Thai property crackdown: Foreign buyers hit pause on villas as nominee loophole closes

Thailand’s crackdown on a loophole that effectively bypasses its restrictions on land ownership by foreigners is causing prospective buyers to delay purchase decisions on luxury villas in resort destinations such as Phuket and Koh Samui, according to agents. Bangkok has stepped up its scrutiny of business and property ownership in the country, with the Department of Business Development (DBD) flagging 11,426 companies on Koh Phangan and Koh Samui where foreigners hold stakes, accounting for nearly 68 per cent of all registered firms on the two islands, which are districts in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani, according to local media reports. The DBD has also identified more than 7,000 businesses suspected of using illegal nominee structures, mainly in the real estate, tourism and hospitality sectors. The crackdown aims to zero in on entities that used a Thai national as a dummy shareholder to comply with the law restricting foreign shareholding to a maximum of 49 per cent. Under such unscrupulous arrangements, the Thai shareholders would claim property ownership on paper but had no tax history to back up the claim. As of early this year, Thai authorities had prosecuted more than 850 companies for financial damages involving lost revenue of over 15 billion baht (US$458 million). Although there is a lack of official data on the number of luxury properties held under a nominee structure, property tech group Juwai IQI estimated that in Phuket about three in five transactions in the villa segment involved a foreign buyer or lessee, while in Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, nine in 10 villa buyers were foreigners. This would be the equivalent of 2,400 to 3,000 villas both in Phuket and Koh Samui. Property agency List Sotheby’s International Realty Thailand said that while data on ownership of landed villas was not publicly available, “international buyers account for the overwhelming majority of activity in the high-end villa market in Phuket and Koh Samui”. “We are seeing more buyer hesitancy, particularly among buyers who were still evaluating their options,” said Felix Desjardins, a real estate adviser at the agency. “The result has been slower decision-making and, in some cases, a temporary shift towards condominiums, where the ownership framework is generally more straightforward for foreign buyers.” In 2025, Chinese nationals remained the largest group of foreign investors in Thai residential property, although the data available was for condominiums. Chinese buyers bought 4,940 units in Thailand with a total value of 18.5 billion baht, which represented a drop of 12.9 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, from the previous year, according to local media reports. In projects that sell condominiums or flats, foreign buyers are allowed to own as much as 49 per cent of the total development and as land ownership is not involved, they can legally own the units. Desjardins said the crackdown had less impact on Chinese owners as they preferred to buy flats rather than landed properties. Property consultancy Colliers described the current market for villas as “a period of greater caution and due diligence rather than buyers walking away from transactions altogether”. “What we are seeing though is buyers asking more questions [and seeking] clarity and taking a little more time to understand ownership structures and compliance requirements before proceeding,” said Karlo Pobre, deputy managing director for consultancy services at Colliers Thailand. Despite the stricter enforcement, developers have not changed their strategy by abandoning luxury villa projects, Pobre added. “Developers will naturally adapt to market conditions, but at this stage we have not seen any clear indication of a major shift in development strategy,” he said. Banyan Group Residences, the property development arm of Singapore-listed hospitality firm Banyan Group, said its villas were sold to foreigners using a “legally recognised leasehold structure”, which typically comprised a renewable, 30-year land lease together with ownership rights that were registered with the government. “Within our own portfolio, we have not seen buyers withdrawing from transactions because of the nominee-company enforcement,” said Stuart Reading, managing director for group property development at the Banyan Group. “On the contrary, buyers who are well advised tend to place greater value on projects where the legal structure is clear from the outset and supported by an established developer.” Phuket and Koh Samui were popular with foreign buyers owing to their resort lifestyle, international connectivity, healthcare, schools, beaches and rental demand, he added. “Compared with more mature regional markets such as Hong Kong or Singapore, Thailand continues to offer compelling lifestyle value, particularly for buyers seeking a second home or long-stay residence,” Reading said. Demand for villas remained steady, with many buyers looking for properties with a swimming pool and a price tag of between 15 million baht and 30 million baht, located near international schools, said Nasupha Suwansri, vice-president of IQI Phuket, which is an experienced agency on the island. Investors and second-home buyers, meanwhile, typically look for properties in the price range of 30 million baht to 70 million baht in neighbourhoods such as Bang Tao, Layan, Laguna, Kamala and Rawai. To avoid potential pitfalls, those looking to buy landed properties in Phuket, Koh Samui and other areas in Thailand should consult a “good agent and lawyer”, said Kashif Ansari, Juwai IQI co-founder and group CEO. “The two most common clean routes of ownership are buying a villa registered as a condominium unit and holding it in freehold, or registering a 30-year lease,” Ansari said. Ansari also cautioned buyers against leases that can be automatically extended for 90 years, saying it was “not enforceable.” Other advice was to refrain from entering into a nominee arrangement where Thai shareholders hold the land but the foreign buyers actually control it.

Thai property crackdown: Foreign buyers hit pause on villas as nominee loophole closes

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As of early this year, Thai authorities had prosecuted more than 850 companies for financial damages involving lost revenue of US$458 million

As of early this year, Thai authorities had prosecuted more than 850 companies for financial damages involving lost revenue of US$458 million