For a buyer in Saudi Arabia, Thailand is a direct flight of under eight hours from Jeddah, open to Saudi passports without a visa for 30 days, and outside the scope of any Saudi income tax. What a foreigner may own there, how the money must arrive and how long you may stay all follow Thai rules. They are clear, but they differ from the Gulf's, and they are worth knowing before the first viewing.

Why Saudi buyers choose Thailand, and where

The practical case rests on three things: direct flights from both of the Kingdom's main cities, a visa exemption for Saudi passports, and the right to own a Thai condominium in your own name.

The direct routes describe where to look:

Families should read our pages on international schools and healthcare alongside the area guides. If you plan to use the home in the summer holidays, read climate and seasons before choosing a coast.

What Saudi buyers can own in Thailand

  • A condominium, freehold. A foreigner can own a unit outright, provided foreign ownership in the building stays within 49% of the total floor area of all units. See the condominium foreign quota.
  • A villa, on lease. Under the Land Code a foreigner cannot acquire land directly. The land under a villa is held on a registered lease, which the Civil and Commercial Code limits to 30 years. Renewal clauses are contractual promises, not registered rights. See buying a villa in Thailand.
  • No nominee structures. Acquiring land as a representative of a foreigner is an offence under the Land Code, and the Department of Lands issued a circular on nominee holdings in May 2026. See Thai company ownership risks.
  • Short lets need a licence. Lets of under 30 days need a hotel licence. If rental income matters, look at hotel-managed and rental pool schemes and ask who holds the licence.

Getting to Thailand: flights for Saudi buyers

Saudia flies to Bangkok from both Jeddah and Riyadh. It added Phuket in December 2024 as a seasonal route and resumed it in August 2026, three flights a week from Riyadh and three from Jeddah, with Jeddah restarting on 5 August 2026. Saudia's Jeddah to Phuket flight is timetabled at 7 hours 50 minutes.

Riyadh Air launched Riyadh to Bangkok in September 2026 with three flights a week, rising to daily from 9 November. Koh Samui, Krabi and the other islands are a short connection from Bangkok. See flights and getting around.

How long Saudi buyers can stay in Thailand

Saudi Arabia is on Thailand's list of 60 countries and territories whose passport holders are admitted without a visa for 30 days, in force since 15 September 2026. 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 longer stays:

Moving money to Thailand from abroad: Saudi buyers

A foreign buyer of a freehold condominium must bring the price into Thailand as foreign currency.

  1. Send riyals or US dollars from your own account to the Thai account named in the contract. Do not convert to baht before sending.
  2. Give the purpose as the purchase of the specific unit.
  3. The Thai bank converts the funds and issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction Form for each transfer of USD 50,000 or more. Below that, it issues a certificate of the foreign currency purchase.
  4. The Land Office asks for these at registration.

Send from an account in the buyer's own name, not a company's or a relative's. Expect the receiving bank to ask where a large sum came from, and have statements ready. Keep every form, because you will need them to repatriate the proceeds when you sell. See sending money to Thailand.

Tax for Saudi buyers, in outline

Saudi Arabia has no individual income tax. Investment and business income is taxed at the level of an entity or permanent establishment. Ask a Saudi adviser whether zakat, or holding the property through a business, changes that for you.

Thailand does tax Thai property income:

  • Rent paid from Thailand to a non-resident owner has 15% withheld.
  • Anyone who spends 180 days or more in Thailand in a calendar year becomes a Thai tax resident. A resident's foreign income earned from 2024 onwards is taxable in Thailand when it is brought into the country.
  • Taxes on a sale are collected at the Land Office. See property taxes and buying costs.

Thailand has one agreement with Saudi Arabia, signed on 10 May 1994, and it covers air transport only. There is no general double taxation agreement. For a Saudi national with no home income tax, that changes little. For an expatriate living in the Kingdom, the agreement that matters is the one between Thailand and your home country. Read the page for the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany or France, and our guide to rental income and tax.

A buying checklist for Saudi buyers

  1. Decide between a freehold condominium and a leasehold villa.
  2. Appoint an independent Thai lawyer and commission title and due diligence checks.
  3. For a condominium, obtain written confirmation that the unit is within the foreign quota.
  4. If rental income is the aim, check who holds the hotel licence and what the operator's contract says.
  5. Send foreign currency in your own name and keep the bank forms.
  6. Budget for property taxes and buying costs.
  7. Settle your visa route before you plan long stays.

What are you buying?

What are you buying?

What is it for?

What is it for?

How will you hold it?

How will you hold it?

How long do you expect to hold?

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.