What should a Condominium Unit Sale and Purchase Agreement include under Thai law?

1. Definitions and Interpretation
2. Sale and Purchase
3. Price and Payment
4. Conditions for Transfer
5. Transfer
6. Inspection and Condition
7. Common Charges, Utilities and Taxes of the Unit
8. Transfer Fees and Taxes
9. Seller's Representations
10. Buyer's Representations
11. Risk before Transfer
12. Default and Termination
13. Personal Data and Confidentiality
14. Notices
15. Governing Law and Disputes
16. General

• Day of signing: the Buyer pays the Deposit and the Seller issues a receipt within 3 Business Days (Clause 3.6). Keep the transfer slip.
• Within 15 days: the Seller asks the juristic person for the foreign quota letter (Clause 4.4). Do not wait until the week of the transfer — some buildings are close to their limit.
• Before the transfer: the Buyer sends the money from abroad and collects the bank's foreign-funds certificate (Clause 4.5).
• Within 15 days: the Buyer applies for the bank loan (Clause 4.7). If every bank refuses, the Buyer must cancel by … with copies of the refusal letters, or the loan condition falls away.
• At least 7 Business Days before the transfer: the Seller gets the bank's redemption statement and books the bank's attendance at the Land Office (Clause 4.3).
• Within 7 days before the transfer: walk through the unit together, read the meters and sign a handover record with dated photos or video (Clause 6.2).
• Transfer Date (…): both sides attend the Land Office, the Balance is paid, the transfer is registered and the keys are handed over the same day (Clauses 3.3, 5.5).
• Long-Stop Date (…): if the transfer still cannot happen and it is nobody's fault, either side may cancel and the Deposit comes back in full (Clause 12.5).

Foreign buyer checklist

• Foreign quota. Thai condominium law limits the units that foreigners may own in one building: in total, foreigners may own no more than 49% of the combined floor area of all units. The juristic person keeps the count. Get its letter in writing before you rely on the purchase.
• Foreign funds. Transfer the full price from abroad in foreign currency to a bank account in Thailand, in your own name or the Seller's, with the purpose stated as the purchase of this unit. The receiving bank then issues its certificate of the incoming foreign currency, commonly called an FET form, or a letter confirming the transfer for smaller amounts. Ask your bank in advance which document it will issue, and make sure the certificate covers the whole price.
• Deposit. If you paid the Deposit in baht from a Thai account, the Land Office will not count it. Bring in extra foreign currency so that the total brought in is at least the full price (Clause 4.5).
• Name and passport. The name on the passport, the remittance and this Agreement must match exactly. If your passport has been renewed, bring the old one or a certified record of the change.
• Check with the Land Office. The exact documents a foreign buyer needs are set by the Land Office where the building is registered. Call or visit before the transfer day.

• No stamp duty is payable on this Agreement. An agreement to sell and buy a condominium unit is not an instrument listed in the Stamp Duty Schedule of the Thai Revenue Code, and neither is the receipt for the Deposit.
• Stamp duty on the receipt for the sale (0.5%, Instrument 28(b)) arises on the transfer day at the Land Office, unless the Seller pays specific business tax instead (Clause 8.2).
• A power of attorney used at the Land Office carries its own stamp duty (Instrument 7). A power of attorney signed abroad usually has to be notarised and legalised at a Thai embassy or consulate before the Land Office will accept it.

• The transfer fee is 2% of the official appraised value of the unit, not of the price you agreed. This Agreement puts it on both sides, half eachthe Buyerthe Seller (Clause 8.1).
• The Land Office also collects, from the Seller's side, withholding income tax and either specific business tax (3.3%) or stamp duty on the receipt (0.5%). This Agreement puts those on the Sellerthe Buyerboth sides, half each (Clause 8.2). When the Buyer pays tax that belongs to the Seller, the tax office may treat the amount paid as extra income of the Seller. The Seller should ask its accountant before the transfer day.
• For an individual Seller, specific business tax applies when the unit is sold within 5 years after the Seller acquired it, unless the Seller has had its name in the unit's house registration for at least one year. If specific business tax applies, stamp duty on the receipt does not.- A company Seller is normally subject to withholding tax of 1% of the price or the appraised value, whichever is higher, and to specific business tax of 3.3% whatever the holding period. The Seller's accountant should confirm this before the transfer day.

Estimate based on the appraised value you entered:

• Transfer fee: about (calculated by the system from the figures entered)
• Seller's withholding income tax (individual): about (calculated by the system from the figures entered) — you did not enter the years of ownership, so this assumes 1 year
• Specific business tax: 3.3% of the price or the appraised value, whichever is higher (the unit has been owned for less than 5 years and the house-registration exemption was not ticked)- Stamp duty on the receipt: about (calculated by the system from the figures entered)- Seller's withholding tax (company): 1% of the price or the appraised value, whichever is higher
• Specific business tax: 3.3% of the price or the appraised value, whichever is higher

These are estimates only. The Land Office calculates the actual amounts on the transfer day.Ask the Land Office for the official appraised value of the unit, or check it on the Treasury Department website, and budget roughly 2% to 7% of the price for fees and taxes on the transfer day. The Land Office calculates the actual amounts on the day.

• Government schemes sometimes reduce the transfer fee for lower-priced homes. Check whether one applies on your transfer day.
• The Buyer's bank loan needs a mortgage registration on the same day. The fee (1% of the loan amount) is the Buyer's (Clause 8.3).

• The Land Office will not register the transfer without the juristic person's debt-free certificate. The Seller should apply several days before the transfer day, because some buildings take a few Business Days to issue it (Clause 4.2).
• Common charges up to the transfer day are the Seller's and those after it are the Buyer's. Charges paid in advance are refunded by the Buyer for the unused period (Clause 7.1).
• The sinking fund that the Seller paid when it first bought the unit belongs to the building and is not refunded. A new sinking fund or change-of-owner fee is paid by the Buyerthe Sellerboth sides, half each (Clause 7.3).
• After the transfer, register the new owner with the juristic person, update the contact details for common-charge invoices, and ask for new key cards to be coded if the building allows it.

• An individual signs in person and attaches a copy of the passport or ID card. A company signs through the director or directors named in its latest company affidavit and affixes the company seal if the affidavit requires one.
• The Seller's spouse signs the consent at the end of this Agreement. The Land Office may also ask the spouse to sign its own consent form or attend in person on the transfer day.
• Clause 16.6 allows electronic signatures and signed PDF copies of this Agreement, which helps when the Buyer is abroad. The Land Office forms must still be signed as the Land Office requires, in person or by a Land Office power of attorney.
• Check Schedule 1 against the title deed before signing: condominium name, registration number, unit number, floor and area.

• The signed Agreement, both Schedules, the Deposit receipt and the bank slips.
• The juristic person's foreign quota letter and the bank's foreign-funds certificate — keep the originals, because you will need them again if you sell the unit and take the money out of Thailand.
• The signed handover record with its photos or video, and the meter readings.
• Emails used as notices, with their headers, and any bounce messages.

• A Thai court works in Thai. A Party relying on this Agreement, or on English emails, must file a certified Thai translation. Budget for this and get a quote before starting proceedings.
• Clause 16.7 makes the English text prevail over any translation, so have the translation checked against the English.
• If the Seller refuses to transfer, the Buyer can ask the court for an order to register the transfer (Clause 12.3(a)) and, in urgent cases, for an interim order to stop the unit being transferred to someone else (Clause 15.4).

Compiled from the notes that accompany the English contract templates on this site, published by Phuwara Krobtaku (ภูวรา ครอบตะคุ), Thai attorney-at-law, licence no. 477/2558. The short answer and summary at the top of this page are put together by the site from the template's clause headings and notes. Statutes are quoted only in the official Thai text: Thai is the only official language of Thai legislation, and an unofficial translation can mislead. Article registry OKC-E7C14E. If you reuse this content, please credit the author and link to the original.