Amazingly, France has a housing shortage of 200,000 units, whereas Thailand has 1.2 million vacant or unoccupied housing units. This is an interesting point of comparison for further understanding.

 

Actually, France and Thailand have something in common. For example, in terms of population, France has around 68 million people, and Thailand has 66 million. Considering the size of the country, France has 549,087 sq. kilometers and Thailand has 513,120 sq. kilometers. France is definitely richer than Thailand. Its GDP per capita is 41,001 Euro, whereas it is 6,589 Euro in Thailand, making France 6.2 times richer than Thailand.

 

The comparison can be seen as follows:

Firstly, the minimum apartment size in France is around 28 sq. metres (301.4 sq. feet), whereas in practice, it is around 22 sq. metres (236.8 sq. feet) in Thailand.

 

Secondly, an affordable house (apartment) in France costs 4,500 euros per sq. metre. In Paris, in particular, it is as high as 12,000 euros. However, in Thailand, it is around 1,300 euros per sq. metre.

 

Thirdly and consequently, the price of an average affordable house in France is 126,000 euros (28 sq. metre by 4,500 euro per sq. metre). The Thai affordable housing average in the market is around 28,600 euros (22 sq. metres by 1,300 euros per sq. metre). This implies that French affordable housing prices are 4.4 times higher than the Thai average affordable home prices.

 

Fourthly, the average number of newly launched housing units in France is 30,000, whereas it is 200,000 units in Thailand. However, during the economic recession in Thailand, only 120,000 units were launched in 2024. Each year, Thailand launches 4-6 times more new housing units than France.

 

Fifthly, France has a housing shortage of 200,000 units as a result. This problem disappeared from Thailand long ago. Now, Thailand has 1.2 million units of vacant or unoccupied housing. These units were bought by home buyers or speculators but are still kept unoccupied. Similarly, Korea, Japan, and China have 1.5, 8.9, and 50 million vacant housing units now.

 

Sixthly, annual property tax in France is approximately 0.6% to not more than 1% of the market prices. In Thailand, it is 0.02% of the government-assessed value, which is only 20%-70% of market prices. For first homes, this tax will be applied to the units assessed above Baht 50 million or 1.35 million euros.

 

Seventhly, in the case of capital gains tax, in France, if a property is your primary home, it is usually exempt from capital gains tax upon sale. This exemption applies as long as the property has been your principal residence at the time of sale. In Thailand, profits from selling a house are treated as ordinary income and taxed as personal income, as opposed to capital gains tax with rates ranging from 0% to 37% based on the income level after allowable deductions.

 

Eighthly, France's estate or inheritance tax rate is as high as 60%. In Thailand, one is entitled to pay this tax only if the government-assessed value of the property is worth over Baht 100 million (2.7 million euros). This means that very few pay estate taxes in Thailand.

Some observations can be seen. Thailand has also experienced a housing shortage in the past. However, private housing developers have played a vital role in the past few decades. Nowadays, only a very small minority of the population still lives in slums or shanty towns. Housing is oversupplied due to a lack of government control. On the contrary, France's land prices are much more expensive, resulting in less feasibility in building new supplies and, eventually, a housing shortage.

 

In comparison, buying a home in Thailand is significantly cheaper than in France, and the taxes required are much lower. These factors make purchasing Thai properties very attractive.

 

Note:

1 euro is 1.09 USD or Baht 37.

 

I went to cities in France during March 10-14, 2025 and attended MIPIM, the world’s largest real estate exhibition in Cannes as well. I met Mr.Florent Anizon, Deputy Director, Product Division in charge of personalization, ALTAREA COGEDIM which is the second largest housing developer in France. This was where I got the information. It is an honor for me to take a photograph with him too.