Move-In and Move-Out Checklist for Renting in Thailand
What to do before, on and after each handover day, with two checklists to print: which steps the law requires, for which landlords, and which are simply good practice.
Moving into or out of a rented condo or house in Thailand comes down to a few documents and a few deadlines. No official tenant checklist exists, so the two lists at the end are our guidance drawn from Thai law and from what the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), the Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA), Immigration and the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) publish. Each step says whether it is the law, and for which landlords, an official service, official advice, or simply good practice. The law is national; the offices and phone numbers are Chiang Mai's.
The two days that matter
The two days that matter most are the handover days. On move-in day, sign a condition report with the owner and photograph every room and the meters: without one, Thai law presumes you received the home in good repair. On move-out day, inspect together against that report and get the key handover date in writing: for a landlord with three or more homes it starts the 7- or 14-day deadline to return your deposit.
So first ask the landlord how many homes they let. Since 4 September 2025, a landlord who lets three or more homes, condo units included, must follow OCPB's standard lease, and most of the deadlines below come from it. A landlord with one or two homes signs their own lease, and only the Civil and Commercial Code and that lease apply.
| On moving days | 3 or more homes | 1 or 2 homes |
|---|---|---|
| Condition report | Required, with your copy | Not required; ask for one |
| Utilities | At the provider's price | As the lease says |
| Leaving early | After half the term, with 30 days' written notice | As the lease says, or by agreement |
| Deposit back | 7 days, or 14 less repair costs | As the lease says |
| Wear from proper use | Never charged | Never charged |
Before you move in
Settle the money and the paperwork before you take the keys, and keep your own signed copy of the lease from the day you sign. If your landlord lets three or more homes, the lease must be in Thai in two identical copies, state each utility's rate, payment period and calculation method, and ask no more than three months' rent up front, deposit and advance rent together.
Pay by bank transfer, and get a receipt that names the deposit and the advance rent as separate sums: the deposit secures damage and unpaid charges other than rent, while the advance rent secures the rent. The building's own rules matter as much as the lease. The Condominium Act does not mention tenants or pets: moving hours, lift bookings, pets, visitors and parking are set by each building's regulations and house rules, so ask for them before moving day.
- How many homes do you let?
- Can I have the building's regulations and house rules, with the moving hours, lift booking, pets, visitors and parking?
- Whose name are the electricity and water accounts in, and do I pay the provider's bill or the building's meter reading?
- Is an internet line already installed, and with which provider?
- Who files the TM30 for me, and when will I get the receipt?
- How many keys, keycards and remotes come with the home, and is there a card deposit, paid to whom?
If you need a new internet line, match its minimum term to the lease. Home internet here usually runs 12 or 24 months, longer than many leases, and cancelling early can mean repaying the installation fee the provider waived.
Move-in day
Walk through the home with the landlord and sign a condition report together: every item, its quantity and its condition, signed by both of you, with a copy each. If your landlord lets three or more homes, they must attach one to the lease and give you a copy. From any other landlord, ask for one anyway: without a signed record of the home's condition, the law presumes you received it in good repair.
The standard lease advises tenants to photograph the home. Photos are not required, but they are your best evidence, and evidence is what deposit disputes turn on: of the 1,655 rental complaints OCPB had received since 2025 by May 2026, the most common was a deposit kept without evidence, or out of proportion to the damage. Send the dated photos and video to the landlord by LINE or e-mail the same day, so both of you hold a copy with its date.
- Each room: walls, ceiling and floor, close up and in overview.
- Bathroom and kitchen: taps, flush, shower pressure, water heater and drains.
- Each appliance, switched on: every air-conditioner cools and has its remote; the fridge, washer, cooker and TV.
- Furniture, item by item, with the quantity.
- Windows, doors, locks, screens and curtains.
- Keys, keycards, remotes, the mailbox key and parking stickers, as quantities, and any card deposit paid and to whom.
- The electricity meter, and the water meter if the home has its own: a photo showing the meter number and the reading, the readings written into the report, and both of you initialling them.
The landlord must hand the home over in good repair, so list every fault you find and ask in writing when it will be fixed. From then on, under any lease, you are not liable for loss or damage caused by proper use of the home.
The first two weeks
Whoever houses you, the owner or the landlord, must file a TM30 with Immigration within 24 hours of your arrival. Give them signed copies of your passport's data page, latest entry stamp and latest permission-to-stay stamp, and ask for the receipt: you will need it for a residence certificate, and immigration is reported to ask for it at 90-day reports. Check that its address matches the lease and that its stay-until date covers the lease.
Every new address needs a new TM30; coming back to the same home after a trip does not. Your own duties are separate. The Immigration Act asks you to report a change of address within 24 hours, and your next 90-day report gives your current address, so bring a TM30 copy whose address matches. How Chiang Mai Immigration applies the change-of-address notice (form TM.27) is a question for the office, on 053 201 755, press 30. If a bank or the land transport office asks for proof of your address, Chiang Mai Immigration issues a residence certificate at its Airport Road office, Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 12:00, once the TM30 is filed.
TM30 for tenants and landlords
Who files it, the online steps, the receipt, and what it means for your 90-day report.
Read the TM30 guideElectricity and water
Most tenants never deal with PEA or PWA directly. Either the home has its own meters in the owner's name and you pay the owner the provider's bill, or the building reads its own meter and bills you. Find out which in the first week. If your landlord lets three or more homes, electricity and water may cost no more than the provider charges the landlord, and you may inspect the bill behind the charge. The rate is the amount on the landlord's bill divided by the units on that bill, times the units you used.
| Account | PEA, electricity | PWA, water |
|---|---|---|
| To open one | Passport and lease | Passport, visa evidence, the owner's consent letter and ID copy |
| Deposit | None on new home meters since 20 March 2020 | End of home deposits announced in 2020; ask on 1662 |
| Taking one over | Up to 30 working days | About 1 hour |
| Cancelling | Up to 10.5 working days | 1 working day |
| Deposit refund | Within 20 working days | About 1 hour |
| Phone | 1129 | 1662 |
A utility deposit goes back to whoever paid it, usually the owner, so a tenant who takes over an account usually neither pays nor recovers a deposit.
Garbage, fire safety and insurance
Ask how garbage is collected and whether a fee is billed separately: in a condo the juristic office knows; for a house, ask your municipality or tambon, since each sets its own. Find the fire extinguisher on your floor and the fire exits, and check whether the home has a smoke detector. The owner's and the building's insurance cover their property, not your belongings. A fire policy in your own name covers your belongings against fire, lightning and gas explosion, plus any perils the policy adds; ask for theft cover if you want it. The Office of Insurance Commission answers questions on 1186.
Before you move out
A fixed-term lease ends on its end date without notice. A rolling monthly lease needs one rent period's notice, never more than two months. Either way, tell the landlord in writing about 30 days ahead: it books the joint inspection, and if you stay on after the end date and the landlord does not object, the lease continues with no fixed term at the same rent.
Leaving early depends on the landlord. From a landlord with three or more homes, you may leave once you have lived there for half the term, with 30 days' written notice and nothing owed, and rent you paid ahead comes back within 7 days. From a landlord with one or two homes, no law gives that right: agree it in writing, for example with a replacement tenant or a signed end to the lease.
Send notice in a form you can prove. An e-mail or chat message you can keep and retrieve unchanged counts as writing under Thai law; a signed letter with an acknowledgement, or tracked registered mail, works too. Put in it the move-out date, a request for a joint inspection, how the deposit should reach you, with full account details, and a forwarding address.
- Internet: check when the minimum term ends, then move or cancel the line. AIS and 3BB want the router back at an AIS shop within 15 days; True charges the router's listed value, ฿2,033 to ฿6,313, if it does not come back. Leaving early can cost the waived installation fee: AIS's BROADBAND24 package waives a ฿4,800 installation fee only if you stay 24 months, and True claws back its ฿2,000 joining fee and ฿2,600 installation in proportion to the months left.
- Any PEA or PWA account in your own name: cancel or transfer it two to four weeks ahead. PEA takes up to 10.5 working days and refunds a deposit within 20 working days; PWA takes one working day and refunds in about an hour. If you are leaving Thailand, start early or leave a power of attorney with duty stamps for the refund.
- Ask the juristic office about moving out, the lift booking and the hours, about a week ahead.
- Pay the last month's rent as the lease says. Do not hold it back against the deposit unless the lease or a written agreement allows it: the advance rent covers the last month, and arrears can cost you the right to leave early.
The press has reported that a 2006 rule of the telecoms regulator, the NBTC, lets users cancel at any time without a penalty, which the providers' own terms contradict; we could not read the rule itself. The NBTC takes complaints on 1200.
Move-out day
Walk through the home with the landlord, the move-in report in hand, and take dated photos and video of each room. Write any deduction you agree, with its amount, on a sheet you both sign. Photograph the final meter readings with the meter numbers, return every key, card and remote, and get the handover date and time signed or confirmed in writing.
That handover date starts two clocks. Under every lease, the landlord has six months from the day you hand the home back to claim for its condition; unpaid rent can be claimed for five years. If your landlord lets three or more homes, the deposit deadline runs from the lease ending and the keys going back.
You are not liable for damage from proper use, under any lease. If your landlord lets three or more homes, they may deduct only repair costs actually incurred, never normal wear, damage that is not your fault, or force majeure; a flat cleaning fee taken whatever the home's condition is, in our reading, unlikely to stand against them. Clean the home back to the state in the move-in report, take only your own belongings and leave the landlord's, and put right any alterations made without the landlord's permission. No law lets a landlord lock you out or take your belongings before the lease has been lawfully ended.
- The date and time of the handover.
- Every key, keycard, remote, mailbox key, parking sticker and pool or gym card returned.
- The final electricity and water readings, and how the last bill will be paid.
- Any deduction both of you agree, with its amount.
- How the deposit comes back, to which account.
- Your forwarding phone, e-mail and address.
- Both signatures, or a LINE message or e-mail that confirms the sheet.
After you move out
If your landlord lets three or more homes, the deposit is due within 7 days of the lease ending and the keys going back, or within 14 days less repair costs actually incurred, never for normal wear, and the landlord pays the transfer by the method you choose. If your landlord lets one or two homes, no law sets the deadline; your lease does. A deposit held after it is due is a debt that earns interest.
Ask for a receipt for every deduction. If the deposit is late or cut unfairly, send a written demand, then complain free to OCPB on 1166, on LINE @ocpbconnect or at the Chiang Mai Provincial Hall; the courts come after that. Proceedings run in Thai, so if you are leaving Thailand, file before you go or appoint a Thai lawyer, and keep a Thai bank account open until the deposit arrives.
Security deposits in Thailand
What may be deducted, the 7- and 14-day rule, and the steps from a written demand to court.
Read the deposit guideAt the new home the move-in checklist starts again, with a new TM30 within 24 hours. If your name is in the old home's house registration (a yellow house book), the house master must tell the registry within 15 days of your move; ask the district office about the steps for foreigners. Tell your bank and anyone who sends you post. Thailand Post has no household mail-forwarding service that we could find, so ask the old landlord or the condo office to hold your mail.
The two checklists
Print these or keep them on your phone. They are our guidance drawn from Thai law and official services, since no official tenant checklist exists. "Law, 3+ homes" binds only a landlord who lets three or more homes; with other landlords, the lease decides. The sources for each step are in the sections above and in the list at the end.
| Step | When | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ask how many homes the landlord lets | Before signing | Law, 3+ homes |
| 2. Take your own signed copy of the lease | At signing | Law, 3+ homes |
| 3. Check the lease gives each utility's rate and how it is calculated | At signing | Law, 3+ homes |
| 4. Check deposit plus advance rent is at most 3 months' rent | Before paying | Law, 3+ homes |
| 5. Pay by transfer; get a receipt naming the deposit and the advance rent separately | Before the keys | Practice |
| 6. Ask for the building's rules: moving hours, lift, pets, visitors, parking | A week before | Practice |
| 7. Ask whether internet is installed; match a new line's term to the lease | Before moving day | Practice |
| 8. Walk through and sign a condition report; keep your copy | Move-in day | Law, 3+ homes; practice otherwise |
| 9. Photograph and film every room, fault and appliance; send the dated files to the landlord | Move-in day | Official guidance |
| 10. Test air-cons, remotes, water heater, taps, drains, locks and windows; list every fault | Move-in day | Practice |
| 11. Photograph each meter with its number and reading; both initial the readings | Move-in day | Practice |
| 12. Count keys, keycards, remotes, mailbox key and parking stickers; note any card deposit | Move-in day | Practice |
| 13. Give the landlord signed copies of your passport pages for the TM30 | Move-in day | Official service |
| 14. The landlord or owner files the TM30 | Within 24 hours | Law |
| 15. Get the TM30 receipt; check its address and stay-until date | Within 24 hours | Official service |
| 16. Find out whose name the electricity and water accounts are in, and how you pay | First week | Practice |
| 17. Only if you need a PEA account: passport and lease | First weeks | Official service |
| 18. Only if you need a PWA account: passport, visa evidence, owner's consent and ID copy | First weeks | Official service |
| 19. Ask how garbage is collected and whether a fee is billed separately | First week | Practice |
| 20. Find the floor's extinguisher and the exits; check for a smoke detector | First week | Practice |
| 21. Consider a fire policy on your own belongings | First month | Official guidance |
| 22. Moved from another Thai address: report it to Immigration; ask 053 201 755, press 30, how | Within 24 hours | Law |
| 23. Give the new address on your next 90-day report, with a matching TM30 copy | Next 90-day report | Law |
| 24. Need a licence, a vehicle or a bank that asks for it? Residence certificate at Airport Road, weekday mornings | After the TM30 | Official service |
| Step | When | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Check how many homes the landlord lets; read the end date, notice and deposit clauses | 30+ days before | Law |
| 2. Fixed-term lease: it ends on its end date, no notice needed | End date | Law |
| 3. Tell the landlord in writing anyway, to book the inspection | About 30 days before | Practice |
| 4. Rolling lease: give one rent period's notice, timed to a rent date | One rent period before | Law |
| 5. Leaving early, 3+ homes: after half the term, 30 days' written notice, nothing owed | 30+ days before | Law, 3+ homes |
| 6. Leaving early, 1 or 2 homes: agree it in writing | As early as possible | Practice |
| 7. Send notice you can prove: signed letter, tracked mail, or an e-mail or chat message you keep | With the notice | Law |
| 8. In the notice: move-out date, joint inspection, refund account, forwarding address | With the notice | Practice |
| 9. Internet: check the term's end; move or cancel; return the router | 2–4 weeks before | Official service |
| 10. PEA or PWA account in your name: cancel or transfer it | 2–4 weeks before | Official service |
| 11. Pay the last month's rent; do not hold it back against the deposit | Last month | Practice |
| 12. Ask the juristic office about lift booking and moving hours | A week before | Practice |
| 13. Take only your belongings; undo alterations made without permission | Before handover | Practice |
| 14. Clean back to the state in the move-in report | Before handover | Practice |
| 15. Walk through with the move-in report; dated photos; agreed deductions in writing | Handover day | Practice |
| 16. Refuse charges for proper use; 3+ homes: actual repair costs only | Handover day | Law |
| 17. Photograph the final meter readings; agree how the last bill is paid | Handover day | Practice |
| 18. Return every key and card; get the handover date in writing | Handover day | Practice |
| 19. 3+ homes: deposit back within 7 days, or 14 less actual repair costs | After handover | Law, 3+ homes |
| 20. 1 or 2 homes: the lease sets the deadline; after it, the deposit earns interest | As the lease says | Law |
| 21. Ask for receipts for every deduction | After handover | Practice |
| 22. Deposit late or cut: written demand, then OCPB on 1166, then court | After the deadline | Official service; law |
| 23. New home: new TM30; report the change of address; use it on the 90-day report | Within 24 hours | Law |
| 24. Name in a house registration: the house master tells the registry | Within 15 days | Law |
| 25. Update your bank and senders; ask the old landlord to hold mail | After moving | Practice |
| 26. Leaving Thailand: keep a Thai account open; leave a power of attorney for utility refunds; file any claim before you go | Before departure | Practice |
Condos for rent in Chiang Mai
Every listing estimates its monthly electricity, water and internet from the home's size and air-cons.
See condos for rentSources, read by 25 October 2026
- Contract Committee notification B.E. 2568 on residential leasing, with the standard leases and the condition-report annex (in Thai) · Royal Gazette, 6 June 2025
- The residential leasing rule in force from 4 September 2025 (in Thai) · Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB)
- How to work out a fair electricity and water rate (leaflet, in Thai) · OCPB, 8 June 2026
- OCPB complaint channels · OCPB, 8 June 2026
- Consumer complaints at Chiang Mai's Provincial Hall (in Thai) · Punyachitti & Ladavalya Na Ayuthya, Chiang Mai University, October 2024
- 1,655 rental complaints since 2025, deposits first (in Thai) · Thairath, 28 May 2026
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 544–558: the landlord's duties and alterations (unofficial transcription, in Thai) · Legardy
- Civil and Commercial Code, section 561: the condition presumption (unofficial transcription, in Thai) · Legardy
- Civil and Commercial Code, section 562: no liability for proper use (unofficial transcription, in Thai) · Legardy
- Civil and Commercial Code, section 563, with Supreme Court rulings on its scope (unofficial, in Thai) · Legardy
- Civil and Commercial Code, sections 564–568: when a lease ends and notice (unofficial transcription, in Thai) · Legardy
- Civil and Commercial Code, section 570: staying on after the end date (unofficial transcription, in Thai) · Legardy
- Supreme Court ruling 5387/2549 on a lease that continues after its term (in Thai) · Revenue Department
- Electronic Transactions Act: electronic messages as writing (in Thai) · Thai Meteorological Department
- Condominium Act, consolidated text (in Thai) · Department of Lands
- Service rates: no security deposit on new household meters from 20 March 2020 · Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA)
- Public manual: a new meter, documents for non-Thai applicants (in Thai) · PEA
- New supply for individuals: documents, a lease for non-Thai applicants · PEA
- Public manual: transferring the account name (in Thai) · PEA
- Public manual: cancelling supply (in Thai) · PEA
- Public manual: refunding the deposit on cancellation (in Thai) · PEA
- Public manual: applying for water supply, documents for non-Thai applicants (in Thai) · Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA)
- Application form 01-01 with the owner's consent (in Thai) · PWA
- Citizen manual: transferring the water account (in Thai) · PWA
- Citizen manual: cancelling water supply (in Thai) · PWA
- Citizen manual: refunding the deposit (in Thai) · PWA
- No water deposit from home users from 14 May 2020 (in Thai) · PWA, 29 May 2020
- Broadband Condo package terms (in Thai) · AIS Fibre
- BROADBAND24 package terms · AIS Fibre
- Fibre3 internet packages and terms (in Thai) · AIS 3BB
- Home internet terms and conditions (in Thai) · True, 22 May 2026
- Cancelling internet under the NBTC's contract rule, as reported (in Thai) · Bangkok Biznews
- Immigration Act B.E. 2522, English translation linked by the office · Chiang Mai Immigration Office
- Citizen's manual: notifying a foreigner's residence (in Thai) · Immigration Bureau, linked by Chiang Mai Immigration, 8 November 2019
- Notification of residence (TM30) · Immigration Bureau, 27 September 2023
- TM30 online: questions and answers · Immigration Bureau
- Police regulation: no new notification on return to the same address (Royal Gazette) · Royal Thai Police, 16 June 2020
- Notification of staying longer than 90 days · Immigration Bureau, 14 August 2026
- Residence certificate form and checklists · Chiang Mai Immigration Office
- Contact directory: services for foreigners · Chiang Mai Immigration Office
- Civil registration: moving address (in Thai) · Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA)
- Insurance handbook for the public (in Thai) · Office of Insurance Commission (OIC), July 2024
Frequently asked questions
What should I photograph on move-in day?
Every room close up and in overview, each fault, each appliance switched on, the furniture, the windows, doors and locks, and each meter with its number and reading. Send the dated photos to the landlord the same day. The standard lease advises tenants to take them; they are not required, but they are your best evidence at move-out.
Do I get my utility deposit back?
A utility deposit goes back to whoever paid it, usually the owner, so most tenants have none to recover. PEA has taken no deposit on new household meters since 20 March 2020. If you paid one yourself, PEA refunds it within 20 working days of the request to cancel, and PWA in about an hour.
Do I have to give notice at the end of a fixed-term lease?
No: a fixed-term lease ends on its end date without notice. Tell the landlord in writing about 30 days ahead anyway, to book the joint inspection. If you stay on and the landlord does not object, the lease continues with no fixed term at the same rent, and then one rent period's notice is needed.
Who sets the moving hours and pet rules in a condo?
The building. The Condominium Act does not mention tenants or pets, so moving hours, lift bookings, pets, visitors and parking come from each building's regulations and house rules. Ask the landlord or the juristic office for them before moving day.