In an article in the Scandinavian magazine Pattaya Tidende you can read among others things about a journalist that nowadays stays in a hotel rather than in a apartment. He tried to rent an apartment two times and both times he got cheated on the deposit for a stupid reason. People who lived here a couple of years and rented a few house or apartment are kind of tagged and we know that you should have a party if you get back the deposit.
You almost never get the deposit back and the landlord always want to hold the total deposit way to long even if it is for a water bill of 200 THB. Even if you try to fix broken things before you leave they will still find other problems.
My first shop house in Bangkok was my first lesson, I renovated it for over 200 000 THB and when I moved out the landlord said I totally destroyed her house. Now she had toilets on each floor and all the floors had tiles plus a new electric system. Â I had no idea how she could come to that idea but she just said take me to court. Rather than wasting two years in court I simply took out everything I had put in, to my landlords anger off course.
So what can you do about the deposit in Thailand?
- Make sure everything works before you move in and I mean everything, every little lamp or door lock.
- Make sure you take photos when you move in of the entire house or a video tape.
- Do not sign for things that are not there.
- Put in the contract that the landlord should fix broken stuff not you, if you did not cause it off course.
- Put in the contract that the deposit should be paid back the same day you move out. Electric and water can be paid on the same day for a very small extra fee.
- Make sure the landlord really signs for the contract and not some agent, they always want to see your passport make sure you see and take copy of their land papers.
- Never take a property agents word for anything it is not worth a dime, make sure all your demands are in the contract.
- If you do not like the contract and the gut feeling about the rental agreement you are probably right, move on the next object it is always a buyer’s market in Thailand.
- Put a note of everything the landlord or agent says, you are a consumer and you can take them to the consumer court if you feel you have been tricked. They probably don’t because they promise you everything just to get the commission. Even better video record the time the agent shows you the house.
Yes I really thing Thai property agents and landlords are down there with Tuk Tuk drivers and Jet Ski beach boys.
