Mortgages in Thailand for foreigners: what banks publish

On 14 May 2026, the Bank of Thailand extended to 30 June 2027 a measure that is unusual for a regulator: the ceiling it sets for banks allows a home loan to cover 100% of the property’s value, from the very first loan when the property is worth THB 10 million (£224,500) or more. Five months later, on 7 October, the asset management company BAM launched, according to Naewna, an offer of condominiums aimed at foreigners, payable in cash or with a loan from partner institutions. For the foreign buyer, the old question returns with fresh urgency: can a Thai bank finance the purchase? The central bank, the government portal and the banks’ own pages each answer it in their own way, and the cost of borrowing comes on top of the items set out in our guide to the cost of ownership. Texts checked on 1 November 2026; three points that the sources consulted do not settle are listed at the end of the article.

What does the Bank of Thailand’s 100% ceiling change?

The LTV, or loan-to-value ratio, is the share of a property’s value that a loan may cover. The Bank of Thailand sets the ceiling for commercial banks and specialised financial institutions. Through its announcement No. 8/2568 of 20 March 2025, it temporarily raised it to 100% for home loans signed from 1 May 2025 to 30 June 2026: from the second loan contract for a property worth less than THB 10 million, and from the first for a property worth THB 10 million or more. The announcement’s FAQs put the previous ceiling at between 70% and 90%. It covers new loans, on the primary market and for resales alike, top-up loans and refinancing, with no retroactive effect.

Announcement No. 19/2569 of 14 May 2026 extends the scheme by a year, unchanged, for contracts signed from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. The Financial Institutions Policy Committee cites weak housing demand, high inventories and the conflict in the Middle East, and states that it sees no sign of abnormal speculation.

That leaves what these two texts say about the borrower. They cover institutions’ home loan contracts, without mentioning the borrower’s nationality or residence: we found no distinction in them between a Thai borrower and a foreign one. The LTV is a ceiling imposed on the lender, not a right to credit. It sets how far a bank may go; each institution’s policy towards foreigners is to be found in its own terms and conditions.

Can a Thai bank lend to a foreigner?

The Thai government portal, thailand.go.th, put the question in exactly those terms, in a Public Relations Department fact sheet published on 9 March 2023 and updated on 11 July 2023. Its answer: some financial institutions offer loans enabling foreigners to acquire a condominium unit ‘within the framework provided by law’; for a house or land, the fact sheet states that no loan is available from a financial institution. The standard documents it lists sketch the profile of a resident: work permit, visa and passport, marriage certificate where applicable, salary certificate, six months of bank statements, payslips, tax returns, monthly income of at least three times the repayment and a credit bureau check. The fact sheet names no bank. Work permits and visas are subject to their own rules, presented in our article on visas and residency.

According to Naewna, Bangkok Commercial Asset Management (BAM) launched ‘BAM Condos for Foreigners’ on 7 October 2026: condominiums drawn from its non-performing assets, offered to foreigners who live, work or plan to settle in Thailand, payable in cash or with a loan from partner financial institutions. Approval, amount, rate and term depend on each of these institutions, which the article does not name. Outside Thailand, UOB Singapore lists Thailand among the countries covered by its international property loans, on the product’s contact page.

What do the banks’ pages say, one by one?

A bank’s lending terms are not a rule of law: they are an institution’s practice, which can change at any time. We have used what each bank writes about itself, without repeating any rate that its page leaves undated.

Terms published by each bank on its product page, read on 1 November 2026:

Two readings emerge. Four of the five pages reserve the product described for Thai nationals, in so many words; CIMB Thai’s also requires a Thai identity card and house registration, and Krungsri’s targets customers with at least THB 2 million (£44,900) in deposits or investments. The fifth, Bangkok Bank’s, says nothing about nationality, either in its FAQs or for its offer aimed at incomes of at least THB 50,000 a month (£1,100): this silence implies neither an opening nor a closed door.

The 2023 portal and these pages do not necessarily contradict each other: a separate product, assessed case by case, can coexist with a standard offer reserved for Thais. But none of the pages read describes, at 1 November 2026, a home loan intended for foreign residents, with its terms. We did not find one, which does not prove that none exists.

A credit market that has become selective

The banks’ caution is not aimed at foreigners first: it affects the whole market. On 28 October 2026, Sunthorn Sathaporn, president of the Housing Business Association, which brings together developers in Greater Bangkok, put the rejection rate for home loans at 44% in the first half of 2026 and estimated that it could reach 50% over the year, according to The Nation. This is an estimate by a trade body, not a banking statistic. The same association’s earlier surveys, reported by the Bangkok Post in April 2025, gave 40% in the fourth quarter of 2024 and 45% in the first quarter of 2025, with a marked gap by price in the fourth quarter of 2024: 65 to 70% rejections for properties of THB 1 to 3 million (£22,500 to £67,400), 40% between THB 3 and 7 million, and 15% above THB 7 million.

According to data from Terra Media and Consulting cited by Krungthep Turakij and picked up by The Nation in December 2025, rejections reached 70% for homes under THB 3 million, over a period the article does not specify; this is a single source. In February 2026, the rating agency Tris Rating, quoted by The Standard, observed that rejections remained high in the middle and lower segments and were spreading to more expensive ones.

None of these surveys breaks rejections down by nationality, and no public statistics distinguish foreign borrowers. In the 2024 and 2025 figures, the lower the price, the more frequent the rejections.

What does a mortgage cost at the Land Office?

The loan comes with security. Under section 702 of the Civil and Commercial Code, as reproduced by the law firms Siam Legal and ThaiLawOnline, a mortgage is the contract by which a property is pledged as security for an obligation without being handed over to the creditor, who is paid out of that property in priority to ordinary creditors, even if it has changed hands. Section 714 requires it to be made in writing and registered with the competent official. The Condominium Act devotes no specific section to the mortgage of a unit: it falls under this general law and is registered at the Land Office.

Mortgage registration fees, Department of Lands schedule and the measure of 1 July 2026:

The reduction, decided by the Cabinet on 30 June 2026 and in force since 1 July, also brings the transfer fee down from 2% to 0.01%, for houses, commercial buildings and condominium units, with the amount secured limited to THB 7 million per contract. Its beneficiary is the individual of Thai nationality; Bangkok Biznews writes ‘only’. A foreign buyer falls outside its scope, and the fees in the schedule remain the ones that apply. The other items due on the day of signing, stamp duty or specific business tax, are described in our article on the cost of ownership.

Funds from abroad and a baht loan: what does section 19 say?

For a condominium unit, the question of credit meets that of ownership. The Condominium Act B.E. 2522 opens freehold ownership of a unit to several categories of foreigner; the most common, under section 19(5), is the foreigner who brings foreign currency into the country, or who draws on a non-resident baht account or a foreign currency account. For this category, section 19 ter(5) requires proof of these funds to be presented to the Land Office ‘in an amount not less than the sale price’ of the unit; the other categories in section 19 have their own forms of proof. Section 19 bis caps the foreign share at 49% of the total floor area of the units in the condominium. The forms of ownership are set out in our article on property ownership in Thailand, and the same requirement applies to the foreign buyer of a resale unit, as our article on reselling a condo shows.

Another route exists: financing the purchase with a loan obtained outside Thailand, in the buyer’s home country. Its terms are governed by that country’s law and banks, which this article does not cover.

What separates a sound financing file from an average one?

Terms read on the bank’s own page, and dated. A sound file rests on what the institution itself writes, on a given date, and on a written reply to a specific request: nationality, income, loan-to-value, term.

A budget set against the public thresholds. Three amounts frame the subject in 2026: THB 10 million, where the 100% LTV applies from the first loan; THB 7 million, the ceiling for the fee reduction reserved for Thai buyers; THB 3 million, below which developers’ surveys placed the most frequent rejections.

The question of funds settled before the reservation. For a foreign buyer in category 19(5), the source of the funds determines whether the unit can be registered in their name. A buyer in this category who has had it clarified, before paying a deposit, how their financing fits with the proof required by section 19 ter(5) signs with a file that is easy to read.

Daniel and Margaret’s case: two profiles, one building

Three points the sources consulted do not settle

• The product for foreign residents. The official 2023 portal describes loans to foreigners for a condominium; no bank page read on 1 November 2026 names such a product with its terms.
• Funds from abroad and the local loan. For category 19(5), how the proof of funds under section 19 ter(5) fits with a baht loan granted in Thailand is described by no official text or named analysis that we read.
• The cap on the mortgage fee for a unit. The Department of Lands schedule caps this fee at THB 200,000 for property under the Land Code; for a condominium unit, it shows 1% without mentioning a cap.

The absence of a source in this list is not the absence of a rule: these points need checking file by file.

How our database places a purchase within its budget

According to our survey of 7 October 2026, the bottom quarter of asking prices for units in Bangkok ends at THB 3.5 million (£78,600) and the top quarter starts above THB 9.8 million (£220,000); in Pattaya, these thresholds are THB 3.1 million (£69,600) and THB 7.2 million (£161,700). Set against the public thresholds, they place a project: the THB 10 million threshold, where the 100% LTV applies from the first loan, lies just above the start of the top quarter in Bangkok; the THB 7 million threshold for the fee reduction falls between the two; and the band below THB 3 million, where the 2024 and 2025 surveys placed the most frequent rejections, lies below the bottom quarter. Our survey of 20 October 2026 also finds 43.8% of units for sale in Bangkok offered under the foreign quota (our guide to ownership and price). To place a building within these quarters, put it on the map.

What you can do now

Before looking for a loan, gather the documents the official portal cites: passport and visa, work permit where applicable, proof of income, six months of statements, tax returns. Then ask each institution for its written, dated terms for a foreign borrower. And if you are buying under category 19(5), have a lawyer clarify how your financing squares with the proof of funds required by section 19 ter(5).