Water Bills in Thailand: Rates and What Renters Pay

Chiang Mai's piped water comes from the Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA), and its bill is small next to electricity's. This guide gives PWA's rates, what one person, a couple or a family pays a month, how to read and check the bill, and what a landlord who bills you from the building's meter may charge. A cubic metre (m³) on a water bill is an amount of water, 1,000 litres, not the size of the home: a 35 m² condo and a large house are billed the same way, by the water that runs through the meter. Every bill here is our calculation from PWA's tariff, with the sources at the end.

What does water cost in Chiang Mai?#

One person in a condo uses about 3–6 m³ of water a month (100–200 litres a day) and pays about 86–98 baht on the home's own PWA meter, or 72–144 baht where the building bills 24 baht a m³. PWA charges 10.20 baht a cubic metre for the first 10 m³ a month, then 16.00, 19.00 and 21.20 baht in the next bands. A 30-baht meter fee and 7% VAT come on top, and the water charge is never under 50 baht.

So a home's own meter never bills less than 85.60 baht a month, and between 7 and 30 m³ it averages 14–17 baht a cubic metre all in. PWA serves the city through its Chiang Mai branch (052 001 349), with other branches in San Kamphaeng (053 331 755) and Mae Rim (053 297 253). In parts of Hang Dong, San Sai, Saraphi or Doi Saket, a house may be on a municipal or village water supply with its own prices: check whose name is on the bill. We found no change to PWA's tariff in 2025 or 2026; the 50-baht minimum dates from 2005.

When your landlord bills you for water#

In many condos and apartment buildings, one PWA meter serves the whole building and the landlord or office reads a meter for each unit. A building's meter pays more per cubic metre than a home's, about 23.5–24.7 baht all in, so a landlord charging around 24 baht may be charging at cost. A price of 30–40 baht a m³ is hard to justify against any PWA rate.

Since 1 April 2026, PWA's own classification gives this set-up a code of its own: a private building of several homes, such as a condominium or an apartment block, with one meter serving several units. The same rule as for electricity applies to what you are charged. A landlord letting three or more homes, condo units included, may not charge more for water than PWA charges them, has to write the rate into the lease and may change it only when PWA's price changes. A private owner letting one or two homes is outside that rule, so the lease alone decides.

What to ask before you sign#

1. Is there a PWA meter for this home alone, or does the building bill me from its own meter?
2. If the building bills me: what is the price a cubic metre, and is it written in the lease?
3. With a private owner, ask for this line in the lease: "The tenant pays the PEA and PWA bills as issued, with no surcharge."
4. Photograph the water meter on the day you move in and the day you move out.

How to read and check your water bill#

A PWA bill shows the branch and its phone number, the account number (เลขที่ผู้ใช้น้ำ), the cubic metres used between two meter readings and their dates, the customer type (T1 is residential), any arrears and the due date. PWA's app, PWA Plus Life, shows each bill and 12 months of use, sends alerts and takes payment.

• Check the m³ against the tables above: one person's 5 m³ comes to about 87 baht on a home's own meter, or 120 baht at a building's 24 baht a m³.
• Pay in the app by barcode, QR code or bank, at the branch, at 14 banks, or with the barcode at 7-Eleven, Lotus's, FamilyMart and post offices, where the counter may add 5–15 baht.
• PWA's Contact Center is 1662, and its LINE account is @pwathailand.
• A foreign tenant can open a PWA account with a passport and evidence of the visa, plus the owner's written consent and a copy of the owner's ID card. Taking over the existing account takes about an hour at the branch.

If a landlord with three or more homes charges more than PWA's price, ask for the building's bill first, then complain to the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) on 1166, on LINE @ocpbconnect or at complaint.ocpb.go.th. By May 2026 it had received 1,655 rental complaints since 2025, and overcharged utilities were the second most common.

Electricity and water together, a month#

A condo on its own meters, using 150–300 units of electricity and 5–10 m³ of water, pays about 620–1,310 baht a month for both (our calculation). Water is the small part: under 150 baht at 10 m³. Electricity decides the total, above all the air-con in March to May.

Electricity bills in Thailand

PEA's rates since September 2026, worked bills, and what air-conditioning really costs a month in Chiang Mai.

Read the electricity guide