Thailand’s Property Collapse… The Cracks Are Starting to Show

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]Across Thailand right now, there are growing  questions surrounding the property market.

[00:00:04]Developers running out of money, unfinished  condo projects, buildings sitting half empty, and increasing claims online that parts of the market  are beginning to crack. At the same time, prices in many areas still remain incredibly high. So,  what's really happening here? Today, I've come to Paya, one of Thailand's biggest and most important  property markets, to investigate for myself and speak directly with estate agents, working inside  the industry every single day. On the surface, Pate looks busy. The tourists are here, the bars  are full, construction's happening. But even the Hollywood style sign up in the hills has an empty  condo development sitting right next to it. In fact, walking around, I saw a number of unfinished  developments, some half empty buildings, and entire projects that seem frozen in time. But the  big question now is, are these isolated cases or the early warning signs of something much bigger  happening across Thailand's property market? And to find out, I spoke directly with two estate  agents here in Pataya to hear what they're seeing on the ground. All right, so Joe, maybe you could  tell us a little bit about what you do here. Yeah, no problem. So we're based out of Paya here in  central Paya uh buying and selling properties.

[00:01:18]I'm a coordinator here at Alan Bolton Property and  uh we help buyers and sellers uh purchase and sell properties here in Paya. Are there certain areas  that are more difficult to sell in other areas?

[00:01:29]Is there a particular demand for certain specific  areas in Patea or Definitely Central Paya in this area is the prime location just due to it being  closer to the city but anything close to the beach is also in demand as well but uh basically  anything as far the further you away you go from the city is where the demand starts to collapse  a little bit. So before co there was quite an expansion in paya and that's what led to a lot  of uh development in the jienne area but then co happened and wiped out a lot of those you know  un established companies and that's what led to an over supply of condos but uh since then I mean  stand you know demand has been steady increasing uh largely due to uh the eastern economic corridor  which is you know a lot of infrastructure projects coming in the next 10 So definitely a lot of  uh potential for the market in Paya for sure.

[00:02:25]And I I did notice by the Hollywood sign, the Paya  Hollywood sign, right next to it, you've got a big empty development there. What's what's going on  there? Do you know about that one or That's quite a famous development which never got completed  due to the fact that it was partially built on crown land. So they actually had the incorrect  permits. So once the new mayor came into power, he stopped that and now it's since, you know,  been in talks with them having to demolish it.

[00:02:53]Okay. Yeah. So that will eventually be demolished,  but at the moment it's also in ongoing trials to see what happens with that property, but most  likely it'll be demolished because like I said, it's partly on crown land that it shouldn't be  on. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. You've been here how long, Shi? I'm in Platea 16 years in in real estate. I  working for a developer uh five years and 11 years in this office. So you've seen some changes over  the years now. Yes. The change come actually after the corona the covid the prices of the real estate  the city totally the city start to growing up and up and up after the corona with the businesses  you see a lot of open and new businesses. Mhm. And many many new buildings, new developers. And have  you seen a difference in the markets recently like the type of people that are buying condos here?  All all around the world. Before the the biggest market was the Russian, but the Russian gone. Mhm.  And now I have a little bit not much. The Chinese was very strong market, but they gone again. Okay.  And now is from everywhere in the world like uh many many from America, from England, from Canada,  mostly Europe mostly. What we usually see is a lot of Western European uh as well as North American  clients, Raji expat, retirees and a lot of lifestyle buyers as well. It used to be a lot more  investors and now we're seeing a lot more people buying into the lifestyle of Paya because of all  the, you know, improvements and making it more familyfriendly. Um, a lot of things come to Paya.  I mean, you got Disneyland maybe coming here. Um, you got maybe casinos as well and a lot of other,  you know, things coming here. So, it's I noticed in this area is much more Indian moving in or  they usually coming on holiday. It's a real mix, real different mix now. demographic the the I tell  you the the story after the corona not have any tourist here and the economy was very bad and  then the Chinese not come and then they try to growing up a little bit to move the the business  of the tourism and then they come to the Indian the Indian the history of the Indian to come to  Thailand they need to buy a visa of 100 $150 visa need to pay and then they cancel it. They told  them that you can come without to buy the visa to get the visa on arrival and now and they make like  a promo in uh India something about Thailand blah blah blah and uh now is India city I think around  50 Indian restaurants and a lot of big clubs in uh the walking street. Some of them this really  huge clubs and but uh some of them they say is laundry money something something like a kind of  laundry money but it's not my business. Got a good one for you today. If you are planning to send  money into Thailand you can now get a nice juicy bonus by using my code. Many of you are already  living here in Thailand or you're planning to come and live here at some point. One of the biggest  practical things is getting your money back here reliably. And that's where TapTap Send comes in.  Tap Tap Send lets you send money from the UK, the USA, Australia, Europe, and Canada straight  into a Thai bank account quick and reliably. There are no transfer fees. Rates are competitive,  and usually your transfer will complete within minutes. So whether you're just topping up your  living costs here, paying for something locally, or sending money to family in Thailand, it  just works. So if you'd like to try it out for yourself, simply download Tap Tap Send from the  App Store or Google Play and use my code word to get yourself a bonus. Those links are below for  you in the pinned comment and the description.

[00:07:05]And do let me know how you get on. Are there  certain dead developments? Like developments that you just like cannot cannot shift? Um it it's  largely dependent on the quality of the property.

[00:07:17]Um the buyers nowadays are very informed and we  are definitely in demand for a lot more quality projects. Uh so there are some projects that are  harder to sell but those are largely from you know products that buyers nowadays aren't really  interested in. So there are some dead developments out there which tend to stay on the market for a  longer time but generally speaking the demand is there but again for quality properties is this  to do with like it was built at a certain period of time so maybe the decor is not so great or the  the the quality of materials. Exactly. So before in that precoid time when there was that rapid  expansion people were just building all kinds of you know different types of condos from different  materials quality um and at that time you know things were just selling so hot that they were  building all different types of products uh and then once co hit it created that over supply and  then after that buyers have become more selective and you know thus choosing more quality options uh  which is obviously leading to um a lot of condos that don't sell. Uh but largely, yeah, like  you said, things that aren't made uh you know, modern or quality of materials. Um it really  varies, but yeah, they are out there. Definitely.

[00:08:36]I've I've noticed also walking around there's a  a large number of estate agents, but many of them are closed closed up. Is this because they just  pop up by day and then they they disappear or is it because they're not renting enough properties  and people are dealing with the bigger agents like yourself? Yeah, I mean u the established reputable  agents are going to obviously take a larger share of the market and the problem here in Paya is  it's an unregulated industry. So anybody can essentially become a real estate agent, right? So  that is partially why as well you'll see people have an idea, have a dream, you know, start  up a little shop and then maybe not, you know, strategically place themselves in the market to  succeed. And, you know, it's it's a it's a a city of of a natural businessminded uh entrepreneurial  uh type of uh environment. So there's a lot of businesses that open up and close. You know, it's  a various reasons why and factors why they don't make it, but largely due to the unregulated nature  of the industry. And why do you think there might be the opinion online that there's um this kind  of property market collapse? Maybe it's it's also forced in Bangkok, not not only here. And why do  you think that opinion exists out there? I think it's just due to the over supply. They're looking  at statistics, right? And statistically it's considered an over supply in the market and it's  from that precoid era when people were building so much and then after co now there statistically is  an over supply of condominiums but there's still a lack of quality products. So that's where I really  create the difference. Uh there is a lot of stock in the market but not a lot of things that people  want. So I think that's most likely why. Yeah.

[00:10:22]If it's collap, what is the reason the the  new developers build the new high towers 50 60 stories. Mhm. If if it's collap, they're not going  to start to build anything because they going to lose the money. But if you go to developers  and you look at the the list of the selling, most of them is sold sold sold sold. What lefting  there is the ten because the tai people not buy much but the developer like the foreigner can  buy under foreign quarter most of the units sold most of them with nominee companies is this  also an issue sometimes when when dealing with property like people buying up large amounts of  property and maybe renting it out or is it not something you see a lot in patan nominees um  largely refer to company ownership properties uh largely for houses because foreigners cannot  own land in Thailand. So there's always been a loophole in Thailand where people use a Thai  company to buy a uh a house for instance and the structure of the company is used uh with the  Thai nominee as the shareholder. Um but um there has been a crackdown recently from the Thai  authorities to stop that. So now it's actually illegal for that and they've actually passing  a law where they can actually seize properties uh with if it's structured that way. Uh now there  are uh some law firms that people can visit to restructure the company to make sure that it is  legal and protected but you know a large number of them are still utilizing the nominee structure.  essentially uh for it to be legal the Thai nominee has to show one year of bank statements for  the 51% of the the money that the company share capital has. So that's essentially the new rule  now is that the Thai nominee has to show one-year bank statements to show that 51% of the funds that  started the company or the price of the house came from that Thai shareholder. So it's a lot more  strict now and that's creating obviously more difficult to find those tie nominees. But yeah,  definitely a crackdown at the moment. But I mean, if they really had to crack down on every single  property that is owned by uh a company, it would collapse the market. So, it's something they're  cracking down on slowly. I would say more for go ongoing into the future, but um it's definitely  a risk to those that have companies like that.

[00:12:52]Uh that's why we seeing a large number of  people now selling u those types of houses or restructuring the companies to ensure that  they're you know following the laws. The f the first important things if he come and he would  like to to buy under his name foreign name he must to sell send the money from oversea to Thailand  and the mention to buy a condo because then it is supposed to show at the lend office a letter from  the bank the money come by maybe dollars or euro currency from overseas, not change the money in  overseas to bat and send it. They must to show like come like a dollar or euro to Thailand and  then you got the letter from the bank blah blah blah and can move the unit under your name can  soft it if someone have a problem can solve it.

[00:13:54]I can solve it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But uh if  you would like to make it legal, send it by bank to bank or bank to lawyer or bank to agent but  must to mention to buy property and must to be in uh like dollar or euro whatever. What do you  think is the biggest risk looking forward to the property market here and then you know  what are you most positive about on both sides?

[00:14:22]Uh the biggest risk is essentially this this  company ownership scheme. Um but if you comply with the laws and do it correctly or use a Thai  spouse um then it is still possible to do that.

[00:14:37]But um largely I'm very optimistic about Thailand  and Paya in specifically uh Paya's market because of the eastern economic corridor. They're you  know they're expanding the airport. They got um expanding the port access as well. They got  a high-speed rail that's going to be connecting three major airports. They're redoing all the  highways. A lot of large infrastructure and manufacturing investment coming to Paya. So once  I would say in about 10 years time, it's really going to affect the uh the potential of the market  and I think it's going to increase the prices.

[00:15:10]uh that as well as if they do bring the casinos  here and other things like the the Disneyland and all these other things, I really think it's  going to improve the image and help Paya's market to increase. Um so I definitely see uh potential  for Payas market and we do see the demand steady increasing as well with the types of buyers that  we encountered. Is that even in in spite of the the cost of living issue at the moment and the  fuel issue and all of that you're still seeing customers now with capital ready to deploy  and definitely especially from foreign buyers for sure as the Thai bot has now stabilized um  it's definitely helping um the market for sure um there is a little bit of inflation but  the Thai government has increased uh interest rate cuts and subsidies to try and improve the  economy And the the nice thing about the Thai government is they they adjust quite fast. So  the the fuel prices although they have gone up, they will come back down again. And that's one  thing I like about the Thai authorities is that they they kind of respond well and fast to the  changes that happen here. But um because of our buyers being more foreigners, it um it doesn't  really affect them as much because most of them are cash buyers because it's difficult to get  financing here. But um the Thai bot is mainly the the main driver for our foreign buyers.  But because it's stabilized, it's definitely um keeping the demand up. Yeah. So, this has been  an exploration of the so-called property market collapse. I'll leave it up for you to decide if  there really is a collapse or not. It seems to me that in certain areas there are places that are  struggling. I guess we're going to find out in the future if we have a massive collapse and there are  loads more empty condos here in Paya or that more and more development ends up taking place and you  get new condos being built as you see there off in the distance. Thanks for checking in today and  do let me know what you think in the comments.