In Thailand a let of less than 30 days is hotel business and needs a hotel licence. A let of 30 days or more is an ordinary lease. Most condominium units cannot be licensed, so most condominium owners cannot lawfully let by the night, whatever a sales agent or a booking platform suggests. If short-stay income is part of your plan, buy into a structure that is licensed for it, or plan on monthly tenants.
The Hotel Act and the 30-day line
The Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004) defines a hotel as accommodation run as a business to provide temporary lodging to travellers for payment. Accommodation let by the month or longer is excluded from the definition. That exclusion is where the 30-day rule comes from: nightly and weekly stays are inside the Act, monthly stays are outside it.
Section 15 requires a licence to operate a hotel. Section 59 sets the penalty for operating without one: up to one year in prison, a fine of up to THB 20,000, or both, and a further fine of up to THB 10,000 for every day the offence continues. Where the operator is a company, its directors can be personally liable.
Any host of a foreign guest also has an immigration duty. Section 38 of the Immigration Act requires the owner or manager of the accommodation to notify the authorities of each foreign guest within 24 hours of arrival.
Why a condominium unit cannot be licensed
Three separate rules stand in the way.
The Land Department's position. On 6 November 2023 the Department of Lands sent a circular to every provincial governor stating that condominium units cannot be used for hotel business. This holds even where the co-owners consent and even where the building's stated purpose is changed. To run a hotel, the owner would first have to cancel the building's condominium registration and then satisfy hotel, building control and town planning law.
The Condominium Act. Section 17/1 bars trade or business in a unit except in areas the building has designated for commercial use. Section 65 provides a fine of up to THB 50,000, plus up to THB 5,000 a day while the breach continues.
The building's own rules. Registered bylaws of the juristic person commonly prohibit short lets and bind every co-owner. Management can enforce them through access controls, guest registration and fines under the bylaws, and this is often the barrier an owner meets first.
The small-property route for villas
A ministerial regulation that took effect on 29 October 2023 widened the category of accommodation that is not treated as a hotel. A property with no more than 8 rooms and a capacity of no more than 30 guests can now operate after notifying the registrar, without a hotel licence. The previous limits were 4 rooms and 20 guests. The notification runs for five years and can be renewed, and fire-safety and operating conditions apply.
This matters for landed property in Phuket, Koh Samui and Hua Hin. It does not help condominium owners. It is also not a blanket permission: zoning, the Building Control Act, the terms of your land lease and the rules of a managed estate all still apply, and district offices differ in how they handle applications. If you are buying a villa to let, make the notification a condition of the investment case and have a lawyer confirm it can be obtained for that plot.
How the rules are enforced
Enforcement is uneven, which is why opinions on the ground differ so sharply.
Prosecutions do happen. In two cases before the Hua Hin Provincial Court in January 2018, hosts who let condominium units by the day were convicted under Sections 15 and 59 and fined THB 5,000 plus THB 500 a day in one case and THB 100 a day in the other. Those fines were small against the statutory maximum, and published judgments remain few. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on platform lettings.
The more consistent pressure comes from buildings, neighbours and hoteliers. A juristic person that decides to act can make nightly letting unworkable quickly, and a complaint from a resident can bring an inspection. The hotel industry has lobbied against any retrospective change that would let older condominium buildings offer daily accommodation.
There is also inconsistency at official level. Local offices interpret differently whether and how a condominium can obtain a hotel licence. Read that as risk, not as opportunity. A unit sold with "daily rental allowed" needs documentary proof: the licence itself, in the name of the operator, covering the building you are buying into.
The reform in progress
On 29 September 2026 the cabinet approved in principle a draft Accommodation Establishments Act that would repeal the Hotel Act. It sorts accommodation into three categories by size:
| Category | Size | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up to 8 rooms or 30 guests | Notification |
| 2 | 9 to 40 rooms, or 31 to 150 guests | Registration |
| 3 | More than 40 rooms or 150 guests | Full licence |
The draft has been sent for comment and review and must still pass Parliament. The Hotel Act remains in force until a new statute is published in the Government Gazette. Section 18 of the draft lets a condominium or housing-estate property obtain a certificate, registration or licence only if condominium or land allocation law already permits the activity, and a vote of residents cannot override that. The draft may make life easier for small villas and guesthouses. It does not, as written, open condominiums to nightly lets.
The lawful routes to rental income
| Route | Minimum stay | What makes it lawful | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly lets | 30 days | Outside the Hotel Act | Lower nightly rate, seasonal demand in resort areas |
| Long lets | Six to twelve months | Ordinary lease | Lowest gross rent, steadier occupancy |
| Hotel-licensed, operator-managed scheme | Nightly | The operator holds the licence for the building | Revenue share, limits on owner use |
| Small villa under the non-hotel rules | Nightly | Notification to the registrar | Depends on zoning and local practice |
Monthly letting works in the high season on the Andaman coast and for long-stay visitors on visas such as the Destination Thailand Visa. In Bangkok the natural market is the long let to residents and expatriates. Operator-managed schemes are covered in hotel-managed and rental pool schemes.
Questions to ask before you buy for rental
- Is the building registered as a condominium, and if short stays are promised, who holds the hotel licence and for which building?
- What do the registered bylaws say about lets of under 30 days?
- For a villa, can the non-hotel notification be obtained for this plot, and does the land lease allow commercial letting?
- Does the income projection assume nightly lets, and what does it look like on 30-day stays only?
- Who files the immigration notification for foreign guests?
Rent is taxable however it is earned: see rental income and tax. For the arithmetic of occupancy, fees and seasonality, see rental yields in Thailand.
This area of Thai law has grey zones and is under active reform. The position above is as it stood in November 2026. Take independent legal advice on the specific building or plot before you commit.
