A Buyer's Guide

BUY A CONDOMINIUM You can own it, whereas with a house you can only have a leasehold of up to 30 years, with options to extend. If you have a Thai spouse, you can buy a house in his or her name—but if your spouse dies or you get divorced, you're entitled to nothing. You can also form a company with a majority of Thai shareholders and buy property through that. The only other option is to invest $1 million, which gets you clear title to 1 rai (about 1,600 square meters) of land.

GET A GOOD LAWYER Ask him to do thorough background checks. It's amazing the history some Thai properties have—often, multiple banks are owed money on them, or all manner of liens and encumbrances will prevent you getting clear title. Swindles are rife—a common one is to sell a house but keep the land on a separate title.

CHECK THE TYPE OF DEED There are many kinds of deed in Thailand, and this can affect both price and how ironclad your claim to the land is. Chanot ti din' means the land has been surveyed properly, and this is the best type of title to have. But there are many other types, such as Nor Sor and Nor Sor 3 Kor, which indicate imprecise boundaries. Sor Kor titles bestow little more than squatter's rights.