In Thailand, “freehold” and “leasehold” are not market labels — they are distinct legal instruments registered separately at the Land Office, with different rights, different terms, and different exit options. For foreign buyers, the choice between them is partly a preference and partly forced: freehold land is closed to foreigners by the Land Code, so leasehold becomes the default for villa purchases. For condominiums, both options exist and the choice has real implications.
This article unpacks both, compares them on the dimensions that matter for foreign buyers in Phuket, and covers what the March 2025 Supreme Court ruling changed for leasehold buyers.
Freehold — full ownership in your name
Freehold means you hold the title deed. The Land Office register shows your name as owner. The right is perpetual, transferable by sale or gift, inheritable, mortgageable, and not contingent on any other party.
For foreigners, freehold is available for condominium units only, registered under the Condominium Act 1979. Two conditions must be satisfied:
- The condominium project must have foreign-quota capacity. Section 19 caps total foreign-owned saleable floor area at 49% of the project. If the building is at quota, no new freehold registrations are possible until a foreign-owned unit is sold to a Thai or restructured to leasehold.
- Purchase funds must enter Thailand from abroad in foreign currency, evidenced by a Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form from the receiving Thai bank.
Freehold land is closed to foreign individuals under the Land Code, with three narrow exceptions: Section 96 bis (THB 40M investment-based, rare), BOI-promoted business land, and inheritance (with one-year disposal requirement). None is a normal route for residential buyers.
Leasehold — a registered right to use, for a fixed term
Leasehold is a registered tenancy right under Section 540 of the Civil and Commercial Code. The owner of the property remains the freehold title-holder; the lessee gains the right to use, occupy, sub-lease, and (depending on the lease terms) modify the property for the term of the lease.
The hard cap is 30 years per registered lease. The cap is statutory — clauses extending a single lease beyond 30 years are void as a matter of law, not a matter of negotiation. At the end of 30 years, the property reverts to the owner unless a fresh lease is registered.
Leasehold is the typical structure for foreign buyers acquiring villas or houses on land in Phuket. It also exists as an alternative for condominium units when the freehold quota is full or the buyer prefers a leasehold structure (sometimes for inheritance or tax reasons).
What the 2025 Supreme Court ruling changed
For three decades, the Phuket villa market sold “30+30+30” structures — a 30-year lease with two pre-agreed renewals written into the contract, marketed as “90-year secure tenure” or, with a buffer, “99-year leasehold.”
On 18 March 2025, the Supreme Court of Thailand (Decision No. 4655/2566) held that pre-agreed automatic renewal clauses are not enforceable. A renewal must be a genuinely new negotiation at the end of the initial 30 years, with no enforceable forward promise. The decision did not invalidate existing 30-year leases, but it removed the legal basis for the “60+” or “99-year” effective terms that buyers thought they were buying.
Three implications for buyers in 2026:
- A 30-year registered lease is enforceable as written. Don’t read the ruling as casting doubt on standard leasehold.
- A renewal clause in your lease cannot be relied on. The lessor’s heirs or a new owner of the freehold can refuse to renew, with no liability.
- Marketing copy or sales pitches that promise “90 years” or “99 years” of tenure under a single registered lease are misleading. Treat the practical horizon as 30 years.
Detailed mechanics of registration, renewal procedure, and what to negotiate in a leasehold contract: 30-year leasehold in Thailand — registration, renewal, and what to negotiate.
Comparison — freehold vs leasehold, at the dimensions that matter
| Dimension | Freehold (foreign-owned condo) | Leasehold (land or condo unit) |
|---|---|---|
| Term | Perpetual | Up to 30 years |
| Title in Land Office | Your name on the title deed | Owner’s name; lease registered on back of deed |
| Transferability | Sell freely; new owner gets new title | Assign the lease; lessor may have consent rights per contract |
| Inheritance | Pass by will or intestate | Lease passes to heirs for the remainder of the term |
| Renewal | N/A (perpetual) | Negotiable at end of term; no enforceable pre-commitment (post-2025 ruling) |
| Resale market | Strong — foreign buyers pay premium for freehold condos | Weaker — secondary lease has fewer years left and limited buyer pool |
| Mortgageability (foreigner) | Possible via select foreign banks | Very difficult |
| Initial cost (registration) | 2% transfer fee + other taxes | 1% lease registration fee + 0.1% stamp duty |
| Annual costs | Land & Building Tax, CAM, sinking fund | Land & Building Tax (typically owner pays), CAM, sinking fund |
| Foreign quota constraint | Yes — 49% cap | No — leasehold doesn’t count toward the 49% |
| Available for land? | No (condo only for foreigners) | Yes |
| Available for villas? | No | Yes |
| Risk at end of term | None | Property reverts to lessor unless renegotiated |
Which to choose
The choice is constrained more than it is open.
For a condo, choose freehold if available. The premium you pay over leasehold is recovered on resale because the buyer pool for freehold condos is much larger and the asset is genuinely yours forever. Only choose leasehold for a condo if the freehold quota is full and you don’t want to wait, or if there’s a tax-planning reason specific to your situation.
For a villa or house on land, leasehold plus superficies is the practical structure. The land cannot be freehold for a foreigner. A 30-year lease on the land secures occupancy. A registered superficies on the building gives you separate, transferable, inheritable ownership of the structure itself — solving the building-only side of the equation. The combined cost at the Land Office is two registrations and two stamp duties, which is a small price for clarity. See Usufruct, superficies, habitation — alternative real rights for foreigners in Thailand for the mechanics.
Avoid Thai-company-holds-land for personal residences. The structure is legally permitted only with genuine Thai shareholders. The 2024–2025 enforcement wave (Department of Special Investigation, Department of Business Development, Revenue Department) makes nominee structures actively risky — fines, forced dissolution, and sale orders are now real outcomes. Detail in Thai company structures for property ownership — what changed in 2024–2025.
When leasehold is genuinely fine
The 30-year horizon sounds short until you do the math against the alternative.
A foreigner who buys a leasehold villa at age 50 in 2026 has clear tenure to 2056. By 2056 the buyer is 80, the property is 30 years older, the area has changed, the family situation has changed. In most cases the buyer would be selling, downsizing, or no longer using the property anyway. The “I want freehold so my grandchildren inherit it” argument is real for some, but for most foreign buyers in Thailand, a 30-year horizon matches their actual ownership intent.
The honest framing is: leasehold gives you secure, exclusive, contractual use of a Thai property for up to 30 years, in a country where freehold land is closed to you anyway. If that matches your timeline, leasehold is fine. If you genuinely need multi-generational land tenure, Thailand may not be the right country to buy in, and no contract structure will fix that.
Cost difference at registration
For a 10M THB condo:
| Tax/fee | Freehold | Leasehold (30 years) |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer fee | 2% × 10M = 200,000 | N/A |
| Lease registration fee | N/A | 1% × 10M = 100,000 |
| Stamp duty | 0.5% × 10M = 50,000 (if SBT not applicable) | 0.1% × 10M = 10,000 |
| SBT (if seller <5 years) | 3.3% × 10M = 330,000 | N/A |
| Withholding tax | Variable | N/A |
| Buyer’s typical share | ~100,000–200,000 (transfer fee, often split) | ~110,000 (full) |
Leasehold is cheaper at registration. Resale costs are also lower for leasehold. But the asset itself is worth less because of the finite term, so total cost of ownership over a long hold favors freehold for assets you intend to keep or pass on.
Full breakdown of who pays what: Taxes and fees when buying property in Thailand — full 2026 breakdown.