Due diligence

Start with a fresh Land Department extract for the plot or unit: who owns it, what the surveyed boundaries are, and - critically - what is written on the back of the title deed, where Thai law records encumbrances. Mortgages, registered leases, usufructs, servitudes and court seizures all live there. Verify registered road access while you are at it; a plot reachable only by a neighbour's goodwill is effectively landlocked and worth far less than its view suggests.

Then check what the law allows on the land, independently of who owns it: the planning zone, permitted use and density, height and setback limits, environmental constraints. Finally, check the counterparty - the developer's capital and record, or for a resale, the seller's actual position. Use an independent Thai lawyer who has no connection to the seller. The seller's recommended lawyer is, structurally, the seller's lawyer.

Top of the hierarchy is the Chanote (Nor Sor 4 Jor) - the only true ownership deed, with GPS-surveyed boundaries marked by numbered posts, supporting immediate registration of sales, leases, mortgages and subdivision. For any structure a foreigner relies on - a registered lease, a usufruct, a superficies - the underlying title should be a Chanote or, acceptably, a Nor Sor 3 Gor: formally a possession title, but precisely surveyed, fully transactable and often upgradeable to a Chanote.

Below that the floor drops quickly. A plain Nor Sor 3 has no precise survey and carries real boundary-dispute risk. And a family of documents - Sor Kor 1, Nor Sor 2, Sor Por Kor 4-01, Sor Tor Kor, Por Bor Tor 5 - confer at most possession or a tax record: nothing can be registered on them, they cannot be sold, and some sit on protected forest land where construction is illegal. No discount justifies buying into them. One more nuance worth knowing: even Chanote land can be lost to ten years of open adverse possession by a stranger, so absentee owners should not abandon their plots.

No - and this is the second-most expensive misunderstanding in Thai land deals. Zoning under the town-planning regime controls what may exist on a plot regardless of who owns it: permitted use, density, building height, setbacks from roads, neighbours and the shoreline. Agricultural zones often allow a single private house but prohibit exactly what a developer's brochure promises - subdivision and multi-unit construction for sale. Conservation and forest zones prohibit building entirely.

Resort geography adds its own layers. On the islands where foreigners actually buy - see our area guides - height caps commonly step down with proximity to the sea and elevation, construction is barred above certain contour lines, and coastal setbacks can run tens of metres. Larger and coastal projects may need environmental approval before a permit can issue. The check is straightforward for a professional and devastating to skip: a “sea-view development plot” in the wrong zone is a field.

From three angles. Financial substance first: a company's registered and paid-up capital should be proportionate to what it is building - a THB 5 million company running a THB 100 million project is carrying your risk, not its own. Track record second: completed, delivered projects you can visit, and ideally a stock-exchange listing with the disclosure that entails. Legal posture third: is the project a licensed condominium development bound by mandatory contract standards, does the developer own the land or is it mortgaged to a lender, do the permits exist before the cranes do.

This matters more in Thailand than in many markets because off-plan instalments are usually not protected by escrow - your stage payments fund the construction directly, so the developer's solvency is your real security. The mechanics are in our off-plan guide. For projects under construction, we treat developer verification as the core of the file, not an appendix.

Beyond the unit, the building. Confirm in writing, from the juristic person, that foreign quota is available for your unit - quota is counted per building, by floor area, and verbal assurances evaporate. Confirm the building is actually registered under the Condominium Act, with a Land Department file number; an unregistered “condo” offers a foreigner no freehold at all. Pull the unit's own title to check for mortgages and seizures.

Then look at money and management: outstanding common fees attach to the unit and become the buyer's problem at transfer, so demand a debt-free confirmation; review the sinking fund, the maintenance fee level and whether the juristic person genuinely functions - minutes, budgets, an elected committee. A building's legal health ages the way its lobby does: visibly, if you look.