What a Koh Phangan property lawyer's fee actually buys: due diligence, conveyancing and title-search costs

How much should a property lawyer cost on Koh Phangan, and what does that fee actually cover? No Phangan-specific fee schedule is published — Samui-based firms service both islands and their published rates are the closest available benchmark — but across Thai law firms with public pricing, a full due-diligence and conveyancing engagement typically lands between THB 30,000 and 120,000, scaling with plot size, title complexity and whether a company structure is involved. The number that should worry a buyer is not the top of that range but a quote well below the bottom of it.

What a real due-diligence engagement covers

• Pulling the original title at the Provincial Land Office, not relying on a photocopy the seller provides — copies can be altered or simply outdated, and this single step is the one most often skipped by a stripped-down engagement. See Chanote vs Nor Sor 3 Gor in practice for what the title grade itself does and doesn't guarantee.
• An encumbrance check for mortgages, registered leases, usufructs, servitudes and any court attachment against the parcel.
• Ownership chronology — tracing how the title passed between owners, to catch a break in the chain or a transfer that shouldn't have been possible.
• Zoning, setback and forest-reserve overlay checks — confirming the plot doesn't sit inside a protected area regardless of what its title grade suggests. This matters specifically on Phangan, where forest-reserve and national-park boundaries have overlapped privately claimed land; see Untitled 'sea-view land': the PBT5/Sor Por Kor scam and Illegal construction in Phangan's forest reserve.
• A physical site visit, confirming boundary markers on the ground match the deed — a desk-only review cannot catch a fence line that doesn't match the survey.
• Building-permit verification, especially relevant after the forged building permits found on Phangan in 2026.
• Company financial and shareholding review, if the seller holds the land through a Thai company — back taxes, share-capital history and a check for nominee-pattern shareholding, covered in Buying a villa held by a Thai company.

Typical fee ranges by stage

• Preliminary title search alone — roughly THB 1,000-8,500, useful as an early screen but not a substitute for full due diligence.
• Full due-diligence report — roughly THB 30,000-100,000 depending on plot complexity; several firms flag anything priced well under THB 20,000-25,000 as a signal that a stage has been dropped.
• Sale-and-purchase agreement drafting or review — roughly THB 10,000-20,000 as a standalone service, usually bundled into a full engagement instead.
• Full conveyancing package (due diligence, contract, Land Office attendance) — a published Phuket benchmark runs THB 50,000-125,000 plus 7% VAT; treat this as broadly indicative for Samui/Phangan pricing given the lack of a dedicated local schedule.
• Thai company incorporation, where a company structure is used — government fees of roughly THB 6,000-8,000 plus a service fee of THB 18,000-45,000 for a standard setup, rising to THB 120,000-200,000 where mixed Thai/foreign shareholding needs closer structuring and compliance review. See A Thai company for property: when it makes sense, when it's toxic.

Flat fee vs. a percentage of the price

Published Thai law-firm pricing is overwhelmingly flat-fee or tiered, not a percentage of the purchase price — firms with public fee schedules quote fixed baht amounts by service, not a commission rate. Where a figure like "1-3% of purchase price" appears, it tends to come from generic buyer-guide portals rather than a law firm's own published pricing; treat percentage figures as rough market shorthand, not a quote to hold a firm to.

The takeaway

Compare quotes by scope, not just by the number. Ask explicitly whether the fee includes pulling the original title at the Land Office, a forest-reserve/zoning overlay check, a physical site visit, and — if relevant — a company back-tax and nominee-pattern review. A quote that's cheaper because it's silent on one of those is not a better deal; it's the same due diligence with a step removed, and the buyer is the one left holding the risk.