Buying off-plan in Pattaya, step by step

1. Check the project and the developer

Before you pay anything, look at what stands behind the brochure.

• What the developer has already finished, and whether those buildings were delivered on time.
• Whether the project has its environmental approval (EIA). Larger condominiums need one, and a project without it can be delayed, changed or cancelled.
• Whether units are still available in the foreign quota, if you want freehold in your own name.
• The completion date, and how far construction has actually got.

2. Reserve the unit

A reservation fee holds a specific unit while the contract is prepared. Since 31 January 2025 condominium reservation agreements have been regulated: you can cancel and get the fee back if the developer fails to obtain environmental approval, misses the construction timeline or changes the project.

3. Sign the sale and purchase agreement

Developers must use the Interior Ministry's standard-form contract for condominium sales. Terms that depart from it to the buyer's disadvantage cannot be enforced, and the developer's advertising material counts as part of the contract.

Have a Thai lawyer read it anyway. The standard form protects you on the main points, but the payment schedule, the specification and the handover terms are specific to each project.

4. Pay in stages

After the contract payment, instalments are paid while the building is under construction and the balance is due at transfer. These payments go directly to the developer. Thailand has an Escrow Act, but using it is voluntary and most projects do not, which is why the developer's track record matters.

5. Bring the money in correctly

To register a freehold condominium, a foreign buyer has to show that the purchase money came into Thailand in foreign currency. Send it from abroad in your home currency, in your own name, and state the purpose as buying the condominium. For transfers of USD 50,000 or more the receiving Thai bank issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction form; for smaller amounts it issues a letter confirming the transfer. Keep every one of them.

6. Inspect, then transfer

When the unit is finished you inspect it and list any defects for the developer to fix. Ownership then passes at the Land Office: you pay the balance and your share of the fees, and receive the title deed for the unit. The standard contract gives a defect liability of five years for the structure and two years for other parts of the building.