Service guide
What a lease agreement in Thailand should cover, when a long lease is registered at the Land Office, the official fees, and how firms draft and review leases.
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A lease agreement in Thailand does two very different jobs, and a lawyer's work looks different for each. For some readers the lease is the deal itself: a registered long lease over land or a house is one of the main ways a foreigner holds property they cannot own outright. For most readers it is simpler than that: a residential or commercial rental contract that deserves a proper read before money changes hands.
Both jobs run through the same legal machinery. A lease is a contract, and for longer terms it is also a registrable right. Leases longer than three years are the ones registered against the title deed at the Land Office, which is what turns the term from a promise into an entry on the property's record. A lawyer confirms what your specific term requires.
This page covers both situations: what a lease review catches, how registration works and what it costs in official fees, and how firms run each engagement. The deeper comparison of holding property on a lease versus owning it lives in the leasehold versus freehold guide.
Who is actually granting the lease
Whether the landlord is the registered owner of the property, and, for a company landlord, whether the person signing has authority. A lease from someone who does not own the property protects nobody.
Term, renewal, and what is registered
The stated term, any renewal options, and which of those the Land Office record will actually show. A registered term and a contractual promise are different kinds of protection.
Deposit, rent, and payment terms
How much is held, what it secures, and the conditions for getting it back. For the tenant's side of deposits in detail, see the rental deposit guide.
Termination and eviction terms
Notice periods, early-exit conditions, and what happens on breach by either side. Vague termination clauses are where most rental disputes start.
Repairs, alterations, and outgoings
Who maintains what, whether you may alter the property, and who pays utilities, common fees, and taxes tied to the lease.
Sublease and assignment rights
Whether you may pass the lease on or sublet, and on what conditions. For a long lease this can decide what the lease is worth later.
Warning: Unregistered long terms and renewal promises
Two patterns deserve caution. The first is a long lease that never gets registered: the registered record is what protects a long term, so a lease left as a private document is weaker than the same lease entered against the deed. The second is the stacked renewal promise, often marketed as 30 plus 30 plus 30 years. A renewal option is a contract promise, not a registered right, and whether a future owner honours it depends on facts a lawyer has to assess case by case. Treat renewal promises as something to negotiate and document carefully, never as guaranteed extra decades.
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For an ordinary rental, the engagement is a review: the firm reads the contract, flags the terms that hurt you, and proposes wording changes before you sign. It is quick, fixed-scope work, and it is most valuable on commercial leases and higher-value rentals where the deposit and fit-out money at stake dwarf the review.
For a lease used as an ownership route, the firm usually drafts rather than reviews. The work covers checking the owner and the title first, drafting the lease and any renewal and succession terms, agreeing the registered wording with the landlord, and attending the Land Office for registration. Many firms run it alongside wider property purchase work when a house sits on the leased land, and a property lawyer can handle the title checks and the lease as one engagement.
On cost, the official side is fixed by the fee schedule: registration is 1% of the total rent for the term, stamp duty is 0.1%, and the application fee is a few baht. Professional fees are set by each firm, so compare scope and price across firms before engaging one.
Draft or review the lease
The firm drafts the lease, or reviews the landlord's draft, against the checks above: parties, term, deposit, termination, repairs, renewal, and assignment.
Negotiate the terms that matter
Wording changes go back to the other side. For a long lease this is where renewal, succession, and sublease rights are settled; for a rental it is usually deposit and termination terms.
Register at the Land Office where the term requires it2 hours
Leases longer than three years are registered at the land office holding the property's record. The official fee is 1% of the total rent for the term, plus 0.1% stamp duty, and the office's standard processing time for a registration that needs no proclamation is 2 hours.
Keep the evidence
Keep the registered lease, the fee receipts, and the deposit records. For a renter, the paperwork is what a deposit claim later stands on; for a long leaseholder, the registered entry is the right itself.
The rule of thumb follows the money and the term. A short apartment rental with a standard deposit rarely needs legal work. A commercial lease, a rental with a large fit-out or an unusual landlord, or any lease meant to secure property for decades is worth professional drafting, because the cost of the work is small against what the contract controls.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules, fees, and procedures change; for a specific lease, speak with a qualified professional.
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