Off-Plan in Thailand: How to Check the Developer Before You Pay

Off-plan buying has real advantages: you can choose the floor and the view before anyone else, and you pay in stages while the building goes up. But for a few years what you own is a contract and a set of receipts, not an apartment. Whether that contract turns into keys depends on one company. This article is a working checklist for the weeks before you pay: what to look at, what to ask, and what to put in writing. It does not replace a lawyer, and it does not retell our guides; where a topic goes deeper, we point you to the right one.

Start with what the developer has already finished

A brochure tells you what a developer intends. A building they handed over a few years ago tells you what they actually do. Ask for a list of completed projects and pick one that resembles the one you are considering in size, location and price level. A developer with no finished buildings is not automatically a bad choice, but you are then judging people and money rather than a track record, and you should weigh that honestly.

When you visit, or when someone walks you through on a live video call, look for:

• How the common areas have aged: lobby, lifts, pool, corridors, signs of leaks on ceilings and facades.
• Who runs the building today, and whether residents seem content with the management.
• Whether the finished units match what the original marketing showed, in materials and in layout.
• Whether the building was handed over roughly when promised, and how buyers were kept informed if it was not.

A short chat with a resident or the building manager often tells you more than the sales gallery. Ask what they would warn a new buyer about. Our guide on how to check a developer in Thailand covers the paperwork side of this: company records, land title and permits.

Follow the money: who holds your payments

Before the first transfer, you should know exactly where each payment lands. Is it the account of the company named in your contract, or a related company, or an agent? Is the money held separately until certain conditions are met, or does it go straight into the developer's working account? Arrangements differ between developers, and the answer belongs in the contract, not in a salesperson's message.

Two simple rules help. Pay only into an account in the name of the company that signs your contract. And pay only by documented transfer, keeping every bank confirmation, because you will need that paper trail later, both at registration and if you ever sell. Anyone asking you to pay a personal account, or to pay in cash "to save time", has given you a reason to stop.

What triggers each payment

A payment schedule is not only a list of amounts. Each instalment has a trigger, and the trigger decides how much risk you carry. Some plans tie payments to construction stages, so if work slows, so do the demands. Others run on the calendar and keep going whatever happens on site. Many are a mix.

For each stage in the schedule, ask:

• What exactly must be finished before this payment is due?
• Who confirms that the stage is complete, and what proof will you receive from abroad: photos, a progress report, an engineer's certificate?
• What happens if you pay late, and what happens if the developer is late?
• Is the reservation deposit refundable if you decide not to sign after your lawyer reads the draft?

How the stages usually work, and how a developer plan differs from a mortgage, is explained in our guide to developer payment plans. Here the point is narrower: never accept a schedule whose triggers you cannot verify from where you live.

Delays: ask before, not after

Construction delays are common enough that you should plan for one rather than hope to avoid it. What matters is what the contract says will happen. Is there a planned completion date, and how much slack does the developer allow itself on top of it? Is there any compensation if that slack runs out? At what point can you leave the contract, and do you get your money back if you do? Does a delay change anything about your remaining payments?

If the answer to most of these is "we have never been late", that is reassurance, not a term. Ask how it is worded in the contract. And think about your own plans: if you need the unit for a particular season or a retirement date, a delay costs you more than it costs a buyer with no deadline. Our guide to off-plan or ready-built property helps you decide whether waiting suits you at all.

Render vs reality: reading the marketing

Every off-plan project is sold with renderings, and they are drawn to sell. They are useful, but read them for what they are: an illustration of an intention.

• Views: a render shows the view from an ideal angle with nothing in front. Ask what can still be built between your unit and the sea or the hills.
• Surroundings: neighbouring buildings, roads and wires are often simplified or left out. Look at the real plot on a map and, if possible, in person.
• Interiors: show flats are dressed with furniture, lighting and finishes that may not be in your package. Ask for the written specification of what you will receive.
• Facilities: a rooftop pool or gym in the brochure should appear in the contract, with the phase in which it will be delivered.
• Areas: check whether the stated size includes the balcony, and how the price changes if the final measured area differs.

Anything that matters to you in the pictures should be written into the specification or the contract. If it is not, assume it might not be there.

What to ask in writing, then hand to your lawyer

Put your questions in one email to the developer or through your agent, and ask for written answers. That gives you a record, and it gives an independent lawyer something concrete to compare with the draft contract. A short list to start with:

• The full name of the company selling the unit, and the account your payments will go to.
• The payment schedule, with the trigger for each stage and the proof you will receive.
• The planned completion date, the allowed delay and what happens beyond it.
• The specification and furniture package, and the final area rules.
• The terms for leaving the contract or reselling it before completion.
• What is included at handover and what you pay separately.

Have a lawyer who acts for you, not for the developer, review the contract before you sign and before you pay more than a refundable deposit. The same list is worth keeping for the end of the process, when the building is finished; our guide to condo handover and inspection picks up from there.

How ROMA ThaiProperty can help

When you shortlist off-plan projects in our project catalog, a manager can ask the developer these questions for you, collect the answers in writing, and tell you plainly where something is still unclear. Current prices, payment terms and completion dates come from the developer through the manager, not from memory or marketing.