Guides · Condo owners
The 30-day rule for condos: your building, its juristic person and the law
In Thailand, letting a condo for stays under 30 nights is generally treated as running accommodation under the Hotel Act, which needs a licence or a registered exemption that a single condo unit almost never has. On top of the law, many buildings forbid it in their own regulations, and the juristic person enforces them. Letting for 30 nights or more is treated as an ordinary lease. This guide is about condominiums; the Hotel Act and licensing in general, villas included, are covered on our pillar page.
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General information, not legal advice.
Written by Pattama, Operational Director of Phuket Property Manager (Empire Estates Phuket Co., Ltd). Last updated 7 November 2026. Pattama deals with juristic persons and building offices in Thai every week; this guide is what we tell condo owners before they list a unit. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and their application depends on your property, your building and your personal situation: confirm anything that matters with a Thai lawyer or accountant before acting on it.
Two rulebooks
National law and your building’s regulations apply at the same time.
Owners often ask whether short stays are “allowed”. There are two separate answers, and you need a yes from both. The Hotel Act side, for every kind of property, is set out in full in our guide to whether Airbnb is legal in Phuket; this page concentrates on what is specific to a condominium.
The Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004)
It regulates premises that provide paid, temporary accommodation to travellers. Offering a unit night by night, through any platform or directly, is generally treated as that kind of accommodation. Hotels are registered and licensed through the Department of Provincial Administration.
The small-premises exemption
Ministerial regulations exempt small accommodation from the hotel licence if it is registered with the local registrar. The ceiling was 4 rooms and 20 guests until 2023; a regulation that took effect on 29 October 2023 raised it to 8 rooms and 30 guests. It was written for small owner-run premises, and in practice it is very rarely available to a single unit in a co-owned condominium building.
The Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979)
Every registered condominium has regulations that bind all co-owners, and a juristic person, run by a manager and a committee, that enforces them. The regulations can limit units to residential use, set minimum stays, require guests to register, or restrict key boxes and access cards.
What the Hotel Act provides for
Operating without a licence or exemption can lead, under the Act, to up to one year in prison, a fine of up to twenty thousand baht, and a further daily fine of up to ten thousand baht while the offence continues. The owner carries that exposure, not the platform.
Where the 30 days comes from
Why a month is the line almost everyone uses.
A stay of a month or more under a written agreement looks like a lease of property under the Civil and Commercial Code, not like a hotel stay. That is why buildings, managers and many lawyers settle on 30 nights as the practical minimum. It is a widely used interpretation rather than a number written as such in the Hotel Act, which is one more reason to take advice on your own case.
Short stays (under 30 nights)
Hotel Act exposure; frequently banned by building regulations; high turnover, cleaning and wear; most complaints from neighbours; highest nightly rate.
Monthly lets (30 nights and over)
Treated as a lease; accepted by most juristic persons; far fewer changeovers; tenants who behave like residents; lower nightly equivalent but steadier occupancy in season.
What applies to both
Every foreign guest or tenant must be reported to immigration under TM30, and the rent is taxable income in Thailand. Neither duty depends on the length of stay.
In practice
How problems actually start.
Enforcement against single condo units is uneven, and it rarely begins with an inspector. It usually begins inside the building.
A co-owner complains
Noise, strangers in the lift, the pool full on a Saturday. The juristic person then has to act on its own regulations, and it will.
The building acts first
Typical measures: refusing extra access cards, requiring guest registration with passports at reception, banning key boxes, or reporting units to the authorities. A unit can become unlettable overnight.
Authorities follow complaints
Campaigns against unlicensed short-term lets in condominiums have taken place in Phuket and Bangkok in recent years, typically triggered by complaints. Being tolerated so far is not the same as being protected.
The law may change
In September 2026 a draft Accommodation Establishments Act, intended to replace the Hotel Act, was put forward for approval in principle. Until a new law is published in the Royal Gazette, the Hotel Act and its regulations still apply.
Legal routes
What condo owners do instead.
Let from 30 nights
The cleanest position. From November to April Phuket has a real long-stay market: retirees, remote workers, families escaping a northern winter.
Buy into a licensed building
Some developments were built and licensed to operate as hotels or serviced apartments, with an operator running the units. Check the licence itself, not the brochure.
Use the building’s own programme
Where a licensed operator runs rentals in your building, putting your unit in its programme may be the only lawful way to let it short-term. Ask for a sample owner statement first.
Keep it for yourself
Some owners decide the unit is worth more to them as a holiday home, looked after while they are away, than as a rental with a risk attached.
Before you list
Four checks before a condo goes anywhere near a booking platform.
- 1
Get the regulations in writing
Ask the building office for the current registered regulations and the minutes of the last two general meetings. Rules change by vote.
- 2
Ask about licences
Does the building, or an operator in it, hold a hotel licence or a registered exemption that covers your unit? Ask for the document.
- 3
Decide your minimum stay
Thirty nights unless both the law and the building clearly allow shorter. Set it in every channel, not just one.
- 4
Set up TM30 and tax
Register the unit for TM30 reporting and get a Thai tax identification number for the rental income before the first guest.
Straight answers
What condo owners ask us about the 30-day rule.
Is it illegal to Airbnb my condo in Phuket?
Does the 8-room, 30-guest exemption apply to my condo unit?
Was the limit not 4 rooms and 20 guests?
My building’s manager says short stays are fine. Am I covered?
Can the juristic person fine me or block my guests?
Will you manage my condo on monthly lets?
Sources
Where to check the rules yourself.
Hotel Act B.E. 2547 and Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (texts published by the Office of the Council of State); Ministerial Regulation prescribing the types of hotels and criteria for hotel business operation No. 2, B.E. 2566 (Royal Gazette, 2023); hotel registration through the Department of Provincial Administration; condominium registration through the Land Department.
PattamaOperational Director · Phuket Property Manager
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