Buying off-plan property in Thailand

How off-plan payments usually work

A reservation fee books the unit, a contract deposit follows (commonly 10% to 20% of the price), then installments are due through construction, with the balance paid at transfer. Thai developers typically use these payments directly to fund the build, so the money is largely spent by the time any single installment is due.

Your contract follows a mandatory standard form

Section 6/2 of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979) requires a developer's sale and purchase contract to follow the standard form the Ministry of Interior prescribes by notification (form Or.Chor.22, compulsory since 4 July 2008). A clause that departs from the standard form and favors the developer is unenforceable; the court disregards it. Section 6/1 goes further: brochures, renders and sales-office promises are treated as part of the contract, and where they conflict with the written terms, the version more favorable to the buyer applies.

If handover is late

On a THB 5,000,000 unit, the daily penalty works out to roughly THB 500 a day, about THB 15,000 a month, up to a cap of THB 500,000. Put a penalty claim in writing once the completion date passes; staying silent can be read as giving up the right to it.

Defects and area shortfalls

The standard form holds the developer liable for defects in the structure and fixed building equipment for at least 5 years, and for other component parts for at least 2 years, both counted from the date the condominium is registered rather than from your own transfer date, so a late handover eats into the window. A defect claim itself must be brought within 1 year of discovering it (Civil and Commercial Code section 474). If the registered unit area differs from the contract by more than 5%, section 466 of the same code lets you reject the unit; within 5%, you take it with the price adjusted pro rata.

Escrow protection exists, but it is rare

The Escrow Act B.E. 2551 (2008) lets a licensed agent, usually a bank, hold buyer payments until the developer performs, keeping the funds outside the developer's bankruptcy estate if the project collapses. Escrow is voluntary, not required, and developers generally prefer direct payment because they use buyer installments to fund construction. A developer that agrees to escrow is, in practice, telling you something about its own confidence in the project.

Before you pay a deposit

• Check the developer's completed track record. A developer with several finished, transferred, occupied projects is a different risk than one with only renders.
• Ask to tie installments to construction milestones rather than to calendar dates alone, so what you owe tracks what has actually been built.
• Get the completion date and the late-handover remedy in writing before you sign, and confirm the contract uses the standard Or.Chor.22 form without unfavorable additions.
• Ask directly what happens to your deposit if the project is delayed or stalls, and whether escrow is offered.

See what a foreign buyer can own before you commit to a specific unit type.

Sources

• Off-Plan Condos in Thailand: Delays, Defects and Your Refund Rights (ThaiLawOnline)
• Escrow Accounts in Thailand: How to Protect Your Money When Buying Property (ThaiLawOnline)

Facts checked August 2026.