Buying property in Thailand as an Indian: the LRS & FEMA playbook

Yes, you can buy — the real question is the money

An Indian resident can own a Thai condominium outright (freehold), the same as any other foreigner, as long as the building stays within its 49% foreign-ownership quota. Land — and therefore a standalone villa’s plot — cannot be owned by a foreigner directly; those are held on a long lease or through a Thai company. That part of the rules is the same for every nationality, and we cover it in the foreign-ownership guide.

What is specific to an Indian buyer is not the Thai side — it is the India side: legally moving your funds out of India, and the tax collected when you do. Get that right and the purchase itself is straightforward.

The $250,000 rule (LRS)

Under the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme, every resident individual — including minors — can remit up to USD 250,000 per financial year (April to March) for permitted purposes. Buying immovable property abroad is explicitly one of them.

• The limit is per person, per financial year, and resets each 1 April.
• Remit through an authorised-dealer (AD) bank — typically your own bank’s forex/remittance desk — with Form A2 and a FEMA declaration.
• Use purpose code S0005 (“Indian investment abroad in real estate”) so the remittance is recorded correctly.
• Keep the paperwork: it is what lets you repatriate the sale proceeds later, and what your CA needs at tax time.

A single individual can therefore commit up to USD 250,000 towards a Thai property in one financial year — which comfortably covers most one- and two-bedroom Phuket condos bought new from the developer.

Buying above $250k — family pooling

For a larger unit or a villa, one person’s annual limit may not be enough. The scheme allows a family to pool their individual LRS limits towards a single property — but only if each contributor is also a co-owner of that property. It is not a way to gift someone else’s allowance; each person is buying their share.

Because the limit also resets each April, a purchase can be staged across two financial years (e.g. deposit in March, balance in April) to roughly double one person’s capacity — useful for off-plan payment schedules. Structure this with your CA so ownership and remittances line up.

The 20% TCS — and why it isn’t really a 20% cost

Since October 2023, outward remittances under LRS carry Tax Collected at Source (TCS). For a property purchase (an investment remittance), no TCS applies on the first ₹10 lakh you remit in a financial year; above that threshold, 20% TCS applies to the excess, as of FY2026.

The Union Budget can change TCS rates and thresholds each year (education, medical and travel remittances already sit on different rules), so confirm the current investment-remittance figures with your CA before you send funds.

Renting it out — the India side

If you let the property, the rent is taxed in Thailand (progressive rates after a standard 30% deduction — see the Thailand property-tax guide). As an Indian resident you are also taxed in India on your global income, which includes that Thai rent.

You are not taxed twice on the same income, though: the India–Thailand Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) lets you credit the tax already paid in Thailand against your Indian liability on the same rent. Keep your Thai tax receipts; your CA claims the foreign-tax credit in your ITR.

Selling and bringing the money back

When you sell, the proceeds can be repatriated to India — this is why the original LRS paperwork and purpose code matter: they evidence that the funds went out legally and are yours to bring home. Route the inward remittance through your AD bank and keep the sale and remittance records together.