Transfer day at the Land Office: what actually happens

Transfer day is the single appointment at the local Land Office (สำนักงานที่ดิน, the branch office of the Department of Lands) at which ownership of a condominium unit legally passes from seller to buyer. Everything the sale contract has been building towards happens here in one sitting: the officer checks the documents, records the price, collects the registration fee and the taxes, cancels the seller's ownership entry and writes the buyer's name onto the unit title. When you walk out you are the registered owner.

It is a procedural public-office occasion rather than a ceremony, over in a matter of hours. What follows is what to bring, what is paid on the day, and — for a foreign buyer — the two things specific to you: the Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) evidence the office asks for, and the option of sending a representative under a power of attorney.

In brief

• Transfer of a condominium is registered in one appointment at the Land Office branch holding the building's title; the buyer leaves as the registered owner.
• A foreign buyer must show FET-form evidence that the purchase money came from abroad in foreign currency — required by section 19 of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522.
• Four possible charges are assessed on the higher of appraised or registered value: 2% transfer fee, 3.3% specific business tax OR 0.5% stamp duty, and withholding tax; who pays each is set by the sale contract.
• The 0.01% reduced transfer fee to 30 June 2027 applies only to Thai-national buyers of homes up to THB 7 million — foreign buyers pay the standard 2%.
• You need not attend in person: a representative may act under a notarised (and, where required, legalised) Land Department power of attorney.

What actually happens at the Land Office on transfer day?

Buyer and seller (or their appointed representatives) meet at the Land Office branch that holds the title for the building, submit the paperwork together, and the transfer is registered in one appointment. The registration officer reviews the unit title deed and the parties' identity documents, confirms the sale price declared for registration, and checks that the transaction is within the foreign-ownership quota before anything is entered.

For a condominium unit the office relies on a certificate from the building's juristic person confirming two things: that the seller owes no outstanding common-area charges, and — decisively for a foreign buyer — that registering this unit to a foreigner keeps the building within its 49% foreign-ownership limit. Foreign ownership of the aggregate unit floor area in a condominium may not exceed 49%, under section 19 bis of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), and the officer will not register the transfer without that confirmation.

Once the documents are in order, the fees and taxes are assessed at the counter and paid on the spot. Only then does the officer cancel the seller's name and enter the buyer's, stamping the reverse of the title deed. The buyer keeps the updated owner's copy of the title deed as proof of ownership.

What documents do you need to bring?

You bring proof of who you are, proof of how the funds arrived, and the seller brings the title and the building's clearance. For a foreign individual buyer the core set is your passport (and, where the office requires, a signature-verification or address document), the owner's copy of the unit title deed held by the seller, the sale and purchase agreement, and the juristic person's debt-free and foreign-quota certificate.

The one document unique to a foreign buyer is the evidence that the purchase money was brought into Thailand in foreign currency and converted to baht — normally the Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form, described below. Bring the original; the office keeps a copy on the file.

If you are married, or buying through a company, or attending by proxy, the list lengthens — a spouse's consent, company documents and a board resolution, or a notarised power of attorney. This is exactly the kind of pre-transfer checking a lawyer does in advance so nothing is missing on the day; what a lawyer verifies before you buy is covered separately.

What is the FET form, and why does the Land Office ask for it?

The Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form is the bank's record that foreign currency was remitted into Thailand and exchanged into baht, and it is the evidence a foreigner uses to register condominium ownership. The Condominium Act, section 19, lets a foreigner who is neither a permanent resident nor here under investment-promotion law own a unit only by bringing foreign currency into Thailand for the purchase — so the Land Office needs documentary proof that the money came from abroad.

In practice your Thai receiving bank issues the FET form when an inward remittance is USD 50,000 or more, or its equivalent, under the Bank of Thailand's foreign-exchange regulations. For a smaller remittance the bank instead issues a credit advice or a certificate of the inward transfer, which serves the same evidential purpose. Either way the document must show your name as the sender or the recipient of the funds and state that the purpose is the purchase of the unit.

The practical lesson is to plan the transfer of funds early and keep every bank document, because the office asks for the original on the day — how the money should move, and when, is covered in our note on sending funds and currency timing.

What fees and taxes are paid at the Land Office on the day?

Four charges can arise on a condominium transfer, and the office collects whichever apply before it registers the new owner. Every one is calculated on the higher of the government appraised value (ราคาประเมิน, set by the Treasury Department) or the price declared for registration, not on whatever the parties privately agreed.

The transfer registration fee is 2% of the appraised value, payable to the Department of Lands. A temporary reduction to 0.01% is in force to 30 June 2027, but under the Ministry of Interior notifications it reaches only a Thai-national individual buying residential property where both the price and the appraised value are no more than THB 7 million — a foreign buyer does not qualify and pays the standard 2%.

Specific business tax is 3.3% (a 3% Revenue Code rate plus a 10% local surcharge) of the appraised or registered value, charged under Revenue Code section 91/2 when the seller has held the unit for less than five years — with exceptions, such as the seller having had their name on the house registration for at least a year. Where specific business tax is not due, stamp duty of 0.5% applies instead; the two are never charged together.

Withholding tax on the transfer is collected under Revenue Code section 50. For a company seller it is a flat 1% of the appraised or registered price; for an individual seller it is a progressive amount the Land Office computes from the appraised value and the number of years of ownership. Specific business tax, stamp duty and withholding tax are, in law, the seller's charges, while the transfer fee is commonly shared — but who pays what is a matter for the sale contract, so settle the allocation in writing before the day rather than at the counter.

Who has to attend, and how long does it take?

Both parties must be represented at the office, but neither has to attend in person — a representative may act under a power of attorney. A buyer who cannot travel appoints one on the Department of Lands' power-of-attorney form, and that representative signs the registration and pays the fees in the buyer's place. Because the form is signed abroad it is normally notarised and, depending on the country, legalised so the office will accept it — getting that right in advance is the substance of our power-of-attorney service.

When the paperwork is complete and the fees are paid, the registration itself is usually done within the same visit — often a couple of hours, sometimes longer at a busy office. The variable is almost never the counter work; it is whether every document, certificate and payment is ready when you arrive, which is the whole point of preparing the transfer in advance.

Transfer day feels weighty because it is the moment ownership changes, but it is a well-worn administrative process the Land Office handles many times a day. With the documents assembled, the funds evidenced and the fee allocation agreed in writing, there is very little that can surprise you on the day itself.

The limits of this article

• This article describes the standard process and the categories of fee and tax; it does not compute the amount payable on any particular transaction, which turns on the appraised value, the seller's holding period and status, and the allocation agreed in the sale contract.
• Fees, tax rates, exemptions and temporary reductions change. The reduced registration fee is a time-limited measure that does not apply to foreign buyers, and figures above are current as at 25 July 2026 — confirm the numbers for your transaction before relying on them.
• General information only, not legal or tax advice. A transfer and its FET evidence, power of attorney and tax treatment are handled under a separate engagement with Suwanvara Law Firm.

Continue reading

• Transfer at the Land Department
• Power of attorney for the Land Office

In case of any discrepancy between language versions, the English version prevails. / กรณีข้อความหลายภาษาไม่ตรงกัน ให้ยึดฉบับภาษาอังกฤษเป็นหลัก / 如各语言版本存在差异，以英文版本为准。

Sources

• Department of Lands (กรมที่ดิน) — condominium transfer registration and registration fee schedule (Land Code; Ministry of Interior fee regulations) (checked 2026-07-25)
• Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), s.19 (foreigner ownership categories and the requirement to evidence foreign currency brought in) and s.19 bis (the 49% foreign-ownership quota) (checked 2026-07-25)
• Bank of Thailand (ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย) — foreign-exchange regulations; the Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) form issued for an inward remittance of USD 50,000 or more (checked 2026-07-25)
• Revenue Department (กรมสรรพากร) — specific business tax on immovable property (Revenue Code s.91/2), stamp duty, and withholding tax on transfer of immovable property (Revenue Code s.50) (checked 2026-07-25)
• Ministry of Interior notifications reducing the transfer and mortgage registration fees to 0.01% for a Thai-national individual buyer of residential property with both sale price and appraised value not exceeding THB 7 million, in force to 30 June 2027 (foreign buyers do not qualify) (checked 2026-07-25)