If you rent out three or more homes in Thailand, your lease has to follow a 2025 notification enforced by the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB). This guide is for landlords, foreign owners included: who the rules cover, what the lease must contain, which clauses are void, how to bill electricity and water, and how much notice each side must give.
Who the rules cover
The rules come from the Notification of the Contract Committee on residential building leasing as a contract-controlled business, B.E. 2568 (2025). It was published in the Royal Gazette on 06/06/2025, has been in force since 04/09/2025 and replaced the 2019 notification.
- Covered: landlords with 3 or more residential units for rent (the old rule started at 5), such as rooms, houses and apartments. Leases made online are covered too.
- Not covered: dormitories under Thailand's Dormitory Act, and hotels.
- Older leases: a lease signed before 04/09/2025 stays under the old rules until it ends; leases signed from that date must comply.
If you rent out fewer than 3 units, for example a single condo, the notification does not apply: your contract and the lease rules of the Civil and Commercial Code decide. The OCPB standard form is still a useful template. Not sure which case you are in? Call the OCPB hotline 1166.
What the lease must contain
The OCPB tells landlords to use its standard contracts: Form A for short-term leases (up to 3 years) and Form B for long-term leases (more than 3 years, up to 30 years or the tenant's lifetime). The lease must be in clearly legible Thai (characters at least 2 mm high, no more than 11 characters per inch), made in two identical copies and signed by the landlord, the tenant and two witnesses, with one copy for each side. If your tenant does not read Thai, give them a translation as well.
Checklist, based on the OCPB's own summary and sample contract:
- Names and addresses of both parties
- The condition of the unit, with the furniture and appliances provided
- Lease term, rent and payment date
- Rates for electricity, water, phone, internet and any other utility, with how they are calculated and paid
- Other service fees, such as parking
- The security deposit and advance rent
- A written bill for rent and charges delivered at least 3 days before the due date
- A move-in condition report attached to the lease, with a copy for the tenant
- Deposit refund, repairs and termination rules (below)
A required term that is missing is treated as part of the contract anyway (Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522, Section 35 ter). A business that fails to deliver a lease with the correct terms faces up to 1 year in prison, a fine of up to 200,000 baht, or both (Section 57, as amended in 2019). For leases longer than 3 years there is one more step: under Section 538 of the Civil and Commercial Code, a lease of immovable property (condo units included) for more than 3 years must be made in writing and registered at the Land Office, or it can only be enforced for 3 years.
Clauses that are void, even if the tenant signed
Under Section 35 quater of the Consumer Protection Act, a banned clause is treated as if it were not in the contract. Do not use clauses that:
- ask for advance rent plus deposit above the caps below
- change the rent or service fees during the lease (utility rates may follow the utility provider's own changes)
- keep the deposit or advance rent when the tenant is not at fault
- let you enter the unit without telling the tenant first, except in an emergency
- charge electricity or water above what the provider charges you
- let you lock the tenant out, or seize or remove the tenant's belongings
- charge a fee for renewing the lease
- let you end the lease when the tenant has not breached an essential term
- make the tenant pay for normal wear and tear, force majeure or damage that is not the tenant's fault
Even when rent is unpaid, do not change the locks or move the tenant's things out. Give written notice, end the lease as described below and, if the tenant still stays, use the legal process.
How to bill electricity and water
There is no fixed rate. You may charge no more than the electricity and water authorities charge you, with no mark-up. The OCPB explains the calculation like this:
- Take the building's electricity bill for the period and divide the total amount (including the service charge, the Ft charge and VAT) by the number of units on the bill. That is the rate per unit.
- Multiply the rate by the units on the room's sub-meter. That is the tenant's electricity charge.
Water works the same way, using the water bill and each room's water meter.
Hypothetical example: the building's bill is 45,000 baht for 10,000 units, so the rate is 4.50 baht per unit. A room whose sub-meter shows 120 units pays 540 baht.
The rate therefore changes with each month's real bill. Write the method into the lease, and keep the utility bills and photos of the meter readings, because tenants have the right to check the figures behind their charges. Other service fees, such as parking, may only reflect costs actually paid and must be reasonable.
Deposits, repairs and ending the lease
- Deposit cap: advance rent plus deposit may not exceed 3 months' rent for short-term leases and for long-term leases paid monthly, or 1 year's rent for long-term leases paid yearly.
- Refund: immediately when the lease ends; if you inspect first, within 7 days when there is no damage, or within 14 days after deducting only the cost of repairing damage the tenant is liable for, counted from the end of the lease and the return of the unit. You pay the cost of sending the money by the method the tenant chooses.
- Repairs: the tenant looks after the unit and does minor repairs; all other necessary repairs are yours. If you do not repair within a reasonable time after being told, and the defect makes the unit unusable, the tenant may end the lease.
- If the tenant breaches the lease: give written notice allowing at least 30 days to comply before you terminate; at least 7 days for behaviour that directly disturbs other tenants; no notice is needed for breaches of laws on public order or good morals.
- If the tenant leaves early: allowed after living there for at least half the lease term, with at least 30 days' written notice and nothing unpaid. You must refund rent paid in advance for the period after that within 7 days of the tenant's termination notice.
This is a plain-language summary; for your own case, the notification itself counts. The notification, the sample contract and the OCPB infographic (in Thai) are on the OCPB website.
List your vacant rooms on RentKrub
Listing is free: press "List free" on the RentKrub home page, then log in or sign up (verification by phone number or email). Every listing is checked before it is published.
- Fill in the costs so they match your lease. Each listing page has a "Costs" section showing the deposit, advance payment, water, electricity and other fees before tenants contact you.
- Get the "Verified listing" badge: upload your house registration or a recent water or electricity bill with the listing's address, plus a photo of the house-number plate or name sign, from "My listings". Files are reviewed within 1–2 business days. How verified listings work
