After the keys

The year that follows the transfer

Owning a residence in Thailand from abroad brings the same handful of things round almost every year. Here is each one, in the order you meet it — what we do, what we do not do, and where your part or a third party's begins.

An owner's year

Nothing below is a package and nothing is bundled. Each is a separate engagement you can take or leave, and you are free to appoint anyone else at any time.

Letting the unit

Property desk

When you decide to let it

Finding a tenant for your residence, putting the tenancy in writing, and handing the unit over properly.

What this includes

Introducing a tenant and checking who they are before anything is signed
Preparing the written lease and going through it with you clause by clause
Recording the inventory, the condition of the unit and the meter readings at handover
Registering the tenant with the building's juristic person and arranging their access

What it does not include

We do not hold your rent or your tenant's deposit. Rent is paid to you and the deposit belongs to the tenant; neither passes through us at any point.
We do not promise a tenant, a rent, or a date by which either will arrive.
We do not arrange, advertise or manage daily or short-stay letting — see the note below.
Registering a long lease at the Land Department is legal work under a separate engagement with the law firm.

Who does what

Our part: We introduce and vet the tenant, draft the lease, and run the handover.
Your part: You decide who to accept and on what terms, you sign the lease, and the rent and the deposit are yours and the tenant's to move between you.
The third party's part: The tenant, the building's juristic person and any contractor are third parties. We coordinate with them; we do not act for them and we do not warrant what they do.

Daily and short-stay letting is a different thing in law. The Hotel Act defines a hotel as accommodation provided to travellers for payment on a temporary basis and expressly excludes lettings charged monthly or longer, so letting a condominium by the night is generally operating a hotel without a licence, which is an offence. Condominium regulations usually forbid it as well. We do not offer it and we will not arrange it.

Sources

Ask us about this

Looking after it while you are abroad

Property desk

For as long as the unit is let

A named contact in Bangkok for your tenant and your building, so a problem in your unit does not wait for your next flight.

What this includes

One person your tenant and the juristic person can reach, who tells you what happened
Coordinating a repair: finding a contractor, putting their quotation in front of you, and letting them in once you have approved it
Passing on the building's notices, meetings and common-fee demands as they arrive
Helping you file the TM30 notification for a foreign tenant, which is your duty as the owner
A written record of what was done in your unit and when

What it does not include

We do not collect your rent. It is paid by your tenant into your own account, and we never hold it.
We do not hold the tenant's deposit. It is the tenant's money and stays between you and them.
We do not send money abroad for you. Remitting rent out of Thailand is done by your own bank under the Bank of Thailand's rules.
We do not carry out the repair ourselves, and we do not warrant a contractor's work, goods, price or timeline.
We do not manage a short-stay or holiday letting.

Who does what

Our part: We are the contact, we coordinate, and we write down what happened.
Your part: You approve every cost before it is incurred, you receive the rent, and the statutory duties of an owner — TM30 among them — remain yours.
The third party's part: The contractor is engaged by you, invoices you, and is answerable to you. We introduce and coordinate; we do not employ them and we do not guarantee their work.

If a foreign national stays in your unit, the Immigration Act puts the duty to notify Immigration within 24 hours on the owner or possessor of the residence — that is you, not your tenant. We can prepare and file it for you; the duty does not move.

Sources

Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979), section 38 — the owner or possessor of a residence must notify Immigration of a foreign national staying there · checked 2026-07-25
Bank of Thailand — foreign-exchange regulations · checked 2026-07-25

Ask us about this

The year's obligations

Suwanvara Law Firm — separate engagement

Once a year, and when the building asks

Personal income tax on rent, the juristic person's common fee and sinking fund, and the cover on your unit — yours to meet, ours to help with.

What this includes

Explaining which filings and payments your situation gives rise to, and when they fall
Preparing and filing a Thai personal income tax return on rental income, where you appoint the firm to do it
Reading the juristic person's demand with you, and taking up an arrears figure or a special levy you dispute
Checking that the cover on your unit and your liability as an owner is renewed, and where the building's policy stops

What it does not include

This is general information about the obligations, not tax advice on your own position, and it is not a statement of what you owe.
Tax filing is a separate engagement with Suwanvara Law Firm under its own written scope and fee.
We do not pay your common fee, your tax or your premium for you, and no money of yours is held by us.
We do not act for the juristic person or for the insurer.

Who does what

Our part: We tell you what is due, prepare what you appoint us to prepare, and file it.
Your part: The obligations are yours. Rent from a unit in Thailand is assessable income and the return is filed in your name; the common fee is owed by you as a co-owner; the policy is in your name.
The third party's part: The Revenue Department, the juristic person and the insurer decide their own outcomes. We prepare and file; we do not control what they do or when.

Rent from property situated in Thailand is taxable here whether or not you live in Thailand and whether or not the money is paid to you abroad. What you actually owe depends on your own facts and on any treaty between Thailand and your country — take advice on your position before you rely on anything.

Sources

Revenue Code, sections 40(5), 41 and 48 — rent from property is assessable income; income from property situated in Thailand is taxable regardless of where the owner lives or where it is paid; personal income tax is charged at progressive rates · checked 2026-07-25
Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), as amended — co-owners share the common expenses of the building, at the rate the juristic person resolves · checked 2026-07-25
Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019) — assessed and collected by the local administrative organisation for the area in which the unit stands · checked 2026-07-25

Ask us about this

Your visa and your stay

Suwanvara Law Firm — separate engagement

On the dates your own permission to stay sets

Renewals, the 90-day report and a re-entry permit before you travel — the law firm's work, under its own engagement.

What this includes

Reviewing the route you are on and what the next renewal will require of you
Preparing and filing an extension of stay, a 90-day report or a re-entry permit where you appoint the firm
Telling you what changed since your last renewal before you rely on last year's list

What it does not include

We prepare and file. We do not decide, and no visa, extension or permit is guaranteed — that rests with the Immigration Bureau and is discretionary.
This is a separate engagement with Suwanvara Law Firm, never part of a property fee.
Owning a condominium in Thailand does not by itself give you a visa or the right to stay.

Who does what

Our part: We check the route, prepare the papers, and file them where you appoint us.
Your part: The duties are personal to you: reporting every 90 days is yours as the foreign national staying here, and notifying Immigration about an occupier of your unit is yours as the owner.
The third party's part: The Immigration Bureau grants or refuses. We do not influence that and cannot promise an outcome or a date.

Sources

Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979), section 38 — the residence's owner or possessor notifies Immigration of a foreign occupier (the TM30 duty) · checked 2026-07-25

Ask us about this

If you sell later

Property desk

Whenever you decide

We do not run a resale desk, so there is nothing to sell you here — only what a sale involves, written down before you need it.

What this includes

What the buyer's side will ask for: the foreign-quota position, the juristic person's debt-free letter, and the evidence of how your money came into Thailand
Conveyancing and attendance at the Land Department through the law firm, under a separate engagement

What it does not include

We do not currently market a resale or act as your selling agent — that service does not exist yet, and we will say so rather than take the instruction.
We do not value your unit, forecast a sale price, or estimate what it would fetch.

Who does what

Our part: The law firm can act on the legal side of a sale as a separate engagement. The property desk does not currently take resale instructions.
Your part: The decision, the price and the choice of agent are yours.
The third party's part: Any agent you appoint to market the unit is your agent, not ours, and we do not warrant their work or their fee.

We do not offer this, so there is nothing to enquire about.

Furnishing and fitting out

Curtains, a fridge and a washing machine, a television, furniture, air-conditioning, a clean before handover. We introduce independent suppliers; the work is contracted between you and the supplier.

See the suppliers

What it costs

Quoted in writing before anything begins

We do not publish a figure on this page. What any of this costs depends on the unit, on the work the year actually brings and on how much of it you want us to carry — so the fee is quoted in writing, with the scope beside it, before anything starts. You are never charged for work you have not agreed to.

Where your money goes, and where it does not

We collect our own professional fees and nothing else. Your rent is paid to you, your tenant's deposit belongs to your tenant, and a contractor or supplier invoices you directly — none of it passes through us at any point.

We act for the buyer — as your agent and as your lawyer — and we put your interests, your protection and transparency towards you first. If we receive any remuneration, brokerage commission or other benefit from a seller, a developer, another agent, or a supplier or service partner we introduce you to, we will tell you in advance and in clear terms, so that a conflict of interest is prevented and our independence in advising you on the law is preserved.
Legal work is a separate engagement with Suwanvara Law Firm under its own professional fee, never bundled into a brokerage fee. You remain free to appoint another adviser at any time.
Engagement follows a conflicts check and a written engagement letter that sets out the scope, the fee and each side's obligations.
This page describes services and general information. It is not legal advice on any person's situation.
Rules, fees and processing times change — confirm the current requirements with us.
We prepare and file. We do not guarantee any visa approval, company registration, transfer date, price or other legal result — approvals rest with the Thai authorities and are discretionary.