The Department of Business Development disclosed statistics showing foreign-invested legal entities hold over 1.06 million rai of land and 4.1 million square meters of condominium space in Thailand. Chinese and Japanese investors hold the highest amounts. The department is urgently sending data to security agencies for strict scrutiny and to crack down on nominee arrangements.
Mr. Poonphong Nainapakorn, Director-General of the Department of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce, revealed that the department analyzed data from the Department of Lands to thoroughly examine land and condominium ownership by legal entities with foreign investment. The review uncovered interesting statistics on foreign ownership proportions of real estate in Thailand.
The investigation found that 36,277 legal entities with foreign investors hold land titles for 305,838 plots, totaling approximately 1.06 million rai. Meanwhile, 7,082 such entities hold condominium units totaling 76,840 rooms, covering more than 4.1 million square meters.
Mr. Poonphong stated that the number of legal entities owning real estate does not imply all engage in nominee practices or using Thai shareholders as stand-ins for foreigners. Some are legitimate joint ventures with Thai investors, legally promoted under the Board of Investment (BOI) or the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), with ownership rights compliant with legal conditions. However, the department has identified some cases showing risk signals indicative of nominee arrangements.
Based on geographic and nationality rankings of legal entities with foreign shareholders holding between 0.01% and 49.00% shares (excluding partnerships and public companies), key data were found as follows:
Top 5 provinces with the highest land title holdings
Top 5 nationalities holding the largest land areas
China 25,107 plots (88,454.22 rai)
Japan 8,429 plots (36,433.79 rai)
United Kingdom 7,546 plots (31,321.19 rai)
Singapore 6,820 plots (38,073.56 rai)
Hong Kong 5,215 plots (44,606.98 rai)
(In total, 147 nationalities hold shares and land ownership in Thailand.)
Top 5 nationalities holding the largest total condominium areas (covering 112 nationalities)
Japan 7,315 rooms from 337 entities (total area 244,991.65 sq.m.)
China 4,312 rooms from 461 entities (total area 206,445.81 sq.m.)
Singapore 4,174 rooms from 175 entities (total area 386,908.64 sq.m.)
Russia 2,829 rooms from 814 entities (total area 104,252.54 sq.m.)
Australia 1,684 rooms from 295 entities (total area 155,773.61 sq.m.)
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