BANGKOK — Since the coup in Myanmar in February 2021, wealthy Myanmar citizens have poured a significant amount of their money into buying property in Thailand. This surge has prompted Myanmar’s military government to crack down on such purchases to prevent an outflow of capital and financial collapse.
Updated figures from the first quarter of 2024 have been shown in a report on foreign property transfers compiled by the Government Housing Bank’s Real Estate Information Center (REIC).
In the first quarter of 2024, Myanmar nationals were second only to the Chinese in purchasing condominiums in Thailand, both in terms of number of units and value. Myanmar nationals accounted for 10.0 percent of all foreign property transfers and 12.3 percent of the total value of foreign property transfers.
REIC’s continuous data collection over the years shows a remarkable increase in property transfers by Myanmar nationals as follows:
- In 2021 (the year of the coup), there were 30 property transfers (25th place).
- In 2022, there were 349 property transfers (rank 6), an increase of 1,063.3 percent compared to 2021.
- In 2023, there were 564 transfers of ownership (rank 4), an increase of 61.6 percent compared to 2022.
- In Q1 2024, there were 392 transfers of ownership (rank 2), an increase of 415.8 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
In terms of value, the total value of property transfers by Myanmar nationals reached 2.2 billion baht (12.3 percent of the total) in the first quarter of 2024 alone, an increase of 344.1 percent compared to the first quarter of 2023, when 76 transfers worth 497 million baht took place.
The five provinces with the highest number of property transfers to foreigners are Chonburi, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Samut Prakan.
The majority are in the first two provinces: Chonburi with 1,521 transfers (38.6 percent of the total) and Bangkok with 1,498 transfers (38.0 percent of the total). Together, these two provinces account for 76.6 percent of the national total.
In terms of value, the top five provinces are Bangkok, Chonburi, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Samut Prakan. Here too, the first two provinces account for the majority: Bangkok with a value of 10.6 billion baht (59.4 percent of the total value) and Chonburi with a value of 4.1 billion baht (23.1 percent of the total value). Together, these two provinces account for 82.5 percent of the national total value.
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