Housing: Renting, Buying and Senior Living

Renting

1. Rent month to month or for six months first, ideally in two areas.
2. Read the contract: who pays the common-area fee, utilities at government rate or a mark-up, and how the deposit comes back.
3. Expect 2 months' deposit plus one month in advance. Photograph everything on move-in day.
4. Make sure the landlord files your TM30 within 24 hours. You'll need proof of address for your visa.

Buying a condo

1. Ask the building's juristic office for a letter confirming foreign quota is available before you pay any deposit.
2. Bring the money in from abroad in foreign currency. For transfers of USD 50,000 or more, the bank issues a Foreign Exchange Transaction form, which the Land Office needs.
3. Budget for fees: transfer fee 2% of the appraised value (often split with the seller), plus specific business tax 3.3% or stamp duty 0.5% on the seller's side.
4. Running costs: common-area fee 35-70 THB per square metre a month in a mid-range building, and a one-off sinking fund of 500-800 THB per square metre on new units.
5. Use your own lawyer, not the developer's.

Houses and land

• Lease. A registered lease runs up to 30 years. Renewal clauses promising 30+30+30 are not reliably enforceable. A 99-year lease is draft only, not law.
• Usufruct. The right to live in and use a property for life. It ends when you die and can't be inherited.
• Building on your partner's land. You can own the building but not the land under it. Protect yourself with a registered lease or usufruct and a will.
• Nominees. Using a Thai person or company to hold land for you is illegal. Penalty: Land Code (land held via a Thai nominee): up to 2 years and/or 20,000 THB fine, juristic person up to 50,000; Foreign Business Act (nominee shareholding in a business): up to 3 years and/or 100,000-1,000,000 THB, plus a daily fine. A Department of Lands circular of 2026-05-15 (Department of Lands circular to provincial governors) stepped up checks.

Senior living and care homes

Options range from independent-living resorts to assisted living and dementia care. Mid-range nursing homes cost about 20,000-50,000 THB a month and dementia care 40,000-80,000 THB. Thailand has no legal minimum staff-to-resident ratio, so visit, ask about night staffing and nurse qualifications, and talk to families of current residents. Our care-home directory lists named homes with prices.

Mistakes people make

• Paying a condo deposit before confirming foreign quota.
• Sending money as a local baht transfer, so there's no foreign-exchange record.
• Putting a house in a partner's name with nothing registered in yours.
• Buying in the first year.

Property law is complex. Use an independent Thai lawyer; this page is not legal advice.