1. Landlord's Power to Seize Property (from Clause 5, Possession): "The Landlord shall accordingly have the right to destroy the lock in order to access the Premise and remove or sell the Tenant's properties in order to indemnify the Landlord's damage."

 

2. Landlord's Power to Stop Utilities (from Clause 10, Defaults): "...the Landlord shall have the right to stop all utility services and terminate this Agreement without a prior notice if the Tenant fails to pay the rent or any sum payable under this Agreement within 7 (seven) days..."

 

3. Tenant's Penalty for Early Termination (from Clause 11, Terminations): "In case the tenant terminates this agreement prior to the expiration date as stated in Clause 2. The tenant agrees to give the landlord all deposits stated under clause 4. without any arguments"

 

4. At the time of the execution of this lease, Tenant has already paid to Landlord, in trust, the sum of 30,000 .Baht (Thirty thousand baht) to be held and disbursed for Tenant damages to the premises (if any) as provided by law. Any damages exceeding the sum of the security deposit will be charged to the tenant. (2 months rent)

 

 

When I check with chat GPT, it claims all of these are illegal for agencies that are business operators , i.e. renting more than 5 units etc which is the case with my agency.

 

Next month I have to renew it, so they are asking to sign a new contract. I want to stay here for now, so what should I do? Adjust deposit amount to 1 month? When I ask for these, they claim they checked with a lawyer before and he advised them this is ok.

 

Any ideas?

I don't know, but I hope so.

 

When i returned back to canada I was required by law to pay my tenant extortion money just to get access and move into my own property.

 

Thailand is probably the only capitalist society standing on this planet.

Gemini said this:

Contract Clauses: Legal Review (Thailand)

(Note: This review assumes the Landlord is a 'Business Operator' renting 5+ residential units, subject to the Residential Property Leasing as a Contract-Controlled Business regulations.)

• 1. Landlord Seizure/Lock Destruction (Clause 5): PROHIBITED. The law explicitly forbids the landlord from unilaterally seizing property, removing possessions, or restricting access (like destroying a lock) without a valid court order.

• 2. Landlord Stopping Utilities (Clause 10): PROHIBITED. Essential utility services (water, electricity) cannot be disconnected by the landlord, even in case of rent default, as this is considered illegal obstruction.

• 3. Forfeiture of Deposit for Early Termination (Clause 11): PROHIBITED. The contract cannot mandate the automatic forfeiture of the entire deposit as a penalty. The deposit must be returned (minus damages) if the tenant terminates according to their statutory right (after 50% of the lease term, with 30 days' notice).

• 4. Excessive Upfront Payment (2 months Deposit + 1 month Advance Rent): LIKELY ILLEGAL/EXCESSIVE. For business operators, the total upfront collection (Deposit + Advance) is typically capped at the equivalent of two months' rent. Collecting three months' rent upfront violates these protection rules.

Looks legit to me, be a good tenant and you won't need to worry

54 minutes ago, timoti said:

Is this rental contract normal in Thailand?

Next month I have to renew

So what did your original rental contract say, is it different? 

 

As scuba says above, a good tenant no worries. 

 

Landlords need to protect themselves, lots of weirdos in the world. 

15 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

So what did your original rental contract say, is it different? 

 

As scuba says above, a good tenant no worries. 

 

Landlords need to protect themselves, lots of weirdos in the world. 

 

It looks the same but I also have to protect myself. For example if I leave early if the law says they cant seize the deposit why should I accept that?

 

 

14 minutes ago, timoti said:

 

It looks the same but I also have to protect myself. For example if I leave early if the law says they cant seize the deposit why should I accept that?

 

 

Oh OK, you signed same contract originally. 

So it looks like you may want to leave before new contract expires. 

 

What I do with my tenants is they piggy back off the original contract, free to vacate after 1 months notice, just keep paying monthly rental. 

 

Why are you renewing, are you going through an agent? This is common because agents receive another month's rent (payment) for their lazy effort. 

 

1 hour ago, Celsius said:

I don't know, but I hope so.

 

When i returned back to canada I was required by law to pay my tenant extortion money just to get access and move into my own property.

 

Thailand is probably the only capitalist society standing on this planet.

You're complaining because you had to pay to break a lease with your tenant?

46 minutes ago, timoti said:

 

It looks the same but I also have to protect myself. For example if I leave early if the law says they cant seize the deposit why should I accept that?

 

 

Why do you think leaving early with no penalty is ok?

7 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Oh OK, you signed same contract originally. 

So it looks like you may want to leave before new contract expires. 

 

What I do with my tenants is they piggy back off the original contract, free to vacate after 1 months notice, just keep paying monthly rental. 

 

Why are you renewing, are you going through an agent? This is common because agents receive another month's rent (payment) for their lazy effort. 

 

 

The landlord is in another country and the listing was only available through the agency.

 

You are right they want the commission for their lazy effort. They are not very attentive to things. They just asked me a few weeks ago if I plan to renew.

 

Am I legally allowed to continue on a monthly basis?

9 minutes ago, timoti said:

 

 

 

Am I legally allowed to continue on a monthly basis?

 

Ask the agency.

 

11 minutes ago, timoti said:

Am I legally allowed to continue on a monthly basis?

Yeh, as Ralf said, you'll have to ask the agent 

 

 

I've had 3 year leases where it stated the landlord could cancel it on a 30 day notice ><