Build a villa on leased land.

Ownership

The house is yours. The land is leased.

Thai law separates land from what stands on it. A foreigner cannot own the land but can own the building, and the way to make that ownership visible to the world is a right of superficies registered on the title deed at the same time as the lease. It gives you the right to own structures on the land for the term, to insure them in your own name, to sell them with the lease, and to leave them to your heirs.

We recommend this structure for every tenant who builds and we register it as standard. The lease then sets out what happens at expiry: you remove the building, the landlord buys it at an agreed formula, or it is handed over. Deciding this at the start is what separates a calm thirty years from an anxious one.

Where you can build

Coastal setback

No permanent building within 12 metres of the high-tide line, nationwide. Pools and decks are generally treated as structures; check locally.

Height

Building height is limited relative to road width, and some coastal districts cap height near the shore. Low-rise, under the palm canopy, is both the rule and the better design.

Zoning

Our Sichon holding sits in a provincial zone that permits residential and tourism use. Natai is a walled residential and resort stretch. Confirmation for your specific design comes from the district building-control office as part of the permit.

Permit

A building permit is issued by the local administrative office, normally within 45 days of a complete application by a licensed Thai architect and engineer. It can be in the tenant's name.

Utilities

Provincial electricity and water reach the road at Sichon; Natai has a utility point at the road. Wells are subject to provincial groundwater approval. Fibre internet is available in both districts.

What it costs in 2026

Southern Thailand has a mature market of architects and contractors who build to international expectations. Broad figures, before land rent:

Architecture and engineering

Typically 6–10% of construction cost for a full service from concept to permit and supervision.

Construction

THB 35,000–60,000 per m² (about EUR 900–1,600) for a well-finished villa; premium contractors and imported finishes go higher. A 300 m² house with pool: roughly EUR 350,000–700,000.

Pool, landscape, furniture

Allow EUR 60,000–150,000 for a private pool, garden with mature planting and full furnishing.

Running costs

A caretaker couple, pool and garden maintenance, insurance and land tax typically EUR 8,000–15,000 a year for a single villa.

Programme

Three to six months of design and permits; ten to sixteen months of construction. Plan around the rainy season.

A villa at Sichon

Our Sichon holding is 241 rai, about 38 hectares, with a kilometre of beach. It is large enough that a private estate of two to ten rai can be leased on part of the beachfront while the balance remains untouched, with a shared access road already deeded from the highway. A family wanting a real beach, mature coconut groves, the Khao Luang mountains behind and no neighbour for hundreds of metres will not find many places like it on the mainland.

Natai, by contrast, is offered as a single ten-year business lease rather than for a private villa. If a villa is the goal, ask us about Sichon.

Living here part of the year

Many foreign owners spend part of the year in Thailand and rent or lend the house for the rest. Short lets of a single villa are generally permitted; renting several units needs a hotel licence, which is a different project (see the next guide). Long-stay visas now run for years at a time, and a registered lease is accepted as your address. Direct flights reach Phuket from London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Paris, Dubai, Doha, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Sydney and Perth; Sichon is a further one-hour domestic flight to Nakhon Si Thammarat or Surat Thani.

Questions foreign buyers ask us

Previous: the 30-year lease  ·  Next: start a beach business