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Find a property lawyer in Phuket for condo purchases, villa leases and land checks, with local notes on Phuket's building limits and Land Offices.
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International boutique law firm in Bangkok and Phuket, providing legal and tax services to investors, businesses, and private clients across Thailand
฿4,000–12,000 / hour
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A property lawyer in Phuket helps with two common kinds of purchase: a condo, which a foreigner can own outright, or a villa, which sits on land a foreigner generally cannot own. The legal work differs for each.
| Condo | Villa | |
|---|---|---|
| What you own | The unit, within the building's 49% foreign quota | The house; the land is leased |
| How you hold it | A condo title deed in your name | A registered lease of up to 30 years, plus a superficies right over the house |
| What a lawyer checks | Foreign quota, a debt-free certificate from the building, proof the money came from abroad | Land title, lease and superficies terms, building permits and Phuket's building limits |
| What can go wrong | The quota is full, or unpaid debts to the building hold up the transfer | Renewal promises beyond the first 30 years are not registered rights |
If the project is not built yet, a lawyer also checks who owns the land, the building permit and what the contract says about delays. Our guide to buying an off-plan condo covers those checks. Firm cards list the languages a firm works in and show a free-consultation label where a firm offers one.
Phuket has its own environmental protection rules, set by a Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment notice in December 2024. They limit what can be built by distance from the sea and by height above sea level. A lawyer checks them before you buy land or a villa.
| Where the land is | What can be built |
|---|---|
| Within 20 metres of the shoreline | No buildings |
| 20 to 50 metres from the shoreline | Buildings up to 6 metres high, with 75% of the plot left open |
| 50 to 200 metres from the shoreline | Buildings up to 12 metres high |
| 200 to 400 metres from the shoreline | Buildings up to 16 metres high, unless building-control or town-planning law sets a different limit |
| 40 to 80 metres above sea level | Buildings up to 8 metres high |
| 80 to 140 metres above sea level | No new buildings, except one house up to 6 metres high on land owned or lawfully occupied before the 2017 rules |
| Above 140 metres | No new buildings |
| Sloping hillside land | Single houses only: up to 6 metres high within 50 metres of the shoreline or 40 metres or more above sea level, and up to 12 metres elsewhere |
Hillside plots also have to meet the Department of Public Works and Town Planning's hillside standards. The table is a summary and leaves out detail, such as open-space rules. Which zone a plot falls in depends on surveys and maps, so a lawyer can confirm it in writing before you commit.
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International boutique law firm in Bangkok and Phuket, providing legal and tax services to investors, businesses, and private clients across Thailand
฿4,000–12,000 / hour
Holding land in someone else's name on a foreigner's behalf (a nominee) is risky: the Land Code lets the Department of Lands dispose of land held that way. A lawyer can explain which structures fit your situation, and leasehold vs freehold in Thailand sets out the trade-offs.
Phuket has two Land Offices: the Phuket Provincial Land Office and its Thalang branch. The transfer goes through the office that covers the property, and you can book a registration appointment in advance through the Department of Lands' e-QLands app. The standard transfer fee is 2% of the official appraised value, whatever price you agree. Specific business tax or stamp duty and withholding tax come on top, and our guide to property transfer fees explains who usually pays them.
Letting a place for stays of less than a month counts as a hotel business, which needs a licence. A small property with up to 8 rooms and 30 guests can instead notify the registrar and receive a notice valid for five years. Condo buildings may add their own rules, so check them before you count on rental income.
For the rules that apply everywhere in the country, see how property law works across Thailand.
This page is general information, not legal advice. For a specific purchase, speak with a qualified lawyer.
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