An empty month costs you a full month's rent, and a price set too low costs you a little every month until the lease ends. This guide is for owners and managers of apartments, dormitories and condos in Thailand, including foreigners who let out their own condo unit. It shows how to set the rent from numbers you can check yourself instead of guessing "the market". RentKrub pages were checked on 29/10/2026.
One empty month equals a year-long discount
One extra month without a tenant cuts the year's income by a month of rent, the same as lowering the rent by one twelfth for twelve months.
Hypothetical example: a condo at 12,000 THB a month. One extra empty month is the same as a discount of 1,000 THB a month for a year. Ask 13,000 THB and wait a month for a tenant, and the first year brings 13,000 × 11 = 143,000 THB. Ask 12,000 THB and let it at once, and it brings 12,000 × 12 = 144,000 THB. A higher price pays off only when the room does not stay empty longer and the tenant stays long enough.
Your lowest acceptable rent
Add up what you pay for the unit over a year and divide by the number of months you expect it to be let, for example by 11 if you allow for one empty month. Items worth counting:
- the common-area fee you pay to the condominium juristic person, if it is a condo unit
- repairs and replacements, plus cleaning and repainting between tenants
- anything included in the rent, such as internet, housekeeping or common-area lighting
- income tax on rental income (check the details with the Revenue Department)
Any rent below that figure, normal or promotional, is a loss every month.
Compare with the rooms tenants see next to yours
On RentKrub's station search pages, each card shows "Rent from" (the lowest price among the place's room types), the room size in square metres and the distance to the station. Tenants can filter by "Price range per month" with a minimum and a maximum, and by amenities such as a water heater, car parking or keycard access. Compare the way they do:
- Open map search, drop the pin on your building, pick a 1 km radius and choose monthly rentals; widen it to 2–3 km if you get too few places. Or open rooms near rail stations for the station your tenants use.
- Choose 5–10 places that are really similar to yours: room type, size, furniture and the walk to the station.
- Tap the scale button on their cards or listing pages, then open Compare properties to see up to 4 side by side.
- Note the rent, size, rent per square metre, total monthly cost and the amount due on signing day.
| Hypothetical example | Rent per month | Size | Rent per m² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your room | 13,000 THB | 26 m² | 500 THB |
| Room A, same walk to the station | 12,000 THB | 30 m² | 400 THB |
| Room B, newer building | 14,400 THB | 24 m² | 600 THB |
Here your room costs more per square metre than Room A, although Room A is bigger and just as close to the station. Unless your room offers something tenants can see, such as a water heater or parking, that price may keep it empty longer. These figures are made up for the example, not market prices for any area, and listing prices are asking prices, not the rents people finally agree.
Price brackets. The search box on RentKrub's home page offers 0 – 3,500, 3,500 – 8,000 and more than 8,000 THB/month. A rent just above a round number, such as 8,200 THB, may not show up for a tenant who picks 3,500 – 8,000 THB/month, although the extra rent is only 2,400 THB a year.
Show the full monthly cost, not just the rent
Hypothetical example: Room A costs 11,500 THB plus 300 THB for internet and 200 THB in service fees, 12,000 THB in total. Room B costs 11,900 THB with internet and fees included. On the search card Room B looks dearer, yet it costs 100 THB less a month. If your rent includes something, mark that line "Included in rent" and say so in the first lines of your description.
The "Costs" box on a listing page has eight lines, and any line you leave empty shows "Ask the owner", so tenants have to contact you before they can compare. How to fill in each line: Writing a rental listing in Thailand.
The amount due on signing day is another lever besides the rent. Hypothetical example: at 12,000 THB a month, a two-month deposit plus one month in advance means 36,000 THB on signing day; with a one-month deposit it is 24,000 THB, in exchange for holding less money against damage to the room.
Rules if you let 3 or more homes
Thailand's Contract Committee notification on residential leasing as a contract-controlled business, B.E. 2568 (2025), in force since 04/09/2025, covers landlords with 3 or more residential units; dormitories under the Dormitory Act and hotels are excluded. If you let one or two units it does not apply to you, but tenants compare your listing in exactly the same way. For covered landlords, the points that affect pricing are:
- water and electricity may not be charged above the rates the waterworks and electricity authorities charge, so a low rent cannot be made up with a high price per unit
- the deposit plus advance rent may not exceed three months' rent (leases of up to 3 years, or leases paid monthly)
- a clause letting the landlord change the rent or service fees before the lease ends is not allowed, so the price agreed at signing runs until the lease ends
- a clause charging a fee to renew the lease is not allowed
More on the notification and on billing utilities from the real bill: Thailand's 2025 lease rules for landlords.
Promotions that do not lose money
The rule of thumb: the total discount over the lease should be smaller than the rent you would lose if the room stayed empty longer. On a 12,000 THB room with a 12-month lease (hypothetical example):
| Promotion | Income given up over the lease | Keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 THB off every month | 12,000 THB | the same as one empty month, and a lower starting point at renewal |
| 6,000 THB off the first month | 6,000 THB | one-off; it pays when it fills the room at least half a month sooner |
| deposit cut from two months to one | none | the tenant needs 12,000 THB less on signing day, but you hold less against damage |
| internet included in the rent | what the internet costs you, e.g. 500 × 12 = 6,000 THB | you have to deal with outages |
Put every condition in the listing and in the lease from signing day: how much, which room type, the minimum lease and the closing date. Avoid promotions that need a rent rise in the middle of the lease, and never inflate the "normal" price to make a discount look bigger. Section 22 of Thailand's Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979) says advertising must not use false or exaggerated statements, or statements that mislead about material facts, so an advertised discount has to be one tenants can actually get.
On RentKrub, owners add a promotion in section 7 of the listing form, and the listing then appears on the promotions page.
When to review the price
Set a review date when you publish, for example every two weeks, and look at where tenants drop off:
- No one gets in touch: compare your starting rent and room size with nearby cards, check whether any cost line still says "Ask the owner", and see whether your rent sits just above a filter bracket.
- Questions but no bookings: check the total monthly cost, the amount due on signing day, the minimum lease, and whether the room matches the photos.
- The room fills very fast: the price may be a little low; adjust it for the next lease.
When you change the price, update every line of the listing to match the lease you will use. Current tenants pay what their lease says until it ends; if you plan a change at renewal, tell them early, because a tenant who renews means not a single empty month.
Foreign tenants. Thailand's Immigration Bureau requires the house master, owner or occupier of the residence to report a foreigner staying there within 24 hours of arrival on form TM30; for apartments and rented houses, the owner or the operator files it. Details: TM30 in Thailand.
Checklist, then list your place free on RentKrub
- Know your lowest acceptable rent.
- Compare with 5–10 similar places in the same radius or near the same station, by rent per square metre and total monthly cost.
- Keep your rent from sitting just above a price bracket.
- Fill in all eight cost lines, with the same figures as your lease.
- Work out promotions in numbers, write their conditions clearly, and set a date to review the price.
Ready? Tap "List free" in the menu of RentKrub, where owners manage details, prices and promotions themselves. Before you set the price, look around with map search (1–5 km radius), rooms near BTS, MRT and ARL stations and Compare properties.
This article is a general summary. For your own case, rely on the notification and your lease. The notification and the standard contract (in Thai) are on the OCPB website, and the OCPB hotline is 1166.
