Foreign-invested companies hold 1.06 million rai of Thai land

Foreign-owned companies own 1.06 million rai of land in Thailand and 76,840 condominium units, according to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce on Monday. This equates to roughly 1,700 square kilometres, or 0.33% of the country. The data was gathered through a joint effort involving the Department of Lands, Department of Provincial Administration, and currently applies to September 4.

It covers 144,706 registered entities holding property, 125,622 of which fall under the department's supervision. Of the 1,269,326 title deeds in Thailand, foreign-owned companies hold 305,838, which makes up 24.10% of the deeds and 23.62% of the land area. The ownership is divided into three tiers based on the percentage of ownership held by foreigners.

The highest tier, up to 49% foreign ownership, has 31,516 companies, 287,176 deeds, and 901,596 rai of land. This tier is by far the largest, at 86.88% of the total. The land is predominantly concentrated in Bangkok and the Eastern Economic Corridor. In the highest tier, Bangkok leads with 36,047 deeds, followed by Chon Buri, Samut Prakan, Pathum Thani, and Nonthaburi, which hold 47.02% of the tier's deeds.

Conversely, wholly foreign-owned companies are more concentrated in Chon Buri and Rayong provinces. The condominium figures show that foreign-owned companies own 76,840 units, or 31.48% of the total 244,115 units in Thailand. Almost all of these condominiums are located in the up-to-49% foreign ownership tier, with wholly foreign-owned companies holding only 1,179 units.