Can you rent out a Thai condo on Airbnb: Not for stays under 30 days.
// Short answer
Is it legal to rent my condo in Thailand on Airbnb?
Not for stays shorter than 30 days. Thailand’s Hotel Act of 2004 treats paid stays of under 30 days as hotel business, which needs a hotel licence, and an ordinary condo unit cannot get one. Letting by the month or the year is legal. So judge any Thai condo on what it lets for on a monthly or yearly lease, not on nightly rates.
Many condo numbers are built on nightly rates: a holiday-let price times a busy-season calendar. For most Thai condos that is the wrong number. The rent that counts is the rent you can legally collect.
What the law says
The Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004) covers places that offer paid, temporary accommodation to travellers. Stays of less than 30 days fall inside it, so letting a condo unit by the night or the week is running a hotel. Running one without a licence carries up to one year in prison, a fine of up to 20,000 baht, and up to 10,000 baht for each day it continues.
Owners have been prosecuted and fined, in Bangkok, Hua Hin and elsewhere. Fines have usually been well below the maximum. A conviction is still a conviction, and it comes with an order to stop.
What the building adds
Every registered condominium is run by a juristic person under its own regulations. Many buildings ban stays under 30 days outright and set fines for breaches. Ask the juristic person office for the current regulations before you buy, and read the clause on letting. How the juristic person works explains who decides and how rules change.
Which buildings can legally take short stays
A building that holds a hotel licence, usually run as serviced apartments or a condotel by an operator, can take nightly guests. If you are told a unit can be let short-term, ask to see the licence and check whose name it is in. The licence belongs to the operator and the building, not to you, so your income comes from the operator’s contract, on the operator’s terms.
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Judge the condo on monthly rent
A monthly or yearly lease is the legal default, and it is how most foreign owners let. So the number to check is what similar units in the same building actually let for on a lease, minus the common area fee, the sinking fund and any agent fee. How to check a listing’s real rent shows the method, and Thai condo maintenance fees covers the running costs.
If the numbers you were shown only work at nightly rates, rerun them at the monthly rent before you decide.
What it means when you sell
Your future buyer will run the same monthly-rent test. A price that only made sense at nightly rates is hard to get back on resale. Selling a Thai condo as a foreigner covers the exit side.
Frequently asked questions
Can I rent my Thai condo for 30 days or more?
What is the fine for illegal short-term rental in Thailand?
Can a foreigner get a hotel licence for one condo unit?
Does the 30-day rule apply to houses and villas too?
Independent research, not financial, legal or tax advice. Rules, fees and data sources change; confirm the current position with a licensed local professional before you commit money.