Phuket is running two storylines at once. Thai authorities have escalated a systematic campaign against nominee ownership: 89 land plots seized across Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi with a combined value above 1 billion baht, 29 companies under investigation, 59 arrest warrants issued by the courts. At the same time the island's property market has posted its strongest figures on record, with 90,597 units on the market worth 705.055 billion baht. Both statements are true and they are not in conflict. What is underway is not a collapse but a rewiring of how foreign capital holds Phuket real estate.
What actually happened in Phuket
The operation spans three Andaman provinces rather than a single raid. The 29 companies under investigation were not dormant shells sitting on empty land: they operated hotels, condominium units and villas, many with live rental income. The 59 arrest warrants cover both the foreign operators and the Thai nominee shareholders who lent their names. That symmetry is the genuinely new element, because the Thai side of a nominee arrangement is no longer treated as a passive participant.
The Phuket Model programme against land encroachment was expanded to further provinces in July 2026. Politics has moved with the law. On 11 September 2026 more than 500 people joined a Save Phuket rally, and Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul instructed provincial governors to enforce the law firmly against undesirable foreign residents. For a buyer reading this from Dubai, Berlin, Singapore or Moscow, the practical conclusion is that this is a durable policy direction with domestic political support behind it, not a seasonal campaign that will quietly lapse.
Why enforcement escalated now
Three pressures converged. The first is fiscal. Cushman & Wakefield head of research Surachet Kongcheep set out the mechanics in a Bangkok Post analysis in June 2026. When property sits inside a Thai company and changes hands, the real estate itself is never transferred; only the name of the 49% foreign shareholder changes. That costs 1,000 to 2,000 baht in registration fees, against a normal transfer attracting a 2% transfer fee on property value plus income tax. Across thousands of high-value villas the revenue gap becomes impossible to ignore.
The second is capability: cross-checking shareholder identity against banking records used to be slow and manual, and is now systematic. The third is social, expressed through the Save Phuket rally in a province where villa land prices have climbed steeply. Surachet added a caution that deserves equal weight, warning against overreacting in ways that damage legitimate foreign investment. Thailand wants foreign capital declared, taxed and held inside the law, and that distinction is the difference between panic and preparation for anyone working through how to buy property in Thailand as a foreigner.
The paradox: the market is at an all-time high
The Agency for Real Estate Affairs, led by Dr Sopon Pornchokchai, published its 2026 Phuket survey on 12 September 2026. Phuket now carries 90,597 residential and accommodation units worth 705.055 billion baht, the highest of any regional province in Thailand. Supply entering the market in 2026 alone was worth 176.538 billion baht, ahead of Chonburi at 151.822 billion, Rayong at 51.453 billion and Chiang Mai at 49.303 billion. Newly marketed units in 2026 numbered 13,779 at an average price of 12.812 million baht.
Absorption is healthy rather than speculative. Some 76,582 units worth 527.777 billion baht have already sold, about 85% of all units brought to market, and the average absorption rate runs at roughly 5.2% of available units per month. With no new launches at all, existing stock would clear in about 19.2 months. That is depth, not overhang.
Composition carries the strategic story. Resort villas and resort condominiums make up 52% of units but around 80% of value: resort condos at 339.227 billion baht, resort villas at 221.672 billion. The domestic segment is smaller, with 21,392 residential condominium units (24% of the market), 9,729 townhouses, 5,924 semi-detached and 5,126 detached houses. Sales speed differs sharply: residential condominiums 8.1% per month, resort condos and villas 4.9%, and detached and semi-detached houses, townhouses, shophouses and subdivided land about 3%.
Thalang remains the centre of gravity, holding 411 of the 806 projects with unsold units, ahead of Mueang Phuket at 281 and Kathu at 84. Across Cherng Talay, Bang Tao, Layan, Si Sunthon and Thep Krasattri, Thalang counts 24,994 resort condominium units, 54% of district units, worth 236.807 billion baht or 53% of district value. Almost half of resort villas sit in the 20 to 40 million baht band: 2,930 units, or 43%.
Demand is broad rather than dependent on one nationality. Russian and CIS buyers remained an important source through 2025-26, concentrated on resort villas in Thalang, Cherng Talay and Bang Tao plus Chalong and Rawai. Buying from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan is recovering, while Western European and Middle Eastern buyers look for retirement homes, holiday residences and larger family villas. Thai buyers themselves account for an estimated 15 to 25% of the premium segment, a useful stabiliser. Projects launched in 2025-26 averaged about 10 million baht per unit, and roughly 60% of new projects were resort villa developments averaging 32 million baht. Developers are also moving away from the western beachfront, where land costs have risen, towards northern Thalang, Si Sunthon, Mai Khao, Pa Klok and Chalong.
How a nominee structure works and how investigators detect it
Foreigners are limited by law to no more than 49% of the shares in a Thai company. The common workaround is a Thai registered company in which nominee Thai shareholders hold 51% while the foreign buyer holds 49%. On paper the company is Thai and may lawfully own land; in substance the foreigner controls it.
Control is usually reinforced twice over. Loan agreements require the Thai shareholders to pledge their shares to the foreign investor, transferring control if conditions are breached. Powers of attorney grant the foreigner full authority over company operations. Each document looks unremarkable alone; read together they describe beneficial ownership sitting entirely on the foreign side.
Detection rests on end-to-end analysis of financial flows. Where a Thai shareholder holds shares worth millions of baht on paper but works as a driver or shop assistant with no matching bank activity, the arithmetic fails. The company is then blocked, accounts frozen and assets seized pending investigation. Two agencies act on the civil side: the Ministry of Commerce can examine whether Thai shareholders have the financial capacity to genuinely own shares in companies holding high-value property, and the Land Department can investigate foreign ownership inside condominium projects, where the law caps foreign holdings at 49% of total saleable area and several projects have been found over the limit. The exposure is not confined to the buyer, since law firms, accounting firms, brokers and intermediaries who establish these companies and source the Thai shareholders are part of the chain under scrutiny. Anyone evaluating a purchase inside a corporate wrapper should understand where the legitimate uses of a Thai company structure in real estate end.
Legal ownership routes for foreigners
Lawful routes are not scarce. Each balances security, cost and flexibility differently, and the right choice depends on holding period, family situation and whether the asset is for personal use or income.
| Route | What you own | Key condition | Main caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Condominium freehold | The unit, in your own name | Within the 49% foreign quota of project saleable area | Quota can be exhausted; verify per project |
| Long-term leasehold | Registered right of use, usually 30 years | Registration for any term above 3 years | Marketed as 30+30, but renewal is not guaranteed by law |
| Superficies | The building, on Thai-owned land | Right registered over the owner's land | Common with a Thai spouse; splits building from land |
| Usufruct | Right to use land and take its benefits | Defined period or for life | Use, not ownership; limited dealing rights |
| BOI-approved company | Land held by a promoted company | Land tied to the promoted business activity | Not a route to a private home |
| 40 million baht scheme | Up to one rai for residential use | At least 40 million baht in approved assets | Rarely used: complex procedures, cabinet approval |
Condominium freehold is the cleanest and most liquid option for most international buyers, which is exactly why the project cap must be checked rather than assumed; our guide to the foreign quota on Thai condominiums explains how to establish remaining headroom. For land and villas, registered leasehold combined with superficies or usufruct is the standard lawful pairing, and the 30-year renewal question should be priced in rather than waved away.
What the live Phuket listing inventory shows
Provincial data gives direction; transactions need current asking prices. As of 18 September 2026 our database holds 3,472 active Phuket listings: 2,129 for sale and 1,343 for rent. At 35 baht to the dollar the sale side comprises 1,134 villas averaging 37.85 million baht (about USD 1.08 million) from an entry point of 3.8 million baht, 922 apartments and condominiums averaging 13.5 million baht (about USD 386,000) from 1.56 million baht, 32 penthouses averaging 53.8 million baht, 23 townhouses averaging 14.6 million baht and 18 hotel assets.
Price distribution is more even than villa averages suggest: 404 listings below USD 200,000, 630 between USD 200,000 and 500,000, 599 between USD 500,000 and 1 million, and 494 above USD 1 million. By bedroom count the market centres on three bedrooms with 969 listings, then 785 two-bedroom, 645 four-bedroom, 586 one-bedroom and 196 five-bedroom. Average long-term monthly rents stand at 216,700 baht for villas across 106 listings, 70,642 baht for apartments across 67 listings and 57,857 baht for townhouses, which can be cross-checked against current Phuket rental listings.
| District | Total listings | For sale | Average sale price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bang Tao and Laguna | 1,828 | 1,193 | 28.17 million baht (USD 805,000) |
| Rawai | 224 | 132 | 11.38 million baht (USD 325,000) |
| Kamala | 220 | 130 | 57.11 million baht (USD 1.63 million) |
| Nai Harn | 214 | 68 | 15.37 million baht (USD 439,000) |
| Surin | 170 | 91 | 17.77 million baht (USD 508,000) |
| Layan | 156 | 121 | 36.70 million baht (USD 1.05 million) |
| Kata | 130 | 33 | 25.42 million baht (USD 726,000) |
| Nai Yang | 100 | 79 | 8.34 million baht (USD 238,000) |
| Nai Thon | 89 | 57 | 24.26 million baht (USD 693,000) |
| Karon | 82 | 37 | 18.58 million baht (USD 531,000) |
| Patong | 38 | 25 | 16.74 million baht (USD 478,000) |
| Chalong | 37 | 23 | 28.76 million baht (USD 822,000) |
| Mai Khao | 32 | 26 | 20.72 million baht (USD 592,000) |
Two readings follow. Inventory depth is concentrated: Bang Tao and Laguna alone account for more than half our listings and 1,193 of the properties for sale, which means real comparables and negotiating leverage, while Kata, Nai Harn and Karon show much thinner for-sale inventory against their total counts, so pricing there is less anchored. On yield we publish a deliberately narrow claim. AREA estimates gross rental yields around 6 to 8% a year for resort condominiums and villas in Cherng Talay and Bang Tao, and our own Bang Tao and Laguna sample, where both sale and rental sub-samples are large, produces about 6.7% gross. Elsewhere our rental and sale sub-samples cover different asset classes, so district-level yield figures would mislead and we do not quote them; price level and inventory depth are the reliable signals. The current selection sits in our Phuket properties for sale.
A 2026 safe transaction checklist
Each item answers a specific failure mode visible in the present environment.
- Pull the DBD extract on the selling entity. The Department of Business Development record shows registered shareholding, directors and filing history. If the seller is a Thai company whose 51% sits with individuals having no plausible connection to a high-value asset, you inherit that exposure rather than escaping it.
- Verify the chanote title at the Land Office. An agent's copy is not verification. Check the register for mortgages, encumbrances, servitudes and legal access, because villas reached by a road crossing a neighbour's land without a registered right of way are a recurring and expensive problem. Our note on the chanote title deed in Thailand covers what the register should show.
- Confirm remaining foreign quota before paying a deposit. The 49% cap applies to the saleable area of the individual project, and projects have been found over it. Get the remaining figure for that specific building in writing.
- Transfer funds from abroad in foreign currency with the correct stated purpose and obtain the FET form. The Foreign Exchange Transaction form proves the money entered Thailand from overseas. Without it you cannot register a condominium in foreign freehold, and you will struggle to evidence repatriation rights on resale.
- Register any lease longer than three years at the Land Office. An unregistered long lease is not enforceable for its full term, and verbal promises about renewal after year 30 carry no legal weight whatsoever.
- Check the construction permit, zoning and building height compliance. Phuket applies strict hillside and height restrictions, and a finished building in breach is a liability on resale at best.
- Use escrow or staged payments. Release money against defined milestones and registered steps rather than paying in full upfront; resistance to this is itself information.
- Refuse any offer to source Thai partners for a fee. A lawyer proposing to find you nominee shareholders is offering to build the structure now being dismantled.
Together these steps form the substance of proper due diligence for Thailand real estate, and they cost far less than remediation.
What to do if you already hold a Thai company
Neither panic nor inaction helps. Start with an audit of substance. Do the Thai shareholders have demonstrable financial capacity, genuine capital contributions and bank activity consistent with their stake? Does the file contain share pledges or blanket powers of attorney that an investigator would read as proof of foreign control? Does the company have real activity, filings and tax compliance, or does it exist only to hold a house?
Where answers are weak, the realistic options are restructuring toward a compliant route, converting to a registered long lease with superficies if the counterparty agrees, or an orderly sale. Each carries tax consequences worth modelling before the Land Office rather than at it. For buyers whose real objective was long-term presence rather than land title, the Thailand Elite visa and property investment route often solves the underlying problem more cleanly than a company ever did.
Who benefits from the crackdown
Enforcement redistributes rather than destroys. The losers are identifiable: buyers holding land through nominee Thai shareholders, the intermediaries who sold them the structure, and sellers whose exit depended on transferring shares for 1,000 baht instead of paying a 2% transfer fee. For that group the asset has become illiquid, with frozen accounts and seizure at the far end.
The winners are equally identifiable. Owners of quota-compliant condominiums gain, because verified foreign freehold becomes scarcer. Developers who structured projects correctly gain, because theirs is the only inventory an informed buyer will underwrite. Registered leasehold and superficies gain credibility against the corporate wrapper. The state recovers transfer fees and income tax it was losing. The market gains a cleaner title chain, which is the precondition for institutional capital taking Phuket residential seriously.
The 705.055 billion baht of inventory, the 85% historical absorption and the 5.2% monthly clearance rate do not describe a market in trouble. They describe a demand base broad enough to absorb a compliance shock. The plumbing of ownership is what is changing, and that change rewards preparation. If you are weighing a Phuket purchase or reviewing a structure you already hold, our team can walk through the documentation with you before any money moves.
Primary sources: The Nation on the AREA Phuket market survey, Bangkok Post on nominee structures and Thansettakij on the Phuket enforcement operation.
