A foreigner cannot own Thai land, so a hotel purchase runs through a 30-year lease, a Thai company or a unit in a condo-hotel. What each route allows, which licences apply and what Phuket's 2026 numbers show.
A foreigner cannot own land in Thailand, and a hotel stands on land. That one fact decides how every hotel deal is built: a registered lease, a Thai company, a unit inside a condo-hotel building, or a project promoted by the Board of Investment. This guide explains what each route gives you, which licences the operation needs and what Phuket's 2026 figures say about the asset you would be paying for. Buying a hotel does not give you a visa either; see Thailand visa options for property buyers.
For the wider picture of hotels as an asset class, start with the hotel real-estate investment guide for private investors. This article covers only what is specific to Thailand.
Four ways a foreigner ends up with a hotel business
- A lease of the land with ownership of the buildings. Under the Civil and Commercial Code a lease cannot run longer than 30 years, and a lease of more than three years must be registered at the Land Office. Renewal clauses are not automatically enforceable: they depend on the landowner agreeing again, and law-firm commentary reports a court holding that an arrangement designed from the start to run past 30 years can be treated as circumventing the limit. In practice you are buying a wasting asset. Its value falls as the remaining term shortens, and a future buyer or lender will look first at how many years are left.
- A Thai company that holds the land. A company that owns land must be Thai-majority, so a foreign investor holds a minority stake and controls the business by contract. That is exactly the shape the authorities have been targeting as nominee ownership; see Thailand tightens enforcement against nominee land ownership. A structure that works on paper and fails an inspection is the main legal risk in this route.
- A unit in a condo-hotel. Foreigners can hold individual units in their own name, freehold, as long as foreigners own no more than 49% of the saleable area of the building. The land question disappears, but you own a room, not a hotel, and the rental programme around it is a separate contract with its own terms.
- A Board of Investment (BOI) promoted project. Hotels are among the activities the BOI promotes, and a promoted business can be foreign-majority. The BOI route is a project approval, not a purchase shortcut, and it does not cover buying an ordinary operating hotel from a local owner.
Land purchase under Section 96 bis of the Land Code is sometimes mentioned as a fifth route. It is limited to residential use, a maximum of one rai and a qualifying investment of at least 40 million baht kept for five years, and it is rarely approved. It is not a way to buy hotel land.
Operating the hotel: the Foreign Business Act and the Hotel Act
Two separate laws sit on top of ownership.
The Foreign Business Act lists hotel operation, but not hotel management, among the restricted services. Foreigners can run the management side as employees or as a management company without the licence, which is why most foreign capital in Thai hotels sits behind a local or a branded operator. Running the hotel business itself as a foreign-majority company generally needs a licence or certificate from the Department of Business Development, or BOI promotion.
The Hotel Act of 2004 regulates anyone who lets rooms for less than one month. A licence is needed once the property goes above the small-operator exemption, which a 2023 amendment widened to 8 rooms and 30 guests from 4 rooms and 20 guests. Operating without a licence is an offence: reported penalties are a fine of up to 20,000 baht plus 10,000 baht a day while it continues, or up to a year in prison. Lets of 30 days or more fall outside the Act.
What this means when you buy a going concern:
- Ask for the hotel licence, the building-use permit and, for larger or coastal projects, the environmental assessment.
- Check that the licence matches the number of rooms actually sold.
- Check that the land title or registered lease matches the licence holder.
- A hotel that trades without a licence is not a business with a price. It is a liability that happens to have guests.
Condo buildings are a separate trap. Letting condominium units by the day is prohibited under the Condominium Act, and the authorities have been cracking down on illegal daily condo rentals. A condo-hotel therefore works only if the project is set up and licensed to operate as a hotel; have a Thai lawyer confirm the legal basis of any rental programme in writing before paying a deposit.
What Phuket's 2026 numbers show
Thailand's hotel investment market set a record of 26.4 billion baht in 2025 according to a consultant's tally, but Phuket's share fell to about 8% of volume from 23% a year earlier, because few assets came to market at realistic prices. The same source expects total volume to moderate to around 13 billion baht in 2026. Thin turnover means a thin evidence base for prices; treat any single comparable with caution.
Operating figures for the first half of 2026 for Phuket luxury and upscale hotels, from Cushman and Wakefield:
- Occupancy 80.0%, down from 84.1% a year earlier.
- Average daily rate 6,820 baht, down 4.0%.
- Revenue per available room 5,456 baht, down 8.7% from 5,975.
- Inventory of 49,380 rooms, with about 3,440 more under construction for 2026 to 2028, roughly 7% on top of existing supply.
Hotel guests on the island were 6.04 million in the half year, down 2.7%, and airport arrivals fell 1.4%, with the consultant pointing to fewer international visitors from April. CBRE's wider measure of the Phuket market was flat, with occupancy down 0.8 percentage points and the average rate up 0.9%. Cushman and Wakefield sees room for improvement in the rest of 2026. These figures describe larger upscale hotels; a 15-room boutique property can behave very differently.
One public asking price gives a sense of scale: a 258-key resort in Kata was listed at about 28.6 million US dollars, roughly 110,700 dollars per key. That is an asking price in a listing, not a completed sale, and we found no verified transaction price per key or capitalisation rate for Phuket. Do not accept either number from a seller without three years of accounts; how to value a hotel for sale shows how to rebuild them yourself.
Seasonality and who runs it
Phuket trades on seasons. The months from November to April carry the strongest demand and the monsoon months from May to October the weakest, so a hotel's annual result depends on how the low season is handled and what the fixed costs are. See where to buy on Phuket for how areas differ.
You do not have to operate the hotel. The usual choices are a lease to an operator, a management agreement with a brand or independent manager, or running it yourself with a local team. Each splits revenue and risk differently; hotel management agreements, leases and franchises explained walks through the terms to negotiate.
Which route for which budget
- Smallest tickets: a unit in a condo-hotel. You hold a freehold room inside the 49% quota, and the return depends on the operator and the rental programme. Read branded residences, condo-hotels and fractional ownership compared first, and never treat a projected return as a promise.
- Mid-sized tickets: a boutique hotel of a few dozen rooms on a registered lease or through a company. Here the title, the remaining lease term and the licence are the whole deal.
- Large tickets: assets of 100 keys or more, bought on a lease or a company structure with institutional operators. Financing and tax structuring matter as much as the price; see hotel acquisition financing for foreign buyers and holding structures and taxes for hotel owners.
For any route, run the property through the checks in the Thailand property due diligence checklist and the price and cost basics in Thailand property prices, yield and rules.
FAQ
Can a foreigner own a hotel in Thailand outright? Not the land. A foreigner can own the buildings on leased land, units in a condo-hotel within the 49% quota, or a business through a structure the law accepts. The operating licence is a separate question.
Is a 30-year lease enough? It is the legal maximum for one lease, and renewal is a promise, not a right. Price the asset on the years actually secured.
Does buying a hotel give residency? No. Buying property in Thailand does not grant a right to stay.
Is the foreign quota going up? Proposals to raise it above 49% in resort zones have been discussed, but as of mid-2026 they remain proposals and the law has not changed.
How we help
We check, compare and negotiate: who actually holds the land, what the licence covers, how the lease is registered and what the accounts really show. We do not guarantee income or occupancy, and we do not hold a particular hotel for you. You can see hotels in our catalogue, and the Thailand pages at /countries/thailand and Phuket show what the market offers.
This article is informational only and is not legal, tax or investment advice. Figures are indicative, come from consultants, law-firm summaries and listings, and change over time; confirm the current rules and numbers with a Thai lawyer before you buy.