A French purchase runs through a notaire, who checks the title, holds the money and registers the sale. A Thai purchase has no such figure. The buyer, or more exactly the buyer's lawyer, does the checking, and the state only records the result. That single difference explains most of what a French buyer needs to do differently.
Why French buyers choose Thailand, and where
Paris has non-stop flights to both Bangkok and Phuket, and French nationals qualify for every long-stay visa Thailand offers, including the 10-year O-X.
Where to look:
- Phuket, now reached non-stop from Paris in winter. Villas on lease and managed condominiums, from Bang Tao and Surin to Kata and Karon.
- Koh Samui, for hillside villas around Bophut, Choeng Mon and Lamai, reached by a connection in Bangkok.
- Bangkok, for freehold city condominiums.
- Hua Hin, a quieter Gulf resort town within driving distance of Bangkok.
What is different from a French purchase
- No land ownership. A foreigner may own a condominium unit freehold. A house stands on land that must be leased, for a maximum registered term of 30 years, and renewal clauses are contractual promises, not registered rights. See freehold vs leasehold.
- No notaire and no escrow by default. Payments often go straight to the seller or developer. See the off-plan buying process.
- Title documents vary in strength. See title deeds and due diligence.
- Company structures are a trap. Holding land through a Thai company with nominee shareholders is illegal. See Thai company ownership risks.
Getting to Thailand: flights for French buyers
Thai Airways and Air France both fly non-stop from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Bangkok. Thai Airways doubles its service to two flights a day from 1 December 2026. Its midday departure leaves Paris at 12:30 and reaches Bangkok at 05:40 the next morning, which is about 11 hours 10 minutes in the air.
Air France opened a non-stop route to Phuket on 27 November 2025, with three flights a week. Check whether it runs outside the winter season before you plan around it. See flights and getting around.
How long French buyers can stay in Thailand
Since 15 September 2026, French passport holders have been admitted visa-free for 30 days, down from 60. One extension of up to 30 days is available at an immigration office for THB 1,900.
Buying property alone gives no right to stay. For a full season you need a visa:
- The Destination Thailand Visa: 180 days per entry for remote workers.
- The retirement visa from age 50, including the 10-year O-X.
- Thailand Privilege: paid membership with no age test.
- The Long-Term Resident visa, where a purchase of USD 500,000 or more in your own name can count.
Moving money to Thailand from abroad: French buyers
A foreign buyer of a freehold condominium must bring the price into Thailand as foreign currency.
- Send euros from your own account to the Thai account named in the contract. Do not let your bank convert to baht before sending.
- Give the purpose as the purchase of the specific unit.
- The Thai bank converts the funds and issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form for each transfer worth USD 50,000 or more. Below that, it issues a letter confirming the inward transfer.
- The Land Office asks for these at registration.
Ask your French adviser what has to be declared at home when you open a Thai bank account. The procedure is in sending money to Thailand.
Tax for French buyers, in outline
The convention between France and Thailand was signed in Bangkok on 27 December 1974 and entered into force on 29 August 1975.
- In Thailand. Rent paid from Thailand to a non-resident owner has 15% withheld. On a sale, taxes and fees are collected at the Land Office.
- In France. A French resident reports worldwide income. Whether Thai rent is then exempted, with or without an effect on the rate applied to other income, or taxed with a credit for Thai tax, depends on the convention's article on double taxation. The wording is open to more than one reading, so ask a French adviser to confirm it from the text.
- Wealth tax. Ask the same adviser how a Thai property enters the French real estate wealth tax.
- Living in Thailand. Spending 180 days or more in Thailand in a calendar year makes you a Thai tax resident, which changes the analysis again.
Our guide to rental income and tax covers the Thai side.
A buying checklist for French buyers
- Decide between a freehold condominium and a leasehold villa. Read buying a villa in Thailand.
- Appoint an independent Thai lawyer, engaged and paid by you, to do the work a notaire would do.
- Have the title, the seller and the building's foreign quota checked before paying a deposit.
- Send euros and keep the bank forms with the title.
- Budget for property taxes and buying costs.
- Take French tax advice on rent, the sale and wealth tax.
- Settle your visa route, and make a will that deals with the Thai asset.
What are you buying?
What is it for?
How will you hold it?
How long do you expect to hold?
Likely structure
Your answers decide what appears here.
Answer any of the four questions, in any order. This sheet then sets out the ownership structure that usually fits, what it means in practice, the points to take care over and the guides to read next.
What you will see
- What a foreign buyer can and cannot own
- How the structure changes with a spouse or a company
- What your purpose and holding period add
General guidance, not legal advice. Take independent legal advice before you commit.
