A Phuket villa purchase is registered at the Land Office counter, in front of an official. The Department of Lands' own rules let a buyer be represented there by an attorney holding a written power. That one document is what makes a remote purchase possible, and it is also where most of the risk sits.
This guide is built from the Department of Lands' own regulation on powers of attorney, its published form and guidance, the Bank of Thailand's exchange rules, the Hague Conference's status table and the published pages of three Royal Thai Embassies, all read on 27 October 2026. It describes the rules, not a service. Where we could not find a primary source, we say so.
The short version
- The document is the Department of Lands' form ท.ด.21 (Tor Dor 21), the power of attorney for titled land. A different form, อ.ช.21, covers condominium units.
- Signed abroad, it should be certified by a Thai embassy or consulate, a notary public, or someone local law authorises to witness documents. Without that, whether to accept it is up to the officer.
- Thai embassies in London and Stockholm say they cannot certify a foreigner's signature themselves. Their route is a local notary, then the country's foreign ministry, then the Thai embassy.
- The apostille is not yet an option. Thailand acceded to the Apostille Convention on 30 June 2026, and it enters into force for Thailand on 28 February 2027.
What a remote purchase actually involves
Most foreign buyers of a Phuket villa do not take the land freehold. They register a lease of the land and buy the house, which is explained in our guide to freehold, leasehold and company ownership. Either way, the legal act that matters happens at the Land Office: the lease and the transfer are registered against the deed, and the fees and taxes are paid there. The rates are set out in the guide to transfer fees and taxes.
Somebody has to sign at that counter, so the question is never whether someone attends. It is who, and on what authority.
The steps, in order
- Choose and see the house. Ask for an unedited video walk-through rather than a marketing edit, and a copy of every page of the deed, not only the front. Our guide to Thai title deeds explains what those pages should show.
- Appoint your own lawyer in Phuket. They run the Land Office search and read the contract. The checks are in the due diligence guide, and none of them needs you on the island.
- Sign the sale agreement and the lease. These are private contracts between you and the seller. Have them drafted in Thai and English, and agree in writing that the Thai text governs, because the Land Office works in Thai.
- Execute the power of attorney on form ท.ด.21, naming the plot and the act. The next section covers how.
- Legalise it through the embassy chain in the country where you sign it.
- Send the money. Remit from abroad in foreign currency, with the signed contract to hand for the receiving bank. The section on money below explains why.
- Your attorney attends the Land Office, signs the application in front of the officer, pays the fees and taxes, registers the lease and the transfer, and collects the documents.
Filling in the form so the Land Office accepts it
The DOL says its printed form is optional. Any document will do if it is clear enough to show who is authorised to do what, to what extent, and over which plot. But the department advises using its own form, and an officer's discretion is a poor thing to rely on from abroad. The regulation and the warning printed on the back of the form set the rules:
- Name the plot. Enter the title document's identifying details clearly.
- Name the act. State plainly what the attorney may do, such as to lease, to buy, or to mortgage. Add any special conditions.
- Never sign a blank. The DOL's guidance says not to sign before every field is complete, and never to sign blank paper.
- One hand, one ink. The form warns against mixed handwriting and inks, and says a typed form must come from one machine. Under the regulation, an alteration to an essential term, such as the plot number or the type of transaction, makes the power defective unless you initial each change.
- Witnesses: use two. The regulation says a power should have at least one witness, and two if the grantor uses a thumbprint. The warning on the form itself says at least two. Two satisfies both.
- Stamp duty. The regulation's table charges ฿10 for a power limited to a specific act and ฿30 for a general one.
- Send a copy of your passport. The DOL's guidance says the grantor should give the attorney their identity document to show the officer, and the regulation tells officers to check the grantor's details and identity against the records.
The form is in Thai. Before you sign it, get your lawyer to give you an English rendering of exactly what has been filled in.
Legalising a power signed abroad
Clause 8 of the DOL's 2004 regulation says a power made abroad should be certified by an embassy, a consulate, a notary public, or a person whom local law authorises to witness documents. Without one of them, the officer decides how far to trust it. The same advice is printed on the form.
The Thai embassies we checked do not witness a foreign national's signature themselves. Here is what three of them publish:
| Embassy | What it says | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| London | It cannot verify a foreigner's signature. The signature must first be certified by a solicitor or notary public and legalised by the FCDO (or Ireland's DFA), then the embassy legalises the document. | £10 per document |
| Stockholm | It has no authority to certify a non-Thai national's signature directly. The route is a notary, then the Swedish foreign ministry, then the embassy. | 180 SEK per stamp |
| Canberra | It lists land deed transactions (Tor Dor 21) among its services. Documents sent by post must first be authenticated by DFAT, and it does not accept an apostille. | A$25 per seal |
Read your own embassy's page before booking the notary. Fees, appointments and postal rules vary, and the three above were checked on 27 October 2026.
The Stockholm embassy also describes a step in Thailand: translate the legalised document into Thai, and have the Department of Consular Affairs in Bangkok certify it. We found no Department of Lands page saying whether the Land Office requires that translation, or the certification. Ask your lawyer to confirm with the Phuket Land Office before the papers leave your hands, because doing it after a refusal costs weeks.
The apostille is coming, but not yet
The Hague Conference's status table shows Thailand acceding to the Apostille Convention on 30 June 2026, with entry into force on 28 February 2027. Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives the same date and explains the gap: an eight-month period in which existing parties may object. Until then, the chain above is the route. Canberra's page already says the embassy does not accept an apostille.
After February, an apostille from your own country should in principle replace the embassy step, though not with any state that has objected to Thailand's accession. Embassy and Land Office practice may take time to follow. If you are buying in early 2027, ask the Land Office which it will accept rather than assuming.
Moving the money
The Bank of Thailand's summary of its exchange rules says foreign currency can be brought into Thailand without limit. For a transaction worth USD 200,000 or more, the receiving bank must ask for supporting documents. A Bank of Thailand notice of 29 December 2025 tightened this. For foreign currency of that size whose source is the sale of property to foreigners, banks must now collect documents for every transaction, with no exception.
In practice, the bank receiving the purchase price will want the contract. Send it with the payment instructions rather than waiting to be asked. If the money passes through a Thai account of your own, keep the bank's record of the foreign-currency inflow as well.
One rule is often quoted out of context. Section 19 ter of the Condominium Act requires a foreign buyer of a condominium unit to show that foreign currency at least equal to the price was brought into Thailand, or paid from a non-resident baht or foreign-currency account. We found no equivalent rule in the law for a land lease, so it is not a registration condition for a villa. It is still the record that makes a later repatriation simpler.
The risk runs both ways
The DOL's own guidance on powers of attorney warns that careless use can lead to fraud or serious loss. The regulation contains a safeguard every remote buyer should understand. When one side acts by power of attorney, the officer has the other side record an undertaking that they know the owner and the plot, and accept liability for any loss.
So if the seller is the one acting through an attorney, your side signs that undertaking. That is the moment to be sure the seller exists, is alive and has authorised the sale. Your lawyer should see the seller's power, check it against the deed and the seller's identity documents, and refuse to proceed on anything that looks altered.
The other direction matters too. Give your own power to a lawyer you have appointed and can hold to account, never to the seller's side, and limit it to the one plot and the one transaction. A power with no plot and no act on it is a blank cheque.
Checklist
- Own lawyer appointed, independent of the seller and the agent.
- Full deed copy seen, all pages; Land Office search done.
- Contract and lease agreed in Thai and English.
- Tor Dor 21 filled in completely before signing: plot, act, attorney, no blanks, one ink, two witnesses.
- Signature notarised, then legalised by your foreign ministry, then by the Thai embassy.
- Translation and certification in Thailand confirmed with the Land Office, or done anyway.
- Payment sent from abroad in foreign currency, contract supplied to the receiving bank, inflow record kept.
- If the seller acts by attorney: their power seen and checked by your lawyer before the undertaking is signed.
What this guide does not cover
It does not cover company purchases, mortgages, Thai bank accounts, or condominium units beyond the note on foreign funds. The legal texts were read in Thai and our translations are unofficial. On 27 October 2026, our book held 633 villas and houses for sale with a published price, and any of them can be bought this way. If you would like to talk through a purchase you cannot fly in for, get in touch with our desk.