Buying, selling, renting, mortgages, law and tax, written so you can decide when you finish reading
Construction or alteration needs a permit, or a notification under Section 39 bis, under Section 21 of the Building Control Act B.E. 2522. Ministerial Regulation No. 11 B.E. 2528 exempts five cases, including a floor or roof changed by not more than 5 sqm combined without touching columns or beams. Breach carries up to THB 10,000 a day.
A gift to a child and an inheritance both carry a registration fee of 0.5% of appraised value against the ordinary 2%. A gift to a legitimate child carries no income tax for the giver and is exempt for the child up to THB 20 million a tax year, while inheritance tax begins only above THB 100 million.
Four checks are free and self-service before a deposit: the appraised value at assessprice.treasury.go.th, the parcel position and shape at the Land Department LandsMaps service, the zoning through Bangkok city planning or the Department of Public Works, and expropriation decrees in the Royal Gazette. Mortgages and injunctions still require a certified copy of the deed at the land office.
A sale within five years attracts specific business tax of 3.3% unless the seller has been in the house registration for at least a year, while withholding tax rises with the holding period because the flat expense allowance falls from 92% to 50%. On a THB 3 million home sold in year three, that document is worth THB 84,000.
Arrears on condominium common fees attract a surcharge of up to 12% a year, rising to 20% once six months are outstanding, and at that point the co-owner may lose the use of common property and the vote at the general meeting. More decisively, no transfer registers without the debt-free certificate required by Section 29.
Nightly letting of a condominium unit is operating a hotel business without a licence under the Hotel Act B.E. 2547: up to one year in prison or a THB 20,000 fine or both, plus up to THB 10,000 per day while it continues. The exemption needs four rooms or fewer, twenty guests or fewer, and notification to the registrar.
Renting in Thailand carries no nationality restriction, because a lease is not an acquisition of ownership. A lease over three years must be registered and cannot exceed 30 years, deposit plus advance rent is capped at three months where the landlord lets three or more units, and the house master must file the TM30 within 24 hours.
A foreigner can own a condominium unit outright inside the 49% ceiling on foreign-held floor area in Section 19 bis of the Condominium Act, on evidence of an inward transfer of not less than the unit price. Land comes only through the 40-million-baht route in Section 96 bis, and the 0.01% transfer fee cut is for Thai nationals only.
MEA is replacing spinning-disc meters with smart meters free of charge, targeting 100% of homes in its Khlong Toei service area, 136,000 units, during 2026. The new meter shows your consumption in the MEA Smart Life app, but it does not change your tariff: moving to the TOU time-of-use rate is still a separate application you pay for.
Noise causing disturbance is a nuisance under Sections 25 and 26 of the Public Health Act B.E. 2535 and may also breach Criminal Code Sections 370 and 397. This guide covers the decibel standards the law actually uses, the six-step complaint sequence that works, what a juristic person can and cannot do, and how to test a unit for noise before signing.
Notification of a foreigner's accommodation must be filed within 24 hours of them taking up residence, by the house master under Section 38 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522, with a fine of up to THB 2,000 and a fresh filing required every time the tenant returns. This guide explains why the foreign tenant is the one who suffers, and how an owner should set the process up.
Rental paperwork comes in two sets: what the tenant brings to the owner, and what the tenant must ask to see from the owner. The second is what stops you paying money to somebody with no right to let the place. This guide covers both lists, the ten items a lease must contain, and what to record on handover day.
