Anything I should be on the lookout for when dealing with potential landlords? Are leases normal? Are year long leases normal or are most rented month by month? Are security deposits of one month rent normal? Who pays for repairs? I am looking in the lower end but not rock bottom price range. Any bad experiences or interesting apartment rental situations?

you can get short term leases from cheaper apartments. usually i sign a lease fro four months and then just continue indefinetely. the desopit is usually some arbitrary number like 1.5 -2.5 the rent. if you can get a thai to use his or her id card and sign it, it is much easier.

but if its not a condo, they will nickel and dime you. the phones go through a switch board and the owners like to make money off of the phone. a local call is B5 and to a mobile its B5 per minute. Also they will cut the line on you after some amount of time. at my apartment now, its ten minutes. i had one that one 15 minutes. so you need to spend more and call again. this is done under the guise that there is so much capacity through the switchboard.

when you move out, they will do anything in their power to keep as much of your dpeosit as possible. you must play hardball at the end. you will probably be made to pay for repainting the apartment (which they probably wont do). it doesnt matter that you lived there for a number of years and the only damage is that the walls are a big faded.

you may have to pay minimums for things like water and electricity. I've been paying B100 for water for four years. No matter how hard I try, I have never gone over B100. so I've been paying a lot for water since I usually use just a little.

many other little things like that. and beware of things like noise and light pollution that can make your experience a ######, but are not of any importance here.

You should be able to sign a lease in English, so you know what you are signing.

I have always had one year leases, with a "diplomatic clause", if my company forces me to move I can break the contract earlier. Otherwise expect to forfeit the deposit.

PM me if you want a sample lease.

Deposits are normal 1-2 months. As Darth says, expect to get screwed on the deposit when you leave.

Agree about repairs in the contract.

Small bills up to say 1000baht you pay, over that the landlord does,

is a reasonable compromise and avoids calling the landlord all the time.

You should receive water and electricity bill directly.

You need a direct phone line for the internet and the bill each month, even in Condo. Switchboard lines are overcharged and often have a 20-30 minute cutoff.

These days phone lines are easy to get as many people are giving them up in

favour of mobile. For routine calls a mobile is often cheaper, especially long distance in Thailand. The land line is better for local calls.

astral,

are you talking about condos when you refer to getting electricity and water bills directly? I don't think that would be possible in my apartment, although I might not mind it, I would pay less for water. I also would like not to pay 100b a month for a phone I don't use.