Developer payment plans in Phuket: schemes, rates, what happens after handover

A developer payment plan in Phuket is a schedule of instalments you pay straight to the developer, with no bank involved. Usually the payments are spread over the construction stages and you must have paid 100% by the time you get the keys. Plans that run past handover are rare, and they don't last long. Here are two recent ones I have covered. In Laguna the part after the keys is 50% over 1, 3 or 5 years at about 3% to 7% a year; on a 9,300,000 baht one-bed (about $282,000) that is 277,564 baht a quarter on the five-year option. In a Pasak project in Bang Tao, as of my post of 7 September 2026, 30% was paid over two years after the keys with no interest; I bought there on that plan myself, and I also sell units in that project. High season starts on 1 November, and developers offer terms like these only at certain stages of sales, so below is how to read a schedule before you book.

Schedules and prices change by project and by unit, so every figure below is a worked example as of the date of my post, not a price list.

How payment plans work in Phuket: the short answer

Most Phuket plans live only until handover: the developer splits the price across the build, and by the keys you owe nothing. A plan that runs after the keys is the exception. It can cost interest, as in Laguna, or not, as in Pasak.

Here is the usual plan next to four real schedules from my channel.

Look past the first payment and count how much money sits with the developer before the building exists. In Nai Yang that is 75% before the keys. In Sansiri and Laguna it is 50%, in Pasak 70%. Laguna and Pasak are the two schemes where part of the price waits until the apartment is finished and can be let: half in Laguna, 30% in Pasak.

A real schedule, baht by baht: a 9.3 million baht one-bed

This is the unit I published on 14 August 2026. One bedroom, 54 sq m (48 inside plus a balcony), 9,300,000 baht, 172,000 baht per square metre, leasehold. Booking 100,000 baht. The developer offers two ways to pay, and I took the second one, the one with the balance after the keys.

During the build you pay half, 4,650,000 baht (about $141,000):

• 20% at contract, 1.86 million baht including the deposit;
• 10% when the building is 25% complete, 930,000 baht;
• 10% at 50%, 930,000 baht;
• 10% at 75%, 930,000 baht.

The other 4,650,000 baht goes into a plan after handover. You choose the term.

The quarterly payments and the 901,000 baht for five years are from the developer's calculation in my post. The three-year and one-year interest figures I worked out myself: number of quarters times the payment, minus the 4,650,000 baht balance.

Interest is charged on the outstanding balance, so each payment shrinks the base. You can pay off early at any time, and the interest is then recalculated. I would not sign without that clause.

Add the running costs. Maintenance of the common areas is 100 baht per square metre, 5,400 baht a month for this unit, plus a sinking fund of 5,400 baht a year. I break these down in the cost of owning a condo in Phuket.

"Interest-free" is not free: what paying in full saves

In Nai Yang the plan during the build charges no interest. That doesn't mean the plan costs nothing. There the price is the cost.

The Nai Yang launch I covered on 25 September 2026 shows how. A 32 sq m one-bed with furniture and appliances, list price 4,040,000 baht.

The difference is 200,000 baht, about $6,100, so the instalments cost about 5.5% more than paying in full. Ask the developer for the price if you pay in full. The gap between that and the plan price is what the plan costs you. I wrote more about how discounts are built in when a developer discount is a warning sign.

For scale, as of 15 October 2026 the Bank of Thailand's policy rate is 1.00%, set at its meeting on 26 August 2026. A developer's 3-7% is not a bank rate and is not linked to it. I give it only so you can see the scale.

After the keys: early repayment, registration, payment route

Once the balance runs past handover, the clause I read first is early repayment. In the Laguna scheme you can close the plan at any time, and the interest is recalculated on what is left. When spare money turns up, you close the balance and stop paying 7%. Get that clause in writing in your own contract.

A post-handover plan does not protect the money you pay before the keys. In Dubai, off-plan developers have to use escrow accounts under Law No. 8 of 2007%20of%202007.html). In Phuket escrow is voluntary, as I show with sources in the risks of buying off-plan, so your build-stage payments go straight to the developer. The plan only means the rest is paid once the building stands and you hold the keys.

While part of the price is still owed, ask the developer and your lawyer, before you sign, when the unit is registered in your name and what secures the developer's claim until the last payment. There is no general answer, it depends on the developer and the contract. Missed payments are the same: there is no general rule; the contract decides. Ask for the exact clause: the grace period, the penalty, and at what point the developer may cancel and what it keeps.

Then there is how you pay. For a foreign freehold purchase, the money has to come into Thailand from abroad in foreign currency, and the Thai bank issues proof of the transfer for the Land Office. For a single transfer from USD 50,000 that is the Foreign Exchange Transaction form; below that amount, you get a credit advice. The sender's name must match the buyer's. How that fits your particular schedule, check with your lawyer before the first transfer. The Laguna unit in this article is leasehold. If you are still choosing the form of ownership, read freehold vs leasehold in Phuket and how to buy property in Thailand as a foreigner.

Will the rent cover the instalment?

In my example of 11 August 2026, a 67 sq m Laguna one-bed on a five-year plan, gross rent at about 8.5% a year covered about 70% of the instalment. But the operator takes its share for marketing, guests, check-ins and service. Roughly 60% of the rental income goes to the owner and 40% to the management company. After that, the owner's share covered slightly over 40% of the payment. The rest you pay yourself.

To show the same logic on the 9.3 million baht unit, here is an illustration. It is not a rent forecast for that unit. I take the same 8.5% gross and the same 60% owner share from that example.

The shorter the term, the less the rent helps. And the year is uneven: the six low-season months bring in much less than the high season, so some quarters you will cover more from your own pocket. I show this month by month in Phuket low season rental rates, and how to get from gross to net in gross vs net rental yield.

Payment plan or mortgage?

Clients ask me this more than anything else. On 26 August 2026 I compared the two on one budget, a flat at 19.5 million roubles. I leave the sums in roubles, as I published them, and treat them as an illustration: what carries over is the proportion between the two schemes.

One caveat first. According to agencies that work with foreign buyers, Thai banks rarely give mortgages to non-residents and usually want a work permit and income in Thailand. The only 15-year loan for foreigners I have covered is a non-bank programme (my posts of 6 July and 20 August 2026). The terms of my calculation of 26 August, 45% at 9% over 15 years, match it. As of August 2026 on Phuket it exists in practically one project, managed by an international hotel brand (in my July post, Marriott). Check the terms before you book.

The lender is Capital Link Credit Foncier, a licensed Thai financial company working since 1972 and regulated by the Bank of Thailand, a partner of the developer Capstone Asset. The terms as I published them:

• up to 50% of the price, for up to 15 years;
• about 9% a year, linked to the Thai MLR, annuity payments, interest on the declining balance;
• no arrangement fee, early repayment without penalty;
• the 1% mortgage registration fee is paid by the buyer;
• the unit is registered in your name, and a mortgage on it is registered at the same time;
• the loan applies to the balance you owe at handover.

Income can be confirmed not only by salary: business income, dividends, rental and investment income, freelance work, a pension, royalties. Age 20 to 65, documents translated into English, and your credit history at home is not requested. In my post of 4 July 2026 I covered it for buyers from Russia, and income can be earned in any country. Approval is individual, so check whether you qualify before you book.

The plan's interest is about 1.8 million against 7.2 million for the loan. The loan's monthly payment is less than half of the plan's.

If you plan to resell before the keys, you don't need the loan at all: it would start at handover. What matters is how much you freeze until then and whether the developer allows an assignment, which almost always needs its consent, usually for a fixed fee. I cover this in assignments and below-market resales.

Rental is where the loan works better. At 8-9% gross the flat brings about 1.6 million a year, about 975,000 net, around 81,000 a month. That covers the loan payment almost fully and less than half of the plan payment. This holds when your money is working elsewhere, in a business or a portfolio at more than 9%. If you have the spare capital and buy to let, my answer in that post is the plan: 1.8 million of interest against 7.2 million.

If you will live in it, there is no rent, and it comes down to spare cash. With it, the plan saves 5.4 million roubles of interest. Without it, the longer loan keeps the monthly payment lower.

In that post I boiled it down to one rule:

A mortgage is a tool for people whose money knows how to work. A payment plan is for those who want to pay less and not think about interest. (from my post of 26 August 2026)

What to check in the contract before you sign

On 31 August 2026 I wrote what a transparent plan looks like to me: clear interest, payments tied to construction stages, the rate fixed in the contract, early repayment without penalties.

If the terms are only spoken and the wording in the contract is vague, I don't go into that deal. And I won't take you into it. (from my post of 31 August 2026)

Go through this list before you transfer the booking.

1. The full-payment price. Ask what the unit costs paid in one go, and compare.
2. The rate after handover, fixed in the contract, and how it is charged: on the outstanding balance or on the full amount.
3. The early repayment clause, and how the interest is recalculated.
4. The clause on late or missed payments: grace period, penalty, cancellation, what the developer keeps.
5. When the title is registered in your name if part of the price is still owed after the keys, and what secures the developer until then. Ask the developer and your lawyer.
6. Whether you may let the unit before full payment, and through whose management.
7. The developer's consent and fee for an assignment, if you may want to exit early.
8. The payment route, and the FET form or credit advice in your name, if you buy freehold.
9. The developer's record of finished and handed-over buildings. Ask how many it has already handed over, and go and see at least one in person.

If you want to see what a unit can earn before you think about the schedule, use the yield calculator. It counts rental yield, not instalments. For a schedule on your own unit and budget, write to me, and I will lay it out with the developer's current terms. And take the checklist of questions before you sign to every viewing this season. If a visa is part of the plan, read Thailand property and visas.