Contracts & money
Who Pays What: Thailand Rental Fees & Utilities
Thai rental disputes are less about rent and more about the small print of bills: the common fee, the electric meter, the AC that died in month three. Here is each recurring cost, who the law and custom put it on, and — the part that matters — what your contract can override.
Custom + statute summary (Condominium Act B.E. 2522, CCC). Not legal advice.
In short
- ▪The common fee is the owner's expense under the Condominium Act — check your contract doesn't quietly shift it.
- ▪Electricity follows the meter account. Transfer it into your name and pay MEA/PEA directly; otherwise you're paying the owner's bill through them.
- ▪Stamp duty is 0.1% of total rent at signing — legally the lessor's document, by convention the tenant's cost. Agree it in writing.
- ▪AC breakdown from age/repair = landlord's side by default; damage from use = tenant's. Say which is which in the contract — that's where disputes come from.
The building bills: common fee and sinking fund
The common fee funds the juristic person's operations — staff, pools, lifts, cleaning. Under the Condominium Act it is levied on the unit owner (often collected per sq. wah). It is legitimate for an owner to price it into the rent, but writing “tenant pays the common fee” into a contract is a real shift of a statutory cost — know it before agreeing. The sinking fund (major works) is always the owner's; a tenant asked to fund it should decline in writing.
Utilities: the meter-name trap
Electricity in most of Thailand (outside parts of Bangkok's old service area, and Pattaya's exclusive zone) is metered directly by MEA or PEA at government tariffs. The bill follows whose name the meter is in. Transfer it to yours on move-in (free, needs the contract + ID) and you pay real tariff with your own receipt trail. If it stays in the landlord's name, whatever they choose to bill you is the price — markups are common and you have no complaint to the utility. Water is either PWA-direct or building-billed (often a flat per-unit rate — check it's not a profit line). Internet: tenant's cost, tenant's contract — transfer it out or the new tenant inherits your debt.
One-off costs at signing
Deposit (1 month, refundable) and advance rent (1 month) are tenant-side. Agent commission (~1 month for a new 1-year lease) is the landlord's — a tenant asked to pay it is outside convention; push back. Stamp duty at 0.1% of total lease rent, stamps affixed at signing — the Revenue Department puts the primary duty on the lessor as the executing party's document, but almost every market splits it tenant-side by agreement; ฿150 on a 1-year ฿15,000 lease is small — just write who pays it.
Repairs: the default split and the contract override
The Code makes the lessor keep the property fit for the use it was hired for, while the lessee handles ordinary upkeep and damage they cause (CCC hire-of-property rules, §§537–553; and note the lessee must give the lessor prompt notice when bigger repairs become needed). In practice: structural and ageing-equipment failures (an AC board dying of age, roof leaks, pump failure) sit landlord-side; tenant-caused damage (the classic: spilled water into the floor, a smashed tap) is tenant-side. Most Thai form contracts simply say “tenant maintains all repairs” — which, if signed, moves even the ageing AC onto you. The fix is one sentence: “Landlord is responsible for repairs not caused by Tenant's misuse, including air-conditioning units beyond normal servicing (filters cleaning by Tenant).”
| Cost | Default (law/custom) | Can your contract move it? |
|---|---|---|
| Common fee | Owner (Condominium Act) | Yes — some forms shift it; read clause |
| Sinking fund | Owner, always | Decline if asked |
| Electricity | Whoever holds the meter account | Transfer meter to tenant name |
| Water | User; building rate or PWA | Check building per-unit rate |
| Internet | Tenant | Tenant cancels on exit |
| Stamp duty 0.1% | Lessor legally / tenant by convention | Write who pays |
| Agent commission | Landlord | Rarely moved; push back |
| Ageing-AC / structural repairs | Lessor (CCC fit-for-use) | Forms often shift it — strike |
| Tenant-caused damage | Tenant | Not fairly movable |
Put the split in writing
Our generator includes the repair split, utilities, stamp duty and deposit clauses — bilingual or Thai-only, from ฿250.
Frequently asked questions
Can my landlord charge more than the real electricity bill?
If the meter is in their name and they rebill you, that arrangement is private — many do add a markup or flat “service” rate. Holding the meter yourself removes the margin entirely and is the single best utility defense.
Who pays if the air conditioner dies on day 20?
If it failed from age or internal fault, that's the landlord's fit-for-use duty under the CCC — unless your contract moved repairs to you. If it died because something was poured on it, that's tenant damage. State the split in the contract and photograph units at move-in.
Is the common fee ever legitimately the tenant’s?
Only by contract — the statutory levy is on the unit owner. Plenty of owners build it into the asking rent (fine, it's priced in). A contract line adding it on top of market rent is a shift worth negotiating.
What happens to the deposit if I leave the internet contract behind?
Nothing good. Thai fibre contracts run with your ID; unpaid balances chase the ID holder, not the unit. Cancel or transfer it the same week you give notice.