A new job, a new campus or a better room: sometimes you need to leave a Thai rental before the lease ends. Can you end the lease early? How much notice must you give? Will the deposit come back? It depends on which rules cover your lease. This guide goes through each case using the Royal Gazette text of Thailand's 2025 lease notification, the standard lease forms attached to it and the Civil and Commercial Code, with a notice letter you can copy. It is written for foreigners renting rooms, apartments and condos in Thailand.
First, which rules cover your lease?
The Notification of the Contract Committee on residential building leasing as a contract-controlled business, B.E. 2568 (2025), enforced by the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB), has applied since 04/09/2025. It covers a lease when all of these are true:
- The landlord rents out 3 or more residential units, whether in one building or several.
- The tenant is an individual renting a home to live in. If your employer signed the lease in the company's name, read the contract itself: the notification is written for individual tenants.
- The place is not a dormitory under Thailand's Dormitory Act and not a hotel.
A lease made under the previous notification (2019) before 04/09/2025 stays under those rules until it ends. If your landlord rents out fewer than 3 units, for example a condo owner letting a single unit, your contract and the lease rules of the Civil and Commercial Code decide. Not sure which case you are in? Ask the landlord, or call the OCPB hotline 1166.
| Your lease | Notice | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Landlord with 3 or more units, fixed-term lease signed on or after 04/09/2025 | In writing, at least 30 days | You have lived there for at least half the term and owe nothing |
| Smaller landlord, fixed-term lease | Whatever the contract says | Whether the contract allows early termination, and what it says about the deposit |
| Lease with no fixed term | At least one rent period; more than 2 months is never required | It ends at the end of a rent period (Civil and Commercial Code, Section 566) |
Landlords with 3 or more units: when you may leave early
The standard lease forms attached to the notification use the same words in Form A for leases of up to 3 years (clause 13) and Form B for longer leases (clause 14): for a fixed-term lease, the tenant may terminate before the end when all three conditions are met.
- You have lived there for at least half of the lease term, for example 6 months of a 1-year lease.
- You tell the landlord in writing at least 30 days in advance.
- You have no unpaid rent or other charges.
If the lease you signed leaves this clause out, or sets different conditions, Section 35 ter of the Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979) treats the contract as containing the clause on the prescribed conditions.
Hypothetical example: a 12-month lease starts on 01/01/2026. The landlord receives your letter on 15/07/2026 and you end the lease on 31/08/2026. Both dates are past the halfway point, they are more than 30 days apart and the end date matches the rent cycle, so nobody has to argue about how to count.
Money you should get back
- Rent or charges paid in advance for the period after the lease ends: the landlord must refund them within 7 days of the day you give notice of termination. The notification defines "advance rent" as rent held as security that is returned when the lease ends or used as the last month's rent, so agree in writing which it will be.
- The deposit: the refund clause (Form A clause 10, Form B clause 11) applies when the lease ends and does not distinguish between ending at term and ending early. The deposit must be returned immediately; if the landlord inspects first, within 7 days when there is no damage, or within 14 days after deducting only the cost of repairing damage you are liable for, counted from the end of the lease and the return of the unit. The landlord pays the cost of sending the refund by the method you give.
- Not deductible: damage from normal use, normal wear and tear, causes that are not your fault and force majeure. The notification also bans clauses that let the landlord keep the deposit or advance rent when the tenant is not at fault.
More on deposit caps and deductions: Rental Deposits in Thailand: How Much, How Fast It Comes Back, What Can Be Deducted.
If you do not meet the conditions
The standard form does not give you this right before the halfway point or with less than 30 days' notice. Do not simply move out. Agree with the landlord on a written termination signed by both of you, stating the move-out date, the day rent is paid up to and how much of the deposit comes back, or wait until you pass the halfway point and then send the letter. Separately, if something in the unit breaks, you report it and it is not repaired within a reasonable time, the standard form lets you terminate when the defect makes the unit unusable (see Repairs in a Thai Rental).
Smaller landlords and leases with no fixed term
With a fixed-term lease from a smaller landlord, read the termination clause: whether it allows early termination, how much notice and what happens to the deposit. If the contract says nothing, agree with the landlord and sign a written termination together. These rules of the Civil and Commercial Code apply:
- Section 386: a party with a right to terminate under the contract or the law does so by declaring it to the other party, and the declaration cannot be withdrawn. Be sure of your move-out date before you send a notice.
- Section 566: a lease with no fixed term may be ended at the end of any rent period, with notice of at least one rent period, and more than two months' notice is never required. With monthly rent, that means at least one month.
- Section 570: if you stay on after the term ends and the landlord knows and does not object, the law treats it as a new lease with no fixed term, so Section 566 applies.
- Section 551: for a defect the landlord can fix, you must ask for the repair first; if it is not fixed within a reasonable time, you may terminate if the defect is serious enough.
Step by step
- Find your copy of the lease. A landlord covered by the notification must hand you one copy as soon as the lease is signed (clause 7), so ask for it if you do not have it. Check the end date, the termination clause, the deposit and any advance rent. If the lease is only in Thai, get those clauses translated.
- Secure your next place, then pick the end date. Leave a margin beyond the notice period and end on the last day of a rent cycle.
- Write the notice with the template below, print two copies and sign both. If your landlord does not read English, attach a Thai translation.
- Deliver it with proof. Hand it over and ask the landlord or building manager to sign and date your copy, or send it by a postal service with tracking and keep the receipt and tracking number. Also send a photo of the letter through the chat app or e-mail you normally use.
- Agree the money in writing: rent and utilities up to which day, whether the advance rent is refunded or used as the last month's rent, and the inspection date.
- Inspect the unit together and photograph it from the same angles as on move-in day, including the meter readings. Cleaning checklist: Moving Out of a Thai Rental.
- Return the keys against a signed record of the date, unit number, keys, key cards and remotes returned, meter readings and the inspection result, one copy each.
Notice letter template (replace the brackets):
Date: (date)
Subject: Notice of early termination of lease
To: (landlord or building manager)
I, (full name as in passport), tenant of unit (number) at (building) under the lease dated (date), give notice that I terminate the lease with effect from (end date), which is at least (30 days, or the period in the lease) after the date you receive this letter. I have lived in the unit for (number) months and have no unpaid rent or charges.
I propose to inspect the unit and return the keys on (date). Please return my deposit of (amount) baht and any rent paid in advance to (bank, account number, account name). Contact: (phone, e-mail).
Signed: .................... (tenant)
Received by: .................... Date received: ....................
If anything is deducted, ask for an itemised list with photos or repair receipts. If a refund is late, send the landlord a written reminder with the end date, the amount and the deadline. If you still cannot agree, you can complain to the OCPB: hotline 1166, LINE @ocpbconnect, or the OCPB online complaint channel. Keep the lease, your notice with proof of delivery, the key-return record and your photos ready.
Notes for foreign tenants
- Keep proof of the notice until the deposit is back: the signed and dated copy, or the postal receipt and tracking number, plus the chat message. It shows when your notice period started.
- Leaving Thailand? Before you hand back the keys, agree in writing which account the refund goes to and leave the landlord a way to reach you, because the deposit may take up to 7 or 14 days.
- Moving within Thailand? At your new address, the house owner or landlord must report your stay on form TM30 within 24 hours of you moving in. Details: TM30 in Thailand for Tenants.
This article is a plain-language summary; for your own case, the notification, the standard forms, the law and your lease are what count. The notification and the sample standard lease (in Thai) are on the OCPB website.
Find your next place on RentKrub
- Search on map: drop a pin at your office or campus and pick a radius of 1–5 km.
- Rooms near BTS, MRT and ARL stations and rooms near universities.
- Daily rooms for the gap between moving out and moving in.
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