Renting in Thailand for the first time trips up even careful expats — not because the market is unusually risky, but because the rules differ from home and the consequences of a mistake (a lost deposit, a visa complication) show up weeks later. Here are the mistakes that come up most often, and how to avoid them.
**1. Treating verbal promises as binding.** A landlord who says "the deposit is fully refundable" or "I'll fix the aircon before you move in" needs to put it in the written contract. Thai courts and the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) look at what the signed lease says, not what was said in the viewing. If a term matters, it belongs in the contract, in writing, before you pay anything.
**2. Not confirming the landlord actually owns the unit.** Ask to see the chanote (title deed) or condominium unit title, and match the owner's name against the ID or passport of the person signing. Thailand has a steady stream of rental scams where someone with no legal right to the unit collects a deposit and disappears, or "sublets" a property the real owner never listed. This is a five-minute check that prevents a real problem.
**3. Assuming a bigger deposit is normal.** As of September 4, 2025, a new OCPB Notification (B.E. 2568) controls residential leases from landlords who rent out three or more units as a business (previously the threshold was five units under the 2019 rule it replaced). For those covered landlords, combined advance rent and security deposit cannot exceed three months' rent on a standard monthly lease, and the deposit must be returned immediately at lease-end, or within days if a damage inspection is needed. Important nuance: this OCPB protection applies to landlords operating three or more rental units as a business — a single condo owner renting out their one unit generally falls outside it, so read every clause of that contract carefully rather than assuming the law caps what they can ask for.
**4. Skipping the move-in condition report.** Under the same OCPB rules, a jointly signed condition report — ideally with photos — should be attached to the lease at move-in. Without one, disputes over "damage" at move-out come down to your word against the landlord's. Take dated photos of every wall, appliance, and existing scuff the day you get the keys, whether or not the landlord offers a form.
**5. Not confirming TM30 gets filed.** Thai law (Immigration Act B.E. 2522, Section 38) requires the property owner, house-master, or manager to notify the local immigration office within 24 hours of a foreign tenant's arrival — including every time you re-enter Thailand after leaving, even to the same address. This is the landlord's legal obligation, not the tenant's, but it is the tenant who feels the pain later: an unfiled TM30 can complicate 90-day reporting, visa extensions, and re-entry. Ask the landlord to confirm the filing, and keep a copy of the receipt if one is issued.
**6. Not checking utility rates.** Under the OCPB rules covering business landlords, electricity and water cannot legally be charged above the government utility tariff. Marked-up utility billing is a common way costs creep up after move-in; ask what rate applies before signing, and get it in the contract.
**7. Signing an English-only contract with no Thai text.** For landlords covered by the OCPB notification, the lease must be in Thai, in legible print. Even where that requirement doesn't technically apply (a solo-owner landlord, for example), get a Thai version reviewed — ideally by a Thai-speaking friend or a property lawyer — before you sign, since the Thai text is what a Thai court would rely on in a dispute.
None of this requires assuming bad faith on the part of every landlord — most are straightforward. But a five-minute ownership check, a written contract, and a dated move-in photo set cost nothing and remove almost all of the risk.