Renting in Thailand as a Foreigner: Contract, Deposit and What the Law Says

A landlord who rents out three or more units may not collect advance rent and deposit above three months of the monthly rent. With no damage the deposit comes back within seven days of the lease ending. Electricity and water may not be billed above the utility's own rate. A lease of more than three years needs registration.

By Vincent Nguyen and team

The ceiling that matters is three months: advance rent and deposit together may not exceed three months of the monthly rent. It applies to a landlord who rents out three or more units, in one building or several. The definition starts at three units.

Who the 2025 rule covers

The rule is a Contract Committee notification (ประกาศคณะกรรมการว่าด้วยสัญญา) published in the Royal Gazette on 6 June 2025. It covers renting a building to an individual who lives there, on a short or long lease. Renting through electronic channels counts too.

Dormitories under the Dormitory Act and hotels under the Hotel Act are outside it. Where a digital platform stands between you and the landlord, the same rules apply and the landlord hands you the lease in the annexed form.

When it applies

The notification applies ninety days after its publication in the Royal Gazette. It repeals the earlier notification of 2019. Leases signed under that older notification stay in force until they end.

Short and long leases: Form A and Form B

The notification attaches two standard contracts: Form A (แบบ ก) for a short-term lease and Form B (แบบ ข) for a long-term one. A landlord must use terms with the substance and conditions of those forms.

The lease must carry clear Thai text in letters of at least two millimetres, with no more than seventeen characters to an inch. It is made in two copies with identical text. The landlord hands you one signed copy at the moment of signing.

Deposit and advance rent

The deposit is money you lay down with the landlord as security against damage. Advance rent is held as security for the rent. It is returned at the end of the lease or applied to the last month.

A term that lets the landlord keep the deposit or advance rent when you are not at fault is barred. The cap itself reads as follows.

ข้อสัญญาที่กำหนดให้ผู้ประกอบธุรกิจมีสิทธิเรียกเก็บค่าเช่าล่วงหน้าและเงินประกัน เมื่อรวมกันแล้วมีจำนวนเกินกว่าสามเดือนของอัตราค่าเช่าที่คิดเป็นรายเดือน

A contract term that lets the operator collect advance rent and deposit which together exceed three months of the monthly rent.

Contract Committee notification B.E. 2568, clause 6.1(2), Royal Gazette 6 June 2025 (editor’s translation)

Getting the deposit back

When the lease ends the landlord returns the deposit at once, unless it wants to check for damage you are responsible for. The deadline is seven or fourteen days, as the table shows.

หากผู้บริโภคไม่ได้ทำความเสียหาย ให้ผู้ประกอบธุรกิจคืนเงินประกันภายในเจ็ดวัน นับแต่วันที่สัญญาเช่าอาคารสิ้นสุด และได้กลับเข้าครอบครองอาคารแล้ว

If the consumer has caused no damage, the operator shall return the deposit within seven days from the day the lease ends and the operator has taken the building back.

Standard contract Form A, clause 10 (a), annexed to the notification (editor’s translation)

The landlord may deduct the repair costs it pays, except for damage from normal use. A lease may not make you liable for defects or wear that come from normal use. Nor may it make you liable for damage that is not your fault or comes from force majeure.

Prove the condition on day one

The landlord prepares a record of the unit’s condition and attaches it to the lease, with a copy for you. The form’s note tells you to photograph the building and its equipment as evidence.

Electricity, water and service charges

A lease may not set electricity and water rates above what the utility charges the landlord. The same ban sits in the long-term list. The form lays out the sum: the electricity rate times the units used in your room.

In December 2025 OCPB held electricity to THB 4.88 per unit, with no service fee or margin added. Service charges, such as a parking fee, are limited to what the landlord actually paid and is reasonable.

If you are overcharged, call the OCPB hotline 1166 or complain through the OCPB Connect application.

What the landlord may not do

These terms are barred in the short-term list. The long-term list repeats the lockout, rent-change and utility bans:

• Lock you out or enter to seize or move your belongings before lawfully terminating the lease.
• End the lease when you have broken no essential term.
• Change the rent or service charges before the lease ends.
• Charge you a fee to renew the lease.
• Enter the unit without telling you beforehand, except in an emergency.
• Forfeit the deposit or advance rent when you are not at fault.

ข้อสัญญาที่กำหนดให้ผู้ประกอบธุรกิจมีสิทธิกระทำการปิดกั้นไม่ให้ผู้เช่าเข้าใช้ประโยชน์อาคาร … โดยผู้ประกอบธุรกิจยังไม่ได้ใช้สิทธิในการบอกเลิกสัญญาโดยชอบด้วยกฎหมาย

A contract term that lets the operator block the tenant from using the building … when the operator has not yet exercised the right to terminate the contract lawfully.

Contract Committee notification B.E. 2568, clause 6.1(7), Royal Gazette 6 June 2025 (editor’s translation)

Notice and ending the lease

If you leave early

On a fixed-term lease you may end it early after living there at least half the term. You give the landlord at least thirty days’ written notice. You must not be in arrears on rent or other charges.

The landlord returns prepaid rent and charges for the future within seven days of your notice. The long-term form has the same early exit.

If the landlord ends it

The landlord ends the lease by a written notice giving you at least thirty days to comply, and only if you ignore it. Where your acts disturb other tenants’ peaceful living, the notice to stop is at least seven days. If you break the law on public order or good morals, the landlord may end the lease without advance notice.

Repairs during the lease

The landlord arranges every necessary repair of defects, apart from minor repairs. You look after the premises and make minor repairs as a prudent person would.

Leases over three years

A lease of more than three years must be in writing and registered with the competent official. For a lease of up to three years the official does not register it. The Land Office registers at most thirty years.

The landlord must be a person entitled to lease, such as the owner named on the land title document. Ask to see that document before you pay.

Stamp duty on the lease

Stamp duty is THB 1 for every THB 1,000, or part of THB 1,000, of rent or key money, or both, over the whole term. The Revenue Department’s table names the lessor as the party who pays and files. For a lease that sets no term, the duty is worked out on three years.

The landlord’s TM.30 duty

The owner or possessor of the residence notifies immigration within 24 hours of a foreigner taking up residence. The duty covers apartments and ordinary rented houses. Failing to notify carries a fine of up to THB 2,000.

In Bangkok the notice goes to the residence-notification desk of Sub-division 2, Immigration Division 1. Outside Bangkok it goes to the provincial immigration office for the area. The filing steps are on the residence notification page.

Checklist before you sign

• The landlord has the title: ask to see the owner’s name on the land title document.
• Advance rent plus deposit stays within three months of the monthly rent.
• The lease has clear Thai text and you hold one signed copy.
• A record of the unit’s condition is attached, and you have photographed the rooms.
• Electricity and water are billed at the utility’s rate, not above it.
• The refund deadline of seven days is written in.
• A lease of more than three years is registered.
• The landlord files the TM.30 for you.

Moving to Thailand for a longer stay? See the moving to Thailand checklist, the condo ownership rules and where to live in Bangkok. Costs by city are on the cost of living page.

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Not confirmed: One or two units sit below the three-unit line; those leases rest on the contract and the Civil Code, so get Form A terms in writing. Is THB 4.88 per unit still the electricity ceiling? Call OCPB on 1166. What an unregistered lease over three years loses: ask the Land Office.

General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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