Who buys condos in Thailand? Nationalities, prices, quotas

In the first half of 2026, 842 condominium units were transferred to Russian buyers in Thailand, for THB 3,603 million (£80.9 million), up 50.4% by number and 75.9% by value year on year, according to the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), whose figures of 11 September 2026 were picked up by the Thai press. By value, Russia climbs to second place among nationalities, behind China, whose share of foreign-bought units has fallen from 49.4% in 2022 to 27.8%; Myanmar, second in 2024 and again in 2025, drops to third. The REIC counts units transferred, not unique buyers: one person may receive several units. This barometer, designed to be updated with each quarterly REIC report, sets these transfers against the listings we track, presented in our guide to ownership and price. Texts checked on 1 November 2026.

What does the barometer for the first half of 2026 show?

From January to June 2026, 6,533 condominium units were transferred to foreign buyers in Thailand, for THB 28,267 million (£634.6 million). That is 8.8% fewer than a year earlier by number and 1.5% less by value: volume is falling, value is holding. The average unit comes to THB 4.33 million (£97,200) for 43.9 m², or about THB 98,566 per square metre (£2,200), by our calculations on the published totals.

The second quarter changed direction. From April to June, transfers rose by 1.4% by number, to 3,292 units, and by 20.2% by value, to THB 14,803 million (£332.4 million); the REIC links this rise to more expensive units. Over the half-year as a whole, it attributes the decline to the slowdown in the Thai and world economies, with some foreign buyers putting off their decision.

Foreigners account for 11.7% of the condominium units transferred in the country over these six months, and 21.7% of their value. Both shares refer to transfers during the period: not to the stock held by foreigners, nor to the legal quota. The gap between them already tells us something: a unit transferred to a foreigner is worth more on average than the market as a whole.

This ranking by value holds a few surprises: Taiwan, in fifth place, has more units than the United States, in fourth. Transfers of condominium units to foreigners by nationality, first half of 2026 and full year 2025, ranked by value for the half-year:

Behind the leading three, Western buyers hold their ground. The United States has the most expensive average unit in the top 10, THB 6.6 million, and India the largest average floor area, 72.1 m². France is sixth, with 291 units for THB 1,211 million (£27.2 million), and Australia is up 63.7% by number of units.

Russians, Chinese, Burmese: why are the curves crossing?

The Russian rise was already taking shape in the first quarter of 2026: 383 units (+33.0%) and THB 1,665 million (+68.7%), according to the REIC press release of 16 June 2026, which moved Russia ahead of Myanmar, by units and by value alike. The Bangkok Post supplied the geography: in Phuket, 156 transfers to Russians for THB 1.06 billion (£23.8 million), or 64% of Russian value nationwide, and 44% of the value of foreign transfers on the island. Surachet Kongcheep, of Cushman & Wakefield Thailand, sees in this the effect of the Russian high tourist season, of established communities that newcomers follow, of the many Russian-speaking agents in Phuket, and of payment difficulties which, in his view, have eased since Russian banks were cut off from the SWIFT network. Over the half-year, the average Russian unit reaches THB 4.3 million for 41.8 m².

China keeps first place, with 1,813 units and THB 6,874 million (£154.3 million) over the half-year, down 23.8% by number and 27.7% by value. Its share of foreign-bought units, more than half before 2022, fell to 49.4% that year, then to 33.2% in 2025 and to 27.8% in the first half of 2026, by our calculations on the REIC figures. Narongpol Prabhanirin, acting director of the REIC, quoted by Khaosod English in March 2026, attributes this decline to tighter controls on capital outflows in China and to Thai measures against ‘grey’ capital; those who remain, in his view, are mainly buyers purchasing to live in, to let or for long stays. Chinese units are compact: 38.2 m² on average over the half-year, for THB 3.8 million.

Myanmar follows a different trajectory. Thirty units in 2021 and 349 in 2022, according to the Bangkok Post; 564 in 2023, according to the REIC; then second place, in 2024 with 1,388 units and THB 7,036 million, and again in 2025 with 1,968 units. Kamonpop Veerapala, then acting director general of the REIC, summed it up for Reuters in November 2024: ‘Whenever there is conflict in other countries, foreigners turn to Thailand looking for peace.’ The conflict in Myanmar has intensified since the 2021 coup, and a compulsory military service law has been in force there since 10 February 2024. The profile has changed along the way: in 2025, the average unit bought by a Myanmar national falls to THB 3.1 million and 32.9 m², the lowest in the top 10, against about THB 5.1 million in 2024 by our calculations. In the first half of 2026, Myanmar is down 34.1% by units and 16.2% by value.

What does the series show since 2018?

Over eight years, the REIC series traces a market back at its highest level by number of units. After the years of closed borders, 2020 and 2021, at around 8,200 to 8,300 units a year, transfers climbed back to the 2025 record. Value peaked earlier, in 2023; in 2025 it stands 16.7% below that peak. Transfers of condominium units to foreigners, annual series 2018–2025:

The average per unit tells of the same shift: THB 5.13 million in 2022, THB 4.09 million in 2025. The REIC sees in it a fall in the average price, particularly in the mid-market, and foreign demand diversifying towards new countries: owner-occupiers, long-term residents, buy-to-let investors, and Indian families buying large homes to live in. In 2025, foreigners accounted for 14.7% of the condominium units transferred and 25.0% of their value, against 12.5% and 23.0% in 2024.

For 2026, Kasikorn Research Center projected in June a 20% fall in condominium purchases by foreigners, the first since the pandemic, according to the Bangkok Post. That is a projection; the half-year published since then stands at −8.8% by units and −1.5% by value, and the full year remains to be measured.

Where are they buying, and what do our listings say?

The geography can be read from the first quarter of 2026, the latest breakdown by province published in the open sources we consulted. Bangkok concentrates value there, with 45.6% of the amounts transferred to foreigners, according to The Nation (29 May 2026). Chonburi province, driven by Pattaya, comes first by number, with 1,167 transfers, or 36% of the total. Phuket is up 34.9% by value year on year. The same newspaper places Chinese buyers in Bangkok and Chonburi, buyers from Myanmar in Bangkok, and Russians mainly in Phuket and Chonburi.

For the year 2025, Khaosod English, citing the REIC, is the only public source we found for the top three provinces: Bangkok, 7,029 units for THB 35.39 billion; Chonburi, 4,164 units for THB 11.59 billion; Phuket, 1,190 units for THB 6.09 billion. By our calculations, the average unit comes out at THB 5.12 million in Phuket (£115,000) and THB 2.78 million in Chonburi (£62,400); in the absence of a second source, these values should be read as orders of magnitude.

Our listings add a measure that transfers do not provide: the share of units for sale offered under the foreign quota, and the gap in asking price between the foreign quota and the Thai quota within the same building, according to our survey of 20 October 2026. The two measures come from two sources and two dates; the table sets them side by side without linking one to the other. What transfers measure and what listings show, market by market:

Chonburi, the most active province by number of foreign transfers, is also home to the market where the foreign quota commands the highest premium in the same building: in Pattaya, 11.8% more at the median, and higher in 72% of the 141 buildings compared. In Bangkok, where value is concentrated, the gap is only 1.6%. Nothing establishes that one explains the other; we have described this area in our article on Pattaya and the EEC.

Has the 49% quota changed?

No. At 1 November 2026, section 19 bis of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 still limits the floor area held by foreigners in a building to 49% of the total floor area of the units, and section 540 of the Civil and Commercial Code caps a lease of immovable property at 30 years, renewable for no more than 30 years. The forms of ownership themselves are set out in our article on property ownership in Thailand.

A reform was put under study. On 18 June 2024, in Cabinet, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai asked, on behalf of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, for a study of a long-term real right and of a higher foreign ceiling in condominiums, with limited voting rights above 49%; he stated, according to Khaosod English, that the text ‘has not been approved in any way’. The figures of 75% and 99 years come from this proposal, which was not adopted and has led to no bill that we have found.

On 25 June 2024, the Government Public Relations Department said that the Ministry of Interior had been tasked with amending the texts, without mentioning a bill; Deputy Minister Chada Thaised told the House that the Cabinet had approved only a study. In February 2025, Anutin Charnvirakul, Minister of Interior, stated that the quota ‘remains at no more than 49%’, with the request to raise it still ‘under study’, according to the Bangkok Post.

What separates a sound reading of the barometer from an average one?

Reading value and units together. The Russian ‘+75.9%’ is a rise in value; by number of units, it is +50.4%. Conversely, Myanmar gained 41.8% in units in 2025 while losing 12.5% in value. Either figure on its own would describe a different market.

Establishing the scope before the ranking. Transfers are purchases registered at the Land Office, not reservations: an off-plan purchase enters the series only once its transfer has been registered, a stage described in our article on buying off plan. Leases, villas and holdings through companies remain outside the scope.

Telling a province from a city, a quarter from a half-year. Chonburi is not Pattaya, and the latest breakdown by province published in the open sources dates from the first quarter of 2026. Our price gaps, for their part, concern specific buildings, on a specific date, in asking prices.

Graham’s case: a one-bedroom apartment in Jomtien

How our database places a unit within its market

The REIC statistics describe unit transfers by nationality; our development records describe buildings. For each building tracked, they show the units for sale, their quota regime where the listing states it and the asking price per square metre: enough to place a unit within the province the barometer describes. To compare buildings in Pattaya, Phuket or Bangkok, place them on the map.

What you can do now

Before reading a ranking as a signal, look at the building. Compare the asking prices under the two quota regimes in the same tower, ask the manager for the letter confirming the quota position, a document described in our article on reselling a condo, and follow the next quarterly REIC report, which this barometer will take up.