Buying off-plan in Thailand: seven checks before you reserve

In the sales galleries of Sukhumvit, the model often fits on a single table: a glass tower, a rooftop pool, and floors still unclaimed. Buying off-plan means choosing your unit, your floor and your view before the building exists, at the launch price, with payments spread over the construction period. In the thirteen Bangkok neighbourhoods we track, 60 developments were selling this way on 6 October 2026, with completion announced between 2026 and 2029. Their address reads like that of a finished building, station and soi included, as we showed in our article on Bangkok property prices. Seven checks make it possible to examine, before reserving, the documents available and the commitments that will mark out the development. Texts checked on 27 October 2026; two points are not settled in this article and are listed at the end of the page.

Who buys off-plan in Thailand, and why?

Those who want an apartment the market does not yet offer. In Bangkok, the longest-established addresses are almost entirely built up: in Silom and Sathorn, 98 of the 102 developments we track are already completed; in Ari, 92 out of 93. New-build goes up elsewhere, and it sells early. According to CBRE, developments under construction in central Bangkok showed an average sales rate of 52% in the first half of 2026, and 85% in the super-luxury segment, while completed developments reached 93%. In the same press release, of 19 August 2026, the agency reports that international buyers made up 32% of purchases in the centre, in its own data.

On the coast, the movement takes other forms. In Pattaya, only 14.2% of developments are sold off-plan, but they account for 53.7% of condominium units for sale: a handful of large towers make up the supply. On Koh Samui, an island of villas, more than one development in two is sold before it is built. Hua Hin stands at 15.4%.

What our surveys say about off-plan supply, October 2026:

These shares describe supply on the market at the survey date, not transactions. They show where new-build is to be found: in Pattaya’s towers, on the slopes of Samui and, in Bangkok, away from the already built-up addresses of Silom or Ari.

What does a reservation give the buyer?

Three things, which are the whole appeal of buying off-plan. First, the price: the launch price, fixed in the contract. Then, choice: the floor, the orientation and the layout, among the units still available. Finally, time: the reservation, then the sale and purchase agreement, open a payment schedule that follows construction, with the balance paid on transfer of ownership at the land office.

This first commitment is now regulated. The notification of the Contract Committee of the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB, สคบ.), adopted on 30 August 2024 and published in the Royal Gazette on 3 October 2024, has made the sale of condominium units with a reservation a contract-controlled business since 31 January 2025. The reservation contract takes a standard form: drawn up in Thai, in two copies, one of which is handed to the buyer on signing, it states the development, the unit, the materials, the price, the sum paid, the expected date of the sale and purchase agreement, and the dates on which the building permit is applied for and issued.

The annexed model also gives the buyer clearly defined ways out. The buyer may terminate and recover the full reservation sum if the required environmental impact assessment is not approved, if the developer does not conclude the next contract within the agreed period, if the developer fails, without reasonable cause or through its own fault, to take the planned steps to obtain the building permit, or if the plans, the project or the materials change without the buyer’s consent. Repayment is made within 7 days of termination for payment in cash, by bank transfer or by cheque, and within 15 days for payment by card, in which case any card fees may be deducted. Where the developer knew that the buyer needed a loan, either party may also terminate if that financing is not granted within the agreed period. The sum paid is neither a deposit nor an advance payment; the seller may keep it only if the buyer does not conclude the next contract within the agreed period, after written notice giving the buyer at least seven days from receipt to perform their obligations.

What separates a good off-plan project from an average one?

A good project can be verified on paper, and almost every document is available before you sign. The seven checks follow the life of the development, from the land to the handing over of the keys.

The seven checks, document by document:

a. The developer and its project company. In Thailand, a development is often carried by a company separate from the group’s brand. Its registration can be read in the DBD DataWarehouse database of the Department of Business Development (DBD): address, directors and signing powers, financial statements filed, nationality of shareholders. The legal name and registration number shown in the contract, the payee of the instalments and the signing powers are compared against these records: it is this company, not the brand, that will sign.

b. The land and its access. To register a condominium, section 6 of the Condominium Act requires the title deed to the land, the chanote (โฉนดที่ดิน), the building plan showing its access to a public road, and a certificate that the building is free of encumbrances, except for a mortgage over both the land and the building. In that case, section 7 makes registration subject to the creditor’s consent. According to Tilleke & Gibbins, the standard contract provides that the seller warrants its ownership and discloses any mortgage.

c. Permits. Approval of the environmental impact assessment, the building permit and the start of works are three separate stages; how to check them online is explained in our article on environmental impact assessments. The reservation contract now carries the deadlines relating to the permit, so they can be compared against the documents.

Contract, money, quota and handover: what do the texts say?

d. Two contracts, two models. The reservation contract follows the OCPB model; the sale and purchase agreement, for its part, falls under section 6/2 of the Condominium Act: concluded by the owner of the land and the building, it follows the model set by the Minister, and any non-conforming part that is unfavourable to the buyer has no effect. This model, known as อ.ช. 22, was set by a Ministry of the Interior notification of 1 July 2008, according to a study published in 2018 in the Kalasin University journal. According to Tilleke & Gibbins, it includes the completion and transfer dates, the list of common property, the buyer’s right to assign the contract free of charge, and late-payment interest owed by the buyer capped at 15% a year. A thesis from Ramkhamhaeng University noted in 2022 that some developers use their own contracts: comparing them clause by clause with the model is part of the review.

e. Payment schedule, delay and escrow. According to ThaiLawOnline’s analysis, the model provides two routes in the event of delay: keep the contract and receive a daily penalty, or terminate and obtain a refund of the sums paid, with interest. Tilleke & Gibbins adds that force majeure suspends construction only for a limited period. The applicable legal regime, the warranties provided in the contract, their duration and starting point, and the remedies for delay are checked before signing; the payment schedule, meanwhile, is read in the light of the financial strength of the company that signs it.

f. The foreign quota and the funds. Section 19 bis of the Condominium Act caps the share held by foreigners at 49% of the total floor area of the units, building by building. Sections 19 and 19 ter distinguish several categories of foreign buyer, each with its own supporting documents; for the imported-currency category, the evidence must cover the price of the unit. In practice, the receiving bank issues a transfer certificate, the FET form (formerly Thor Tor 3, ธ.ต.3), whose thresholds and format are a matter of banking practice, according to ThaiLawOnline. Off-plan, the availability of the quota is confirmed in writing for the chosen unit; a reservation alone does not guarantee it. In Bangkok, 1,289 buildings offered foreign quota on 20 October 2026, or 67.8% of those whose status is known; the forms of tenure are set out in our article on freehold and leasehold.

g. Handover. Under section 31, the transfer of the first unit goes hand in hand with the application to register the condominium’s juristic person, published in the Royal Gazette; the first general meeting is held within six months. Common charges are shared according to the ownership ratios or the regulations (section 18), whose draft forms part of the registration file. Our surveys show that off-plan developments in Bangkok announce THB 63 per m² per month, against THB 55 for buildings completed since 2020; the full budget is set out in our guide to the cost of ownership. Completion, the handover inspection, the rectification of defects, registration of the condominium and transfer of ownership are separate stages. Finally, according to ThaiLawOnline, Tilleke & Gibbins and a NIDA study, the standard contract includes a warranty of at least five years for the structure and fixed installations, and two years for other components.

When we model the case of Karen and Steve, a one-bedroom off-plan apartment in Bangkok

Placing a development in its neighbourhood with our database

For each development, our records show its developer, its sub-district, its status, off-plan or completed, and its year of completion where known. They make it possible to place an off-plan development among its already completed neighbours, and to see what the same developer has already delivered in the city. To see the off-plan developments in your neighbourhood, start by placing them on the map.

Two points the texts leave open

When termination for delay becomes available. Penalty cap reached or completion date passed: ThaiLawOnline gives both readings, while Tilleke & Gibbins takes the transfer date.

A contract that departs from the model. Section 6/2 deprives of effect any non-conforming part that is unfavourable to the buyer; the sources consulted do not say which clause applies in its place, and the 2022 thesis notes that developers use their own contracts.

What you can do now

Before reserving, ask for three documents: the DBD record of the company selling, a copy of the chanote with the access plan, and the draft sale and purchase agreement. Compare the latter with the อ.ช. 22 model, late-completion clause included. Then ask for written confirmation that your unit falls within the foreign quota.