Six checks that separate a well-run Phuket project from one that stalls halfway up.
Buying off-plan can mean a better price and a choice of units. It also means paying for something that does not yet exist, to a company you may know little about. The checks below take days, not weeks, and they are far cheaper than a stalled build.
1. The land
Confirm the developer owns the land, or holds a registered lease over it, under a full title deed — a chanote. Check the original at the Land Office, not a photocopy, and ask whether it is mortgaged to a bank. A bank mortgage is normal; how units are released from it should be written into your contract.
2. The approvals
Larger condominium projects need an approved Environmental Impact Assessment before construction can begin, and every project needs a construction permit. A developer taking deposits before these are in place is asking you to carry the approval risk. Ask to see both.
3. The developer
Look at what they have finished, not what they are marketing. Visit a completed project, talk to the owners, and have a lawyer pull the company’s registration and filed accounts.
4. The payment plan
Instalments should be tied to construction milestones — foundations, structure, fit-out, completion — rather than calendar dates. Escrow exists under Thailand’s Escrow Act, but it is optional and rarely offered; if protection matters to you, ask for it before you sign.
5. The foreign quota
Foreigners can own up to 49% of a condominium building’s floor area freehold. If you want freehold, confirm in writing that your unit falls within the quota. If the quota is full, the alternative is a lease, which is a different asset.
6. The contract
It should state the completion date and the compensation if it slips, attach the full specification and floor plan, set out who pays the transfer costs, and define the defects period after handover.
We run these checks on every off-plan project we recommend, and we will tell you plainly when a project does not pass them.