01
The short answer
A rent increase in Thailand depends on where you are in the lease, not on a percentage set by law. The lease fixes the rent for its term. When the term ends, so does the price, and both sides are free to agree a new one or walk away. The table gives the position at each stage.
| Stage | Where you stand | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Inside a fixed term | The rent is the figure in the lease. The landlord cannot change it alone | Civil and Commercial Code, section 537, and the absence of any section allowing a change |
| Inside a fixed term, landlord has three or more units | A lease term giving the landlord a right to change the rent or the service charges before the lease ends is prohibited | Clause 6.1 (3) of the 2025 Contract Committee notification |
| The lease has a schedule of rent steps written in | Outside the notification, the steps are part of what you agreed. Under the notification the position is not settled | Section 537; clause 6.1 (3) |
| The fixed term is ending | The lease ends on its last day without notice. A renewal is a new agreement at a rent both sides accept | Section 564 |
| You stayed on after the term and the landlord did not object | The lease continues with no fixed period. The landlord can end it on notice of at least one rent period, which is the lever behind any increase | Sections 570 and 566 |
| Any stage | No source read for this guide caps residential rent or the size of an increase | Act of B.E. 2558 repealing the 1961 control law |
Section numbers refer to the Civil and Commercial Code as translated on Thailand Law Online, read on 14 November 2026. Clause numbers refer to the Contract Committee notification on residential leasing of B.E. 2568 (2025).
The sections below take each row in turn. For the wider picture of what a tenant can expect from a landlord, see our guide to tenant rights in Thailand.
02
No legal cap on rent: the 1961 control law was repealed
People arriving from cities with rent stabilization often ask what the legal maximum increase is in Thailand. The sources read for this guide give no such figure.
Thailand did once have a statute on the subject: the Act on Control of the Hire of Houses and Land B.E. 2504 (1961), amended in B.E. 2509 (1966) and B.E. 2511 (1968). All three were repealed by the Act Repealing Certain Laws That Are No Longer Necessary or That Duplicate Other Laws B.E. 2558, given on 28 May 2015 and in force from the day after its publication in the Royal Gazette. They are items 4, 5 and 6 in the schedule to that Act, as printed by the Office of the Council of State.
The note of reasons printed with the repealing Act says that a number of the listed laws were made for wartime and for the recovery that followed, that others were no longer needed and were not being enforced, and that later laws fit the country's economic and social conditions better.
What remains is the Civil and Commercial Code, which treats rent as a matter of contract, and the consumer protection rules described in section 04 below, which control the terms a business landlord may use. Neither sets a price. A landlord may ask any rent for an empty home, and a tenant may refuse it.
What this means in practice
Your protection against a rent increase in Thailand is the length of your lease and the wording in it. Outside a fixed term, it is your ability to move. Before you sign, the term and the renewal clause deserve as much attention as the monthly figure.
03
During a fixed term the agreed rent holds
Section 537 of the Code defines a lease as a contract in which one person agrees to let another have the use or benefit of a property for a limited period of time, and the tenant agrees to pay rent for it. The rent and the period are the two things the contract exists to fix.
The chapter on hire of property, sections 537 to 571, was read in full for this guide. It contains:
- No section that lets a landlord raise the rent. There is no review mechanism, no index and no notice procedure for an increase.
- One section that lets rent go down. Under section 568, if part of the property is lost without the tenant's fault, the tenant may claim that the rent be reduced in proportion to the part lost.
- A rule on when rent is due. Section 559: if the contract and custom are silent, monthly rent is payable at the end of each month.
- A rule on what happens if rent is not paid. Section 560 lets the landlord terminate for non-payment, after a demand giving not less than fifteen days where rent is paid monthly or at longer intervals.
Put together, a landlord who asks for more in month five of a twelve-month lease is asking you to change the contract. You may agree, and some tenants do in exchange for something, such as a longer term or a new air conditioner. You do not have to. If you decline and keep paying the rent the lease states, on time, you are not in default, and section 560 gives the landlord nothing to act on.
The amount that counts is the one you can prove. Under section 538 a lease of immovable property cannot be enforced by action without written evidence signed by the party liable. A rent agreed by handshake is hard to hold a landlord to. Have the figure, the term and the payment date in a signed lease, and pay by bank transfer so each month leaves a record.
If a demand for more rent comes with a threat to end the lease, read our guide to eviction in Thailand, which explains the notice and court steps a landlord has to follow. The grounds the Code gives a landlord for ending a lease are unpaid rent (section 560) and breach of the lease (section 554). Declining a mid-term increase is neither.
04
Business landlords with three or more units: no mid-lease changes
The Contract Committee notification on residential leasing, signed on 30 May 2025 and published in the Royal Gazette on 6 June 2025, makes renting out homes a contract-controlled business. Clause 3 brought it into force ninety days after publication. It applies where a business operator lets a room, house, condo unit or apartment to an individual to live in and has three or more units for rent, in one building or several, including lettings arranged online. Dormitories under the dormitory law and hotels are outside it.
For rent, these are the parts that matter. Each one is a term the operator is prohibited from using:
| Prohibited lease term | Clause (leases up to three years) | Clause (leases over three years) |
|---|---|---|
| A right for the operator to change the rent rate and the rate of service expenses before the lease ends | 6.1 (3) | 6.2 (4) |
| A right to charge an existing tenant a fee for renewing the lease | 6.1 (8) | 6.2 (9) |
| Electricity and water rates above what the utility provider charges the operator | 6.1 (6) | 6.2 (7) |
| Advance rent and security deposit that together exceed three months of the monthly rent | 6.1 (2) | 6.2 (2) |
| A right to terminate where the tenant has not breached a material term of the lease | 6.1 (9) | 6.2 (10) |
Royal Gazette print of the notification (volume 142, special part 211 Ngor, 6 June 2025), Chon Buri City Municipality copy read on 14 November 2026. Where a long lease charges rent by the year, clause 6.2 (3) sets the limit for advance rent and deposit at one year of rent.
The standard contract attached to the notification, which clause 5 requires these landlords to follow, fills in the detail:
- Utilities can move, but only with the utility. Clause 5 of the short-term form says the utility rates written into the lease may change as the utility provider raises or lowers them before the lease ends, with the provider giving notice. That is a pass-through of the provider's tariff, not a lever for the landlord.
- Service charges are cost recovery. Clause 6 describes the rate of service expenses as what was actually paid and reasonable. The notification defines these as the operator's costs of services provided for the tenant's convenience or safety, and says they are not the operator's own costs of running the rental business.
- You see the bill first. Clause 8 requires the operator to send an invoice showing the rent, the utility rates and the service expenses at least three days before the rent is due, and gives the tenant the right to check the information behind the charges.
The practical effect is that a business landlord has no lawful route to more money from a sitting tenant before the end date: not through the rent, not through a new monthly fee, not through a marked-up electricity unit rate and not through a renewal charge. Our guide to utility bills in Thailand explains how to read the unit rate on your bill.
Two limits on all of this. Leases signed under the earlier 2019 notification before the new one took effect stay in force until they end (clause 10). And a landlord with one or two units is not a business operator under the notification, so only the Code and the lease apply. Counting units is the first thing to do: ask the building office or the agent how many homes the owner lets.
05
Escalation clauses and leases longer than a year
Some leases, especially for two or three years and for houses and villas, set the rent to rise on a date written into the contract: for example a stated figure for year one and a higher stated figure for year two. Others give the landlord a general right to “review” or “adjust” the rent. The two are not the same.
- A fixed step you signed. Where the landlord has one or two units, the step is part of the rent you agreed under section 537, and it binds you as the rest of the lease does. Read it before signing and work out the total over the whole term, not the first-year figure.
- An open review right. A clause that lets the landlord set a new figure during the term, at their discretion, is exactly what clause 6.1 (3) prohibits for business operators. With a smaller landlord the notification does not apply, so strike the clause or replace it with a fixed figure before you sign.
- A fixed step in a lease with a business operator. Clause 6.1 (3) prohibits a term giving the operator “the right to change the rent rate” before the lease ends. The notification does not say whether a schedule of steps agreed at signing counts as such a right, and no ruling on the point was read for this guide. Treat it as unsettled, and ask the Office of the Consumer Protection Board or a lawyer before relying on either reading.
Longer leases need registration to hold. Under section 538, a lease of immovable property for more than three years is enforceable only for three years unless it is made in writing and registered by the competent official. A tenant who signed five years at a fixed rent and did not register it can rely on that rent for three years only. Section 540 sets the longest term at thirty years, renewable for up to thirty more. Our lease registration checklist and the comparison of leasehold and freehold in Thailand go further.
For leases of more than three years with a business operator, the notification has a separate standard contract. Clause 6.2 (4) repeats the ban on a right to change the rent or the service charges before the lease ends, and clause 3 of that form requires the two sides to register the lease at the land office for the area.
06
Renewal, and staying on after the term ends
Most rent increases in Thailand happen here. Section 564 says a lease is extinguished at the end of the agreed period without notice. Nothing in the chapter gives a tenant a right to renew or a landlord a duty to offer one, so the new term and the new rent are whatever the two sides agree.
- A renewal clause helps only if it names a price. “The tenant may renew at a rent to be agreed” leaves the figure open. “The tenant may renew for twelve months at the same rent on sixty days' written notice” does not. If you plan to stay more than a year, negotiate the second kind at the start, when the landlord wants the unit filled.
- No renewal fee from a business landlord. Clauses 6.1 (8) and 6.2 (9) prohibit a term charging an existing tenant for renewing.
- A higher rent can bring a deposit top-up. A landlord may ask for the deposit to follow the new rent. For business landlords the ceiling stays at three months of the monthly rent for advance rent and deposit together.
- Get the renewal in writing. A signed one-page extension naming the new end date and the rent is enough to give you a fixed term again. Our rental renewal checklist lists what it should contain.
If the end date passes and nothing is signed. Section 570 says that if the tenant remains in possession at the end of the agreed period and the landlord, knowing of it, does not object, the parties are deemed to have renewed the contract for an indefinite period. Section 566 then lets either party terminate at the end of a rent period, provided notice of at least one rent period is given, with no more than two months' notice needed.
The Code still gives the landlord no power to set a new rent alone on that open-ended lease. What it gives is the right to end it. So a message saying the rent will be higher from next month is, in effect, an offer: accept the new figure, or expect a notice under section 566. You hold the same right in reverse, and can leave on one rent period's notice if the figure does not suit you.
| Your position | Price certainty | Flexibility to leave |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed term in a signed lease | Rent fixed until the end date | Bound for the term, subject to the early exit rules in your lease or in the notification |
| Stayed on with no new lease (section 570) | None beyond the current rent period and the notice period | Either side can end it on notice of at least one rent period |
Summary of sections 564, 566 and 570 of the Civil and Commercial Code as translated on Thailand Law Online, read on 14 November 2026.
Where the landlord has three or more units, the standard contract also lets a tenant on a fixed term leave early after living there for at least half the term, on thirty days' written notice, if not behind on rent (clause 13 of the short-term form). See renewing or ending a lease in Thailand and breaking a lease early for both routes.
07
A worked example
The figures below are invented to show the arithmetic. They are not market rents and not a forecast.
A tenant pays 25,000 baht a month on a twelve-month lease that ends on 31 March, with a deposit of two months' rent. In February the landlord proposes 27,500 baht for a second year.
| Item | Landlord's proposal | Tenant's counter |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly rent | 27,500 baht | 26,000 baht |
| Increase on 25,000 baht | 2,500 baht a month, or 10 percent | 1,000 baht a month, or 4 percent |
| Extra cost over twelve months | 30,000 baht | 12,000 baht |
| Deposit at two months of the new rent | 55,000 baht, a top-up of 5,000 baht | 52,000 baht, a top-up of 2,000 baht |
Illustrative arithmetic only.
- Before 31 March the landlord cannot apply either figure. The rent is 25,000 baht until the term ends.
- From 1 April there is no lease unless one is agreed, or unless the tenant stays and the landlord does not object, in which case the old terms continue with no fixed period and either side can give notice.
- The comparison that matters is the extra 30,000 baht a year against what a move would cost the tenant, and against what an empty month and a new agent fee would cost the landlord. One vacant month at 27,500 baht is close to the whole of the proposed increase for the year, which is why a counter-offer from a tenant with a clean payment record is worth making.
- A trade can close the gap: the tenant accepts 26,500 baht in return for a fixed twelve months, no deposit top-up and a serviced air conditioner.
Our guide to negotiating rent in Thailand covers timing and wording, and the rent-vs-buy calculator helps if rising rent has you weighing a purchase.
08
Steps to take if you are told the rent is going up
- Find the end date in your lease. If it has not passed, the rent cannot change without your agreement. Say so politely, in writing.
- Read the rent and renewal clauses. Look for a rent step, a review right, a renewal option and any notice you must give to use it. Our guide to understanding a Thai lease agreement shows where they usually sit.
- Count the landlord's units. Three or more, and the bans on mid-lease changes, renewal fees and marked-up utilities apply.
- Keep paying the agreed rent on time. By bank transfer, with the month in the note. If you have not agreed to a new figure, do not start paying it.
- Ask for the proposal in writing with the new rent, the start date, the new term and any change to the deposit.
- Check what similar homes are asking in your building and nearby before you answer. Current listings on homes for rent in Bangkok and the other city pages show what is being asked now.
- Counter with a figure and a reason. Your payment record, the length of your stay, a longer new term or comparable asking rents are all reasons a landlord can accept.
- Sign an extension. Do not drift into an open-ended tenancy if you want price certainty. One page, both signatures, new end date, rent.
- If you decide to go, give the notice your lease requires, and use the deposit-return tool to track what you are owed.
If a business landlord insists on a mid-lease increase or a renewal fee, the term is one the notification prohibits. Complaints about lease terms go to the Office of the Consumer Protection Board. For a dispute over real money, our guide to hiring a lawyer in Thailand explains how to find one.
09
For landlords: raising rent the lawful way
Nothing stops an owner from asking a higher rent. The limits are on when it can start and how it is written.
- Price changes start with a new term. Put the increase in the renewal offer, not in a message halfway through the lease.
- Write to the tenant well before the end date with the proposed rent and term. The Code sets no notice period for a renewal offer, but a tenant who learns the figure in the last week has every reason to leave.
- If you let three or more units, use the standard contract and leave out any right to change the rent or the service charges during the term, any renewal fee and any utility markup. Clause 5 of the notification requires the lease to carry the terms of the standard contract.
- Keep deposit and advance rent within three months of the monthly rent in total when the rent goes up, if the notification applies to you.
- Do not let the lease lapse into an open-ended one unless you want that. Under section 570 your silence renews it for an indefinite period on the old terms.
- Register a lease of more than three years if you want the agreed rent schedule to bind the tenant beyond year three (section 538).
- Weigh the increase against a vacancy. An empty month, cleaning and an agent fee can cost more than a modest rise brings in over a year.
See renting out your condo in Thailand as a landlord for an owner's wider duties, rental income tax for landlords for what a higher rent means at tax time, and rental yield on Thai condos for the return side.
Frequently asked questions
Can a landlord raise the rent during a lease in Thailand?
Not on their own during a fixed term. Section 537 of the Civil and Commercial Code defines a lease as an agreement to let property for a limited period in return for rent, and nothing in the Code's chapter on hire of property lets a landlord change the agreed rent alone. Where the landlord rents out three or more homes, the 2025 Contract Committee notification goes further and prohibits any lease term that gives the landlord a right to change the rent or the service charges before the lease ends.
Is there rent control in Thailand?
No source read for this guide sets a ceiling on residential rent or on the size of an increase. The Act on Control of the Hire of Houses and Land B.E. 2504 (1961) and its two amendments were repealed by an Act given on 28 May 2015, as printed by the Office of the Council of State. The current rules on residential leases control contract terms, deposits and utility charges, not the price the two sides agree.
How much can a landlord increase the rent at renewal?
The sources read for this guide set no limit. Under section 564 a lease ends at the end of the agreed period without notice, so a renewal is a new agreement at whatever rent the landlord and tenant accept. The tenant's protection at that point is the freedom to decline and move, which is why a renewal figure is negotiable.
Does a landlord have to give notice of a rent increase?
No source read for this guide sets a notice period for a rent increase as such. For a fixed term no notice can change the rent before the term ends. On a lease with no fixed period, section 566 lets either side end the lease on notice of at least one rent period, with no more than two months needed, so a landlord who wants a higher rent has to get the tenant's agreement or give that notice.
My lease expired and I am paying month to month. Can the rent go up?
Section 570 says that when a tenant stays after the agreed period and the landlord knows and does not object, the lease is deemed renewed for an indefinite period. The Code gives the landlord no power to set a new rent alone, but section 566 lets the landlord end that open-ended lease on notice of at least one rent period. In practice a proposed increase on a month-to-month tenancy is backed by that right, so treat it as a renewal negotiation.
Can a landlord charge a fee to renew my lease?
Not if the landlord is a business operator with three or more units. Clause 6.1 (8) of the 2025 notification prohibits a lease term that gives the operator a right to charge an existing tenant a fee for renewing the lease, and clause 6.2 (9) says the same for leases longer than three years. A landlord with one or two units is not covered by the notification.
Can my landlord raise the electricity or water rate instead of the rent?
A business landlord with three or more units cannot charge more for electricity and water than the utility provider charges the landlord: clause 6.1 (6) of the 2025 notification prohibits that term. The standard contract lets utility rates move during the lease only as the utility provider itself raises or lowers them. Service charges must be what was actually paid and reasonable, and their rate cannot be changed before the lease ends.
What can I do if my landlord demands more rent in the middle of my lease?
Reply in writing that the lease fixes the rent until its end date, keep paying the agreed amount by bank transfer on time, and keep every message. The grounds the Code gives a landlord for ending a lease are unpaid rent under section 560 and breach under section 554, and declining a change the lease does not provide for is neither. Where the landlord has three or more units, clause 6.1 (9) of the 2025 notification also prohibits a term allowing termination when the tenant has not breached a material term. If pressure continues, the Office of the Consumer Protection Board takes complaints about lease terms.
Compare asking rents before you answer
Live homes for rent with asking prices, photos and the agency that lists each one, so you can see what the same money gets nearby.
General information only, not legal advice. Leases differ and courts decide disputes on their own facts. Code sections are quoted from an unofficial English translation, and the 2025 notification and its standard contract were read in Thai. The worked example uses invented figures. A lawyer should review any dispute that matters to you. BAANLYY LLC is a Nevada company and a listing portal: homes on this site are listed by independent owners, agents and agencies, and BAANLYY is not a party to their leases or sales. Legal rules are from the sources named below, read on 14 November 2026.
Sources
- Act Repealing Certain Laws That Are No Longer Necessary or That Duplicate Other Laws B.E. 2558 (Thai, 3 pages), given 28 May 2015: schedule items 4 to 6 repeal the Act on Control of the Hire of Houses and Land B.E. 2504 and its amendments of B.E. 2509 and B.E. 2511, with the note of reasons ↗Office of the Council of State (law index entry with the Gazette print) · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Civil and Commercial Code ss.537-571, unofficial English translation, read in full: s.537 a lease is for a limited period in return for rent, s.538 written evidence and registration of leases over three years, s.540 thirty-year limit, s.559 when rent is due, s.560 non-payment, s.564, s.566 and s.570 on the end of a lease and staying on, s.568 reduction of rent where part of the property is lost ↗Thailand Law Online (unofficial English translation) · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Royal Gazette print of the Contract Committee Notification B.E. 2568 on residential leasing (vol. 142, special part 211 Ngor, 6 June 2025): three or more units, clause 6.1 (3) and 6.2 (4) no term allowing a change to the rent or service charges before the lease ends, clause 6.1 (8) and 6.2 (9) no renewal fee from an existing tenant, clause 6.1 (6) utility rates, clause 6.1 (2) advance rent and deposit, clause 10 earlier leases ↗Chon Buri City Municipality (copy of the Royal Gazette print) · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Contract Committee Notification on residential building leasing B.E. 2568 with standard contract forms (Thai, 21 pages): Form A clause 5 utility rates may change as the utility provider adjusts them, clause 6 service expenses as actually paid and reasonable, clause 8 invoice at least three days before the due date, clause 13 early exit by the tenant after half the term, and Form B clause 3 registration of a long lease ↗Office of the Consumer Protection Board · Accessed 14 November 2026
Official primary sources are listed above with the date we last checked them. Thai rules, fees, thresholds and procedures change and can be applied differently by individual offices and embassies — confirm the current requirement with the responsible authority before relying on it. General information only, not legal, tax or medical advice. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
