits it, with narrow statutory exceptions that do not include residential purchase. Foreigners own condominium units in freehold within the 49% quota, and hold land interests through registered leases, superficies and usufruct.

Is a 99-year lease in Thailand legal?
The maximum registrable lease term is 30 years. A 2025 Supreme Court ruling held that stacked renewal structures do not create an enforceable longer term. The proposal to legislate 99-year leases has not been enacted.

Has the Thai condo quota been raised to 75%?
No. As of 2026 the 49% cap under the Condominium Act is unchanged and no amending bill has been passed.

Can I Airbnb my Thai condo?
Not lawfully as a foreign owner. Nightly and weekly letting falls within the Hotel Act definition of a hotel and requires a licence; the small-scale exemption excludes condominiums and is restricted to Thai nationals. Lettings of 30 days or more are outside the Act.

Does buying property in Thailand give me a visa?
No. Property ownership confers no immigration status in Thailand. Long-stay options run through separate routes such as the LTR visa, Thailand Privilege, retirement and Non-Immigrant categories, and none of them alter ownership rights.

Phuket or Koh Samui?
Phuket for depth: year-round flights, management infrastructure, resale liquidity, higher quoted yields. Samui for value: 20% to 30% cheaper for comparable product, regulated scarcity through the height limit, but a shorter season and thinner access. Krabi if you are willing to trade current infrastructure for a clearer growth trajectory.

Keep reading on JanusHermes

Buy the interest Thai law recognises, verify the title class before the deposit, and price the rental plan on 30-day lettings unless a licensed operator holds the licence. JanusHermes lists property from local agencies in 11 languages, with the local agency's own contact details on every listing.

Related reading: Thailand Property for Foreigners, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Inland Thailand, Nominee Ownership Explained, Leaseback and Condo-Hotel Investments, Retire in Thailand, Bali vs Phuket and Foreign Ownership Restrictions by Country.

Pricing and yield figures are market reports current to 2026 and vary by project, location and management standard. Thai property law moved materially in 2025 and 2026 and further reform proposals remain live. This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Engage an independent Thai lawyer who is not introduced by the developer or the seller, and confirm the current position before transferring funds.