Freehold vs leasehold in Phuket: the real question is why you are buying

First week of October. The low season is ending, high season starts on 1 November, 26 days from now, and people are already booking December trips to view property. I have one piece of advice for that trip: settle the form of title at home, before you fly. Freehold in good projects goes first, and in season everyone arrives to view at the same time.

So I will take the freehold vs leasehold question now, while there is time to think. The short answer: to live and to pass on, freehold. For income over 10-20 years, with a developer that has renewed leases before, leasehold works. Why, and where the catch is, below.

Ownership feels like the obvious choice, because that is how most of us think about a flat at home. But in Thailand the form of title decides the price you pay, how easily you sell, and who you depend on decades from now. Both forms exist here, and which one you pick changes the price you pay, how easily you sell, and who you depend on decades from now.

The main question is not "which is better". It is: why are you buying? (from my post of 10 July 2026)

At a glance: freehold vs leasehold in Phuket

A foreigner can hold a condo unit in Phuket in two ways. The quota, prices and case law below are as of 6 October 2026.

A foreigner in Thailand cannot own land. A foreigner can own property. With villas, the structure is registered as yours and the land under it is held leasehold. The rest of this article is about condo apartments, where both forms are available.

Freehold and the 49% foreign quota

Freehold is full ownership. Your name is on the title as the owner. You can live in the unit, rent it, sell it, give it away, leave it to your children. No terms, no renewals.

There is one limit, and it is the quota. In any condominium, no more than 49% of the total apartment floor area can be registered to foreigners. That comes from section 19 of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979). Raising the cap to 60-75% has been discussed and not adopted, so 49% it is.

Two mistakes come up again and again.

The first: the quota is counted in square metres, not in units. A building with a hundred apartments does not mean forty-nine of them go to foreigners. What counts is the total floor area and how many square metres are already registered to foreigners.

The second is a fear: "not enough Thai buyers will turn up, and my purchase will be cancelled." If your ownership is already registered, nobody cancels it. The real risk is narrower: whether there was free quota for your unit on the day you registered at the Land Office.

So before anyone pays for a freehold unit, I check four things. Is there free foreign quota for this specific unit. How much of the quota is already used. Can this unit actually be registered freehold. Is the quota guaranteed in writing in the contract.

Because the quota is limited, freehold in good projects sells first and costs more, which is where the price gap comes from.

Leasehold: what really happens after 30 years

Leasehold is a long-term lease registered at the Land Office. You treat the unit as your own: you live in it, rent it out, take the income, and you can sell the lease. The registered owner stays someone else.

The question everyone asks: what happens after thirty years? Here is my answer, along with what has changed in the courts.

A typical contract looks like this. A 30-year lease, and the developer undertakes to renew it with you for two more terms. Each new term will be the maximum the law allows at that time: if the law allows 30 years, you get 30; if it allows 50, you get 50. People call it an extension, but legally nothing is extended. A new contract is signed.

Now the caveat. Section 540 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code caps a lease of immovable property at 30 years. In ruling No. 4655/2566 the Supreme Court held the classic 30+30+30 structure, an automatic promise of two more terms, void as an attempt to get around section 540. You cannot force the developer to honour it, not even as a contractual obligation, not even if the lease is registered at the Land Office and the future terms were paid up front.

You will still see leasehold sold as "30+30+30" or "up to 90 years". Treat that as the developer's promise, not as your right. After ruling No. 4655/2566 a court will not enforce it.

In practice, renewal after 30 years rests on the developer's reputation and on the developer's own interest.

With leasehold, everything comes down to the developer. (from my post of 1 October 2026)

This is not a young market. Foreigners have been buying on Phuket for about forty years, and established developers such as Laguna and Sansiri are already renewing leaseholds with foreigners. But a developer who decides otherwise still cannot be made to renew through the courts.

So this is how I model it. The investment case is built on the first 30 years. Anything after that is a bonus, and its size depends on who stands behind the building.

What the developer should look like: a company that does only development, with completed projects and its own renewal cases. It does not need 40 years on the market; 12-20 years is enough, like the good Thai developers. What matters is that it is not a fly-by-night outfit, the kind whose exit leaves nobody sure what happens to the condominium or who ends up with the land.

With freehold that question does not exist. The property is yours.

Price and resale: where each form wins

In the same project, leasehold is usually 5-10% cheaper than freehold, and in some projects the gap is 10-15% or more. In May 2026 I wrote 5-10%; in October, 10-15%. I take the lower end. The figure moves from project to project, and it is better to plan on the modest one.

Leasehold is cheaper on the way in, and you pay for that when you sell.

Freehold is easier to sell. Conservative buyers choose it, especially on the resale market, where a unit has already earned out its rental potential. And once a building's foreign quota is used up, a foreigner can buy freehold there only from another foreigner. There are fewer such units on the market and less competition between them, so buyers treat them as scarce.

Leasehold is harder, for two reasons. Some buyers will not consider it at all. And the term melts with time: sell after ten years and you are selling twenty years, not thirty. That shows in the price.

Some reliable developers have an answer to this: renewable leasehold. Say you signed for 30 years, held the unit for 5 years and found a buyer. Normally the buyer would get the remaining 25. With renewable leasehold, the developer signs a new contract with the new buyer for the full term, the maximum the law allows at that time: 20, 30 or 50 years. If you choose leasehold, look for exactly this kind of contract. Just remember it is the same kind of promise as renewal, and it is only as solid as the developer.

If you are buying to rent out, before comparing the two forms on price, read how gross yield turns into net. A 5-10% cheaper entry carries weight once you know what the unit actually earns.

Converting leasehold to freehold: a case from Layan

In some projects a unit can be converted from leasehold to freehold for a fee paid to the developer. Terms differ everywhere, and you need them before the deal.

Here is a case I covered in September 2026. A resale in Layan, the quiet northern end of Bangtao. A unit of about 75 sqm, leasehold, at the original contract price.

Even after paying for the conversion, the buyer stays below the developer's price list: by my count, 13.5 million minus 11.25 million, by at least 2.25 million baht. Does the buyer need freehold at all? That depends on the goal.

Whether you need freehold depends on the goal. For renting out, leasehold is enough. For living and inheritance, freehold is calmer. (from my post of 15 September 2026)

One more condition. Conversion is only possible while the building still has free foreign quota. Once the quota is used up, there is nothing to convert into.

How to choose: by purpose, not by price

The price tag is a poor guide here. Start with why you are buying.

Take freehold if you plan to live there, leave it to your children, or hold it for a long time and want stronger demand on resale.

Leasehold fits if you are buying for rental income over 10-20 years, the developer has a history and renewal cases, the freehold quota in the project is already gone, and the price difference matters to you. Over 10, 15 or 20 years a good liquid unit earns its rent, and you exit by selling it in the same leasehold.

The visa does not change the choice. Both forms qualify for the investment visa: a freehold condo, or a leasehold condo or house, at a property value from 3 million baht. The visa is issued for a year and renewed every year. Buying does not guarantee it; any type of visa can be refused. These rules are as of September 2026 and change often, so I hand visa details to specialists.

One more point if you are buying from abroad. A unit in Thailand, freehold or leasehold, is an asset held in your name in another country. Depending on where you are tax resident, that can mean reporting obligations at home: declaring the asset, showing the source of funds. Check your home-country obligations with a lawyer before you choose.

If the quota in the project you like has already run out, you have options: take the same unit leasehold, find a similar one in another project, wait for a foreign owner to sell their freehold, or reserve earlier next time.

Before a high-season viewing trip

High season starts on 1 November. In December everyone flies in to view at once, and good freehold goes first. If you arrive without knowing which form you need, you will be deciding in a showroom from whatever is left.

So decide now. Write down in one line why you are buying: to live, to pass on to your children, or for income, and for how many years. That line usually picks the form for you. What is left are the questions for the developer: how much quota is left for this unit, what exactly the contract says about renewal, which real renewal cases the developer has, and whether the unit can be converted to freehold and at what price.

The quota check, the renewal clause and the conversion terms are only part of what needs answering before a deal. I have put the full list into a checklist, 30 questions before you sign. Take it with you to the viewings and ask the developer every question in writing.