Condos for Sale in Bangkok: A Complete Buying Guide

Whether buying a condo in Bangkok to live in, rent out, or flip in five years time for a profit, it’s a big investment and takes a little bit of know-how.

You’ll need to know where you want to live or where you’ll most likely find tenants or where to buy to get a good return on your investment.

No matter your reasons for buying a condo in Bangkok, this guide walks you through the entire process, from starting your search to getting the keys.

By the end, you’ll find out about Bangkok’s condo market, the best developers, condo types, price ranges, and more.

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Buying a Condo in Bangkok as a Foreigner

Anyone can buy a condo in Thailand but as a foreigner, you have to follow some rules:  

• You can only buy a unit in a condo where less than 49 percent of the units are owned by foreigners.
• You must pay for the condo with money that is transferred from outside of Thailand (if paid in full).

Read more: A Step-by-Step Guide to Buying a Condo in Thailand

Bangkok Condo Market

Bangkok’s condo market may have fallen during COVID-19 restrictions, but after the country reopened its borders, the market began to improve. In fact, property market experts Cushman & Wakefield reported that in 2023 the Thai capital’s condo market rose significantly. 

“Bangkok’s condominium market continued to improve in 2H 2023, driving by growing demand in unit sales…The overall pre-sale rate was 57.5% in 2H 2023, up from 52.6% in 1H, with 6,289 units of the new stock being sold.”

You can download the two-page report to find out more. 

FazWaz also predicts a positive outlook for Bangkok’s condo market due to the growing number of foreign investors who bought condos in the city last year.  

Why Bangkok?

Aside from a growing condo market, there are other advantages to buying a condo in Bangkok, such as:

• a city with a lot to offer
• investment opportunities
• simple buying process

A City with a Lot to Offer

Bangkok is one of the most visited cities in the world and the world’s top travel destination, and as such, you can find everything you need in the city. There are shopping malls, restaurants, cafes, gyms, and attractions all over the city.

• World-class hospitals: Bangkok is home to a number of world-class hospitals. In fact, many people visit Thailand for medical tourism. 
• Top-ranked international schools: Bangkok international schools offer IB, American, British, Australian, Singaporian, and even German curriculums. Many expat families send their children to these schools.
• Infrastructure: BTS and MRT lines are expanding from the city center to the suburbs of Bangkok. This increases the property value of the surrounding areas, which usually include condos.
• Cross-border connectivity: China is building a high-speed train system under the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative, effectively helping Thailand’s economy.

These factors result in regular increases in condo price, but at the same time they make the city a more attractive place to live and visit.

Investment Opportunities

You don’t have to buy a condo in Bangkok to live in. You can also make money by using it as a vacation rental, rental property, or long-term investment. 

• Monthly income: Once you buy a condo, you can rent it out to locals or expats for six-month to one-year lease durations. Depending on the condo you buy, you could net an extra ten thousand baht per month (or more) of income.   
• Vacation rentals: Using Airbnb to rent out your condo to tourists in Thailand is another option. But you have to follow the guidelines set by the condo’s property manager. If they don’t allow short-term rentals and you get caught renting to short-term guests, you’ll have to pay a fine. If you want to rent out your property on a website like Airbnb, ask the property manager if they allow it before buying the condo.
• Long-term investment: If you want to buy a property in Bangkok for investment reasons, it’s better to buy a new condo, hold it, then sell it after five or more years.

Simple Buying Process

In Thailand, foreigners can buy condos without having to create a company or forming a joint venture with a Thai citizen. You can even buy a condo from overseas and come to Thailand only to sort out the transfer of ownership.

What’s more, there’s no minimum purchase price required to buy a condo, unlike in other countries. For example, if you want to buy a condo in Kuala Lumpur, it has to be worth at least one million Malaysian ringgits, which is around US$230,000.

And in Thailand, there’s no asset tax, yearly ownership tax, or multiple property tax.

How Bangkok Condos Prices are Appraised

The cost of condos in Bangkok per square meter is much lower than in other capitals around the world. In general, Bangkok condos are grouped into six market segments that determine their price per square meter, as shown in the table below.

Type	Price Per Square Meter in Thai baht
Super-Luxury	More than 250,000
Luxury	180,000 to 250,000
High-End	100,000 to 170,000
Mid-Market	70,000 to 100,000
City Condo	Less than 70,000

In addition to price variations, the condo types above also differ in the following ways:

• Location: Better market segment means better locations. Good condo locations are related to how close the buildings are to BTS and MRT stations.
• Facilities: City condos might only have small swimming pools and gyms. But in the super luxury segment, condos might come with private swimming pools in each unit.
• Materials: Better market segments tend to have better building materials. This also encompasses building design and interior design.
• Number of units: Better market segments mean fewer condo units per development. For example, there may be over a thousand condo units in a city condo development but only a few hundred in higher-end segments.

Reputable Condo Developers

When researching the condo market in Bangkok, you’ll come across a handful of major developers in Bangkok. These developers build projects all throughout the city and its suburbs. The major condo developers in Bangkok include:

• Ananda Development: developer of IDEO and IDEO MOBi.
• Sansiri: developers of THE BASE and THE LINE.
• L.P.N. Development: developer of Lumpini.
• AP Thailand: developer of LIFE and ASPIRE.
• Pruksa: developer of Plum Condo and TREE.

These developers have several projects under different names targeting different market segments. For example, Ananda Development is also the developer of VENIO, ELIO, and UNiO, and ASHTON.

On the other hand, there are smaller condo developers whose names you may not have heard of before,  such as: 

• Monte Rama 9 by CG Group
• DEFINE by Mayfair under PF Realty
• Humble Living by Triple Land Development

With so many developers in Bangkok, which condo should you buy? You should pick the development that most suits your budget and needs.

When you search online for reviews about a certain developer, you will find both good and bad stories. This is because there are hundreds — sometimes thousands — of condos in each development. 

The rare few unlucky buyers who come across an issue usually complain about it online. But with buyers who don’t face any issues, they rarely write positive reviews about the developer.

So, instead of focusing on condo developers’ reputation, you should look at the location, your budget, needs, and the facilities.

Read more: Condo Developments: Which Ones to Rent and Which Ones to Avoid

Condo Types

Bangkok condos come in a variety of sizes and with various facilities, such as co-working spaces, libraries, rooftop gardens, game rooms, jacuzzis, sky lounges, and movie theaters. Let’s take a closer look at each condo type.

• Studio: The smallest and cheapest condo type between 20 and 30 sqm. Studios have everything packed inside one room, including dining and living area, bedroom, and bathroom. Some studios have a sliding glass door to separate the sleeping area from the living area at night, and others have balconies. Studios are good choices if you don’t spend much time at home and live alone.
• One bedroom: Slightly bigger than studios. They are usually 30 to 50 sqm. The main difference is that the bedroom and the living room are separated by a wall and door. One-bedroom condos are the most popular type in Bangkok.
• One bedroom plus: Comes with an additional smaller room, which is normally adjacent to a balcony. You can turn it into an office or a kid’s bedroom.
• Two bedroom: Sizes range between 50 and 80 sqm. In older buildings, some two-bedroom units are larger than 100 sqm. You might also get a second bathroom with this condo type. Another hidden benefit of two-bedroom condos is their location — they’re normally located in the corner of the building. This means you get more privacy, as no one walks by your front door. And you’ll get views from both sides of the building. Two-bedroom condos also come with guaranteed free parking.
• Three bedroom: Includes everything mentioned above, except with three bedrooms. Although you can find a condo with three bedrooms, anything above that might be impossible unless it’s a penthouse.
• Simplex: A one-floor condo without a mezzanine and easily found on the Bangkok market. Simplexes come in studios, one bedrooms, one bedroom plus, two bedrooms, and three bedrooms.
• Dulex: Has two floors and comes with two bedrooms, one on the lower floor and another on the upper floor, with stairs leading to the upper floor. A duplex usually has two exits — one on a lower floor and another on the upper floor. The height of duplexes is over 5.3 meters. These condos are available only in high-end condos.
• Loft: Somewhere between a simplex and duplex. They come with a master bedroom, smaller bedroom or office, and mezzanine. As opposed to duplexes, lofts only have one exit. Also, mezzanines in a loft count as furniture. This means you won’t pay condo fees for the mezzanine area. The height of a loft is around 3.65 meters.

With or Without Furniture?

When it comes to furniture, you have three options when buying a condo in Bangkok.

• Barebones: An empty unit with only bathroom amenities.
• Fully furnished: A condo that comes with furniture and seems to be the most popular option for expats in Thailand. It doesn’t cost more than a barebones condo, and you get all the furniture you need. Furniture in a fully furnished condo is usually built in. If you want to bring or buy your own furniture, you’d have to rip out the built in furniture. Some people buy fully furnished condos only to rip everything out and re-furnish them.
• Fully fitted: A condo that comes with only bathroom and kitchen amenities.

Finding a Condo for Sale

You have three ways to find a condo for sale in Bangkok: look online, use a real estate agent, or look offline.

Look Online

Looking online has many advantages. First, you can do research in advance and see what you can get in your price range. Second, it’s the fastest way to find condos for sale in Bangkok.

There are many websites that list condos for sale in Bangkok, grouped by area and price. But these three below are popular with buyers:

• Hipflat
• DDproperty 
• FazWaz

If you come across a condo you like, you can get in touch with the real estate agent in charge of the property by leaving your contact info.

Use a Real Estate Agent

You won’t have much of a problem finding real estate agents in Bangkok. That’s because in Thailand, becoming a real estate agent doesn’t require a license. Expats in Thailand can even become agents as long as they have a Thai work permit.

The trick is finding a good real estate agent. You can also browse our list of vetted real estate agents who we know to be experienced and reputable.

Many real estate agents also specialize in one area, such as the following agencies below.

• Keller Henson: Great for investment properties.
• Find Thai Space: Great for new and used condos for sale.

You don’t have to pay a fee when consulting a real estate agent either; they earn money from the property owner or developer upon the sale of a condo. 

Advertisement. Get your business listed here.

Look Offline

While walking near MRT or BTS stations and department stores, you might notice agents handing out brochures for newly built or soon-to-be-built condos in the area. These brochures usually list some basic info about the condo, including prices. If you’re interested, don’t hesitate to talk to these agents.

Ask them if you, as a foreigner, can buy a condo in their development. It shouldn’t be a problem in most cases, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. You certainly don’t want to spend a lot of time talking to an agent only to find out that foreigners can’t buy property from them.

Alternatively, you can walk into any condo and talk to the management or person in charge. They should be able to inform you about available condos. If you’re lucky, they might be able to show you a condo on the spot.

Which Bangkok Area Should You Buy A Condo In?

There are 50 districts and 180 sub-districts in Bangkok. As these locations undergo development, it becomes harder to define the business areas from the suburbs and so on. Let’s take a look at all the key areas in Bangkok, along with some recommended condos.

Central Business District (CBD)

• Location: Sathon, Silom, Siam Square, Chit Lom, Asok, Ratchadapisek, and Rama 9. 
• Price ranges: THB220,000 per square meter or THB7 million for a 31.5 sqm one-bedroom condo.
• Recommended development: Address Siam Ratchathewi near BTS Ratchathewi, one stop from BTS Silom.

Sukhumvit Area

The Sukhumvit area is also part of Bangkok’s CBD, but it’s more popular with tourists in Thailand. You’re always less than 10 minutes away from a BTS station in this area, and it’s famous for its restaurants and malls.  

• Location: Sukhumvit Road from BTS Nana to BTS Ekkamai.
• Price ranges: THB200,000 per square meter or THB7.1 million for a 34.51 sqm one-bedroom condo. 
• Recommended development: Noble BE19, a luxurious condo by leading developer Noble.

Expat Residential Area

The expat residential area is near the Sukhumvit area, but condo prices are much cheaper. Keep in mind that you’re further away from the city center in this area. So you may need to travel further to get to gyms, parks, and malls. 

• Location: BTS Phra Khanong to BTS Bearing. 
• Price ranges: THB2 million for a studio condo.
• Recommended development: Excel Lasalle 17, a low-rise condo located five minutes from the BTS Bearing.

The expat residential area is also ideal for people looking to rent an apartment in Bangkok. So if you own a condo in this area, it’ll be easy to find a tenant if you want to rent out your unit.

Riverside Area

Prices in the riverside area depend on which part of the river you look in. Along Sathon, prices are much higher than in Bang Po.

• Location: Chao Phraya River. 
• Price ranges: THB120,000 to THB400,000 per square meter or THB3.9 million for a 32.85-sqm one-bedroom condo.
• Recommended development: Chapter One Flow Bangpo.

Along BTS and MRT Lines

With the BTS and MRT constantly expanding their routes, new condos are sprouting up all over Bangkok close to these lines. Depending on the area, you can get a great deal on a new condo for much cheaper condos in the CBD or Sukhumvit areas.

• Location: Along the BTS and MRT lines.
• Price ranges: Between THB60,000 to THB150,000 per square meter or THB4.5 million for a 31-sqm one-bedroom condo. 
• Recommended development: Siamese Ratchakru in Phaya Thai

Bangkok Condo Prices

Many of our readers ask us what kind of Bangkok condo they can buy for X amount of millions of Thai Baht.

So, in this section, we’re going to show you what type of condo you can buy between certain price ranges.

• 1 million Thai Baht: It’s possible to find a condo in Bangkok with a THB1 million budget. But you will only find a 30-sqm studio or smaller on the outskirts of the city with no nearby BTS or MRT stations. The condos at this price point also look like apartments and lack basic facilities like swimming pools and gyms.
• 2 to 3 million Thai Baht: This is the minimum budget for anyone who wants to buy a condo in Bangkok. For this amount, you can buy a studio or one-bedroom condo close to a BTS or MRT station. For example, you can buy a fully furnished 36-sqm one-bedroom condo at UNIO Sukhumvit 72, a beach-themed development with a swimming pool close to BTS Bearing.
• 4 to 5 million Thai Baht: With this budget, you can get a much larger condo. You can buy a 50-sqm two-bedroom unit at a development like Aspire Sukhumvit On Nut. Check out Life Ladprao Valley. 
• 5 to 10 million Thai Baht: You can buy a high-end unit with this budget in the CBD or Sukhumvit areas. Condos are more luxurious here, have better facilities, and are within minutes from department stores and BTS and MRT stations. Hyde Sukhumvit 11, located near BTS Nana, is a good example of a condo in this price range. If you love river views, check out Chapter Charoen Nakhon Riverside.
• Luxury condos: With a 10-million Thai Baht budget, you can get a luxury condo in Bangkok located in the CBD area. They are built with excellent quality materials and come fully equipped with modern facilities. For THB12.9 million, you can buy a 70.29-sqm two-bedroom condo at Siamese Exclusive Sukhumvit 31.

Inspecting the Unit

Before you buy a condo in Bangkok, you should carefully inspect the unit. Make sure:

• the water drains properly in all bathrooms and kitchens
• there are no water leaks coming from either inside or outside the unit
• the walls, floors, and ceilings are in good condition
• no one is tapping off your electric

If you buy a condo and discover a problem later, it can be a headache to deal with. If you don’t know how to inspect a condo, hire a professional inspector. It costs a few thousand baht, but it’s worth it. 

Inspectors will come to the condo and give you a full report of all the problems they found. Some inspectors may even talk to the condo developer on your behalf to fix any issues.

You can use a Thai freelancer website to find an inspector. However, the site is only available in Thai. Just use Google Translate or ask a friend who speaks Thai for help.

Otherwise, you can join our Facebook group, ExpatDen Thailand Community and ask for a recommendation from fellow expats.

Paying for Your Condo

When you buy a condo in Bangkok, you can either pay for it in cash or finance it through a bank.

• In cash: If you pay for your condo in cash, you first have to leave a deposit set by the developers or property owner so that they know you are serious. Then you have to transfer your money into Thailand and prove it with a Foreign Exchange Transfer (FET) form. 
• Financing through a bank: You can get a mortgage from a bank in some cases. For instance, if you have a Thai work permit, you may be able to get a loan through UOB of Singapore to buy a condo in Bangkok. You do have to meet the financial requirements, which means you need to earn at least THB70,000 per year.  

Condo Insurance

Buying condo insurance is optional. Basic insurance plans start at THB2,000 a year and cover you for natural disasters, accidents, theft, and property damage. 

Read more: Insurance in Thailand: A Guide to What You Need (And What You Can Skip). 

Property Management Companies and Juristic Offices 

Property management companies and juristic offices keep the condo common areas clean and functioning. They also collect maintenance fees and enforce all the condo rules and regulations. Some could even help you find a handyman, a maid, or even potential tenants for your room.

That said, property managers aren’t always part of the condo development company. Some are outsourced by the developer. But certain developers like LPN and Sansiri use their own property managers.

Although property managers play an important role in managing the condo, you can’t choose them. That said, you can ask a condo developer before buying a condo about the property manager. If the property manager is reputable or is part of the developer’s company, then you should be fine.

On the other hand, you should be careful if a committee made up of tenants manages the property. They might not be able to handle problems professionally. But it’s possible to change the person in charge by a majority vote.

Additional Fees

You may have to pay additional costs when buying a condo in Bangkok. We list some of them below.

Maintenance Fees

You pay maintenance fees once a year. The amount depends on the size of your condo, but it’s normally between THB40 to THB80 per square meter per month. The cost of maintenance fees also depends on these three factors:

• Number of facilities: More facilities means more staff and equipment to take care of them, which means higher maintenance costs.
• Number of units: More condos in the development means more people sharing the cost, which equates to lower maintenance fees.
• Location: Some parts of Bangkok are more expensive than others, and that cost is passed on to the condo owners in maintenance fees.

Parking Fees

In Bangkok, the law states that condo developers must provide one parking spot for every 120 square meters of liveable space they build. So if a development has a combined 6,000 square meters of liveable space, then it must provide parking for at least 50 vehicles.

When you talk to a condo agent, they’ll let you know the ratio of parking spots relative to the number of units. Thirty-three percent means there is one parking spot for every three units. Usually, this number is between 30 and 50 percent for condos in Bangkok.

Many condos charge a monthly or yearly parking fee, per car. Other condos won’t charge you for the first car. But if you buy an additional car and want to park it there, then you have to pay a parking fee. 

• Parking fees: Parking fees vary, but normally they are in the range of THB300 to THB500 per month. This charge covers the maintenance for the parking area and any needed security to watch the vehicles.
• Avoiding parking fees: You can avoid paying for an additional parking spot if one of your neighbors is entitled to a free spot but doesn’t have a car. You can register your car under their room number. But you probably want to ask a neighbor you’re close with, not the random guy down the hall.

Keep in mind that many condos in Bangkok don’t have enough parking spots. So people are forced to double park and leave their cars in neutral so that they can be pushed out of the way if someone has to leave. 

Water

The cost of water per unit in a condo is usually higher than the cost per unit in a house. If you live in a house, you pay the central rate as decided by the Metropolitan Waterwork Authority, which is around THB9 to THB15 per unit.

But if you live in a condo, the property manager may charge you THB20 to THB30 per unit because they need to charge for water management and maintenance fees. But considering how low the cost of water in Thailand is, you shouldn’t worry about this.

Other Fees

You also have to pay property taxes, transfer fees, and possibly water and electric installation fees. Read more about this on our Step-by-Step Guide to Buying a Condo in Thailand.

Now, on to You

If you’re looking to buy a condo in Bangkok, reach out to Keller Henson. They provide market analysis, project comparison, tax consulting and optimization, risk management and exit strategy, property furnishing, design and renovation, and much more to property investors worldwide.