Airbnb, Booking.com, Agoda, Vrbo and the wider universe of short-term rental platforms have transformed how travellers stay in Thailand, but they have not changed Thai law. The legal framework that governs short-term accommodation in Thailand was written long before these platforms existed, and the courts have been clear that listing a property for nightly or weekly stays without the right authorisations is, in most cases, unlawful. For owners, foreign investors and developers, the question is rarely whether short-term rental is regulated, but how to structure the activity so that it complies with the Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004), the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), the Building Control Act B.E. 2522 (1979), the Town Planning Act B.E. 2562 (2019), the Land Code Promulgating Act B.E. 2497 (1954), the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999), the Revenue Code and the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019).

This guide is written by Thai lawyers for owners and investors who want a complete, evergreen view of where the line is drawn between a lawful long-stay rental, a lawful licensed accommodation business and an unlicensed hotel operation that exposes the host to criminal liability. It explains the statutory definitions, the 30-day rule, the small-accommodation notification regime introduced in 2023, the condominium-specific prohibition under Section 17/1 of the Condominium Act, the leading court decisions, the available compliance pathways, the additional constraints that apply to foreign owners, and the way short-term rental income is taxed in Thailand.

The legal framework for short-term rentals in Thailand

Five statutes do most of the work in any Airbnb-style operation in Thailand. The Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004) defines what counts as a hotel, requires a licence to operate one, and sets the criminal penalties for unlicensed accommodation. The Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), in particular Section 17/1 introduced by the 2008 amendment, restricts the commercial use of individual condominium units and gives co-owners and the juristic person grounds to act against owners who run a de facto hotel inside a residential condo. The Building Control Act B.E. 2522 (1979) and its ministerial regulations set the technical requirements (fire safety, exits, sprinklers, floor area, parking) that determine whether a building can lawfully be used as a hotel at all. The Town Planning Act B.E. 2562 (2019) and the local town-planning ordinances determine the zoning of the parcel and whether a hotel use is permitted in that zone. The Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999) classifies hotel operation as a business restricted to Thai nationals under List 3, with limited carve-outs for foreign business licences and BOI promotion.

Three further statutes are layered on top. The Civil and Commercial Code, in Sections 537 to 545 for ordinary lease and Sections 1336 and 1360 for ownership and co-ownership, provides the contractual and proprietary backbone of any rental arrangement. The Revenue Code determines whether rental income is treated as a passive lease (with a withholding-tax-only regime) or as an accommodation service (which can trigger 7% VAT). The Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019), in force since 1 January 2020, taxes the property itself based on its actual use, with a meaningfully higher rate when the property is used commercially. None of these statutes mentions Airbnb by name; together they answer every question that the platform raises.

When does a short-term rental become a "hotel" under Thai law?

The most consequential question for any Airbnb host is whether the activity falls inside or outside the Hotel Act. If it is inside, a hotel licence is required (or, for very small operations, a notification under the 2023 regulation). If it is outside, the host can operate freely subject to general civil-law and tax rules. The line is drawn by Section 4 of the Hotel Act, refined by the 2008 Ministerial Regulation as amended in 2023.

The Section 4 definition of "hotel"

Section 4 of the Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004) defines a "hotel" as an accommodation established for business purposes of providing temporary accommodation services to travellers or any other person in exchange for compensation. Three carve-outs are written into the same section. The first excludes accommodation operated by a government agency, state enterprise, public organisation or other state agency, or operated for charitable or educational purposes on a non-profit basis. The second, and by far the most important for the Airbnb question, excludes accommodation that is provided for monthly paid service charge or upward only. The third reserves the power for the Minister of Interior to prescribe further exemptions by Ministerial Regulation, and is the legal hook that supports the small-accommodation regime described below.

The second carve-out is the source of the famous "30-day rule". An accommodation that is lawfully and consistently rented for monthly periods or longer falls outside the Hotel Act and does not require a hotel licence. An accommodation that is rented for nightly, weekly or fortnightly stays, on the other hand, falls inside the Hotel Act and triggers the licensing obligation under Section 15.

The 30-day rule and how it applies to platforms

In day-to-day practice, the 30-day rule means that a lawful short-stay listing on Airbnb, Booking.com, Agoda or any similar platform must offer minimum stays of one calendar month or longer, with rent calculated on a monthly basis. Listing a unit for a three-night stay or a one-week stay, for compensation, with the standard hotel-style amenities (cleaning between stays, key handover, reception services), is the textbook unlicensed-hotel scenario that the courts have repeatedly held to violate Section 15 of the Hotel Act.

The way the rent is structured matters as much as the duration. Quoting a daily rate even within a one-month booking, advertising the unit as available for short stays, or routinely cleaning the unit between guests are all factors that authorities and courts use to determine that the activity is in fact a hotel-type service rather than a residential lease. Hosts who genuinely operate a long-stay model should document it with monthly leases, monthly invoices, and the absence of hotel-style services.

The 2023 small-accommodation exemption

The Ministerial Regulation Prescribing the Types and Criteria for Hotel Business Operation No. 2 B.E. 2566 (2023), published in the Government Gazette on 30 August 2023 and effective 60 days later, replaced the previous small-accommodation thresholds and introduced a notification regime for the smallest accommodations. Under the current rules, a place of accommodation with no more than eight rooms in total and a service capacity of no more than thirty guests is not regarded as a "hotel" under the Hotel Act, provided the operator notifies the Registrar (Department of Provincial Administration in the provinces, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in Bangkok) and complies with the prescribed fire-safety, room-size and operational rules. The notification is valid for five years and is renewable.

This exemption is the most realistic compliance pathway for owners of villas, small boutique houses and small home-stay properties who do not want the cost and time of a full hotel licence. It is not, however, available to condominium units in a residential condominium, because the Condominium Act prohibits the commercial use of an individual unit (see below), and because the eight-room threshold cannot be reached by a single unit in any event. Owners who want to combine multiple condominium units into a single "small accommodation" run head-first into the same Condominium Act problem.

Penalties for unlicensed short-term rentals

The penalties for running a short-term rental outside the legal pathways are not symbolic. They are criminal under the Hotel Act, administrative under the Condominium Act, and they can be combined with civil claims from neighbours and the juristic person.

Hotel Act criminal liability

Under Section 59 of the Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004), any person who operates a hotel business without the licence required by Section 15 is liable to imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to 20,000 THB, or both, plus a continuing fine of up to 10,000 THB per day for as long as the violation persists. The penalty is imposed on the operator, which the courts have consistently treated as the natural person who lists the property and receives the payment, not on the platform. In addition, where the operator is a juristic person, the directors and authorised representatives in charge of the operation can be held personally liable.

Condominium Act fines

Where the unit is a condominium unit, Section 17/1, paragraph 2 of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), as introduced by the 2008 amendment, prohibits any person from engaging in trade or business activities inside the condominium except in the area of the condominium that the juristic person has specifically designated for commercial use under paragraph 1 of the same section. The provision was drafted to stop owners from running shops, beauty parlours or offices out of residential units; the courts have consistently treated a recurring short-term rental operation as a "trade transaction" within the meaning of the section. Under Section 65 of the same Act, a violation is sanctioned by a fine of up to 50,000 THB, plus a continuing fine of up to 5,000 THB per day for the duration of the violation.

Other administrative and civil exposure

Beyond the Hotel Act and the Condominium Act, an unlicensed short-term rental can trigger several other heads of liability. The Building Control Act B.E. 2522 (1979) sanctions the use of a building in a manner inconsistent with its certificate of building usage (Or 6); a residential building that is operated as a hotel is exposed to administrative orders to cease the use and to fines. The Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999) punishes any unlicensed operation of a hotel by a foreign-majority company under Section 37 with imprisonment of up to three years, a fine of 100,000 to 1,000,000 THB, or both. The Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) requires the host to file a TM30 notification for every foreign guest within 24 hours of arrival; failure to do so is a separate offence with fines per occurrence. The Civil and Commercial Code exposes the host to a private nuisance claim by neighbours under Sections 421 and 1337, and to a claim by other co-owners under Section 1360 where the use of the unit interferes with their rights.

Property type matters: where you can and cannot host

Short-term rental rules are the same in form for every property type, but they are very different in practice depending on the building's legal nature. The table below summarises the position for the most common property types in Thailand.

The condominium case is the one that catches most owners. A condominium unit is, by definition, a residential unit owned in private property by a co-owner who shares common property with the other co-owners. The 2008 amendment to the Condominium Act, codified in Section 17/1, was passed precisely to stop creeping commercial use inside residential condos. Even where the Hotel Act would otherwise allow a small operation, the Condominium Act blocks it at the source. Add to that the fact that many condominium bylaws expressly prohibit short-term letting, and that the Supreme Court has confirmed that registered condominium bylaws are binding on every co-owner without their individual consent, and the legal exposure of an Airbnb-type listing in a residential condo becomes hard to defend.

Court precedents on Airbnb in Thailand

The case-law on short-term rentals in Thailand has crystallised around the Hua Hin condominium decisions. In a series of judgments handed down by the Hua Hin Provincial Court in early 2018, the court convicted condominium-unit hosts who had listed their units on Airbnb for nightly stays without a hotel licence. The first judgment, dated 5 January 2018, imposed a fine of 5,000 THB plus a continuing fine of 500 THB per day of violation, on the basis of Sections 15 and 59 of the Hotel Act. A second judgment dated 16 January 2018 imposed a 5,000 THB fine plus 100 THB per day of violation. The decisions were widely reported by the Bangkok Post and other Thai media and have been cited in subsequent administrative actions against unlicensed short-term rental operators.

The Supreme Court of Thailand has not, to date, issued a flagship reported decision specifically on Airbnb, but it has reinforced the regime in two collateral lines of authority. First, it has consistently held that condominium bylaws registered with the Land Office under Sections 32 and 32/1 of the Condominium Act bind every co-owner, including those who acquired their unit before the bylaw was passed, provided the procedural requirements were met. Second, it has upheld convictions for unlicensed hotel operation under the Hotel Act in factual patterns that are economically indistinguishable from a typical Airbnb listing. The combined effect is that an owner cannot rely on the lack of a Supreme Court decision named "Airbnb" to argue that the activity is lawful.

Pathways to legal short-term rental operation

There is no "Airbnb licence" in Thailand. There are, however, three established pathways that allow an owner to operate short-term accommodation lawfully. The right pathway depends on the property type, the scale of the operation and the owner's appetite for upfront investment.

Pathway 1: stay above 30 days

The simplest, cheapest and lowest-risk pathway is to operate the property as a genuine monthly-plus rental. The lease is documented in writing, the rent is calculated and paid monthly, the host does not provide hotel-style services such as daily housekeeping or reception, and the property is not advertised as available for nightly or weekly stays. This model is fully compatible with Section 4(2) of the Hotel Act and is the only model that works straightforwardly inside a residential condominium, although the bylaws of the building must still be checked.

Pathway 2: notify under the small-accommodation regime

For owners of houses, villas and small home-stays, the most efficient compliance route is the small-accommodation notification under Ministerial Regulation No. 2 B.E. 2566 (2023). The owner files a notification with the Registrar (DOPA or BMA), describing the property and confirming that it does not exceed eight rooms and a maximum service capacity of thirty guests. The property must comply with prescribed fire-safety rules (smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, emergency lighting and clear evacuation signage), with the recordkeeping rules on guest registration, and with the building requirements applicable to its category. The notification is valid for five years and must be renewed.

Pathway 3: apply for a hotel licence

For larger operations, including pool villa estates, hostels above the small-accommodation threshold and any serviced apartment that targets short-stay guests, a full hotel licence under Section 15 of the Hotel Act is the only correct pathway. The application is filed with the Registrar at the Department of Provincial Administration in the provinces, or with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in Bangkok. The Registrar checks that the building has a valid building permit (Or 1) and a certificate of building usage (Or 6) describing it as a hotel, that the proposed manager satisfies the qualifications and is not subject to the disqualifications listed in Section 16 of the Hotel Act, that the fire-safety, accessibility and room-size requirements of the Ministerial Regulation B.E. 2551 (2008) as amended are met, and that the parcel is in a zone where hotel use is permitted under the local town-planning ordinance. Secondary licences (liquor, pool, food, signage) are added as needed.

Foreign owners and operators: additional constraints

Foreign investors who want to host through Airbnb-style platforms face two extra constraints on top of the rules described above. The first is the prohibition on land ownership. Section 86 of the Land Code Promulgating Act B.E. 2497 (1954) prohibits aliens from owning land in Thailand except by virtue of a treaty (and Thailand currently has no such treaty in force). Section 97 extends the prohibition to Thai juristic persons in which more than 49% of the shares are held by foreigners or in which more than half of the shareholders are foreigners. A foreign individual can therefore own a condominium unit, up to the 49% foreign quota of the building under Section 19 bis of the Condominium Act, but cannot own the land on which a villa is built. The lawful workarounds are a Thai-majority Thai limited company holding the land, a 30-year registered lease under Section 540 of the Civil and Commercial Code with separate ownership of the building under Section 1410, or BOI promotion that authorises foreign land ownership for the promoted activity under Section 27 of the Investment Promotion Act B.E. 2520 (1977).

The second constraint is the operating-business restriction. The Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999) classifies hotel operation under List 3 as a business in which Thai nationals are deemed not yet ready to compete with foreigners. A foreign-majority Thai company therefore cannot operate a hotel without either a foreign business licence under Section 17 of the Act (rare and discretionary) or a BOI promotion certificate under Section 12 of the Investment Promotion Act, which lifts the restriction by operation of law. The same restriction does not generally apply to the simple lease of an owner-occupied residence on a long-stay basis, but it does apply once the activity becomes a hotel-type accommodation business.

Foreign hosts must in addition register every guest with the Immigration Bureau via the TM30 notification within 24 hours of arrival, comply with the foreign-currency inward-remittance rules where applicable, and ensure that any work performed in connection with the rental (managing the listing, meeting guests, cleaning) is covered by a work permit under the Emergency Decree on Management of Foreigners' Working B.E. 2560 (2017). Each of these obligations carries its own fines and operational consequences if ignored.

Taxation of short-term rental income

Short-term rental income is taxed under three heads in Thailand: income tax, value added tax and the Land and Building Tax. The treatment depends on the legal characterisation of the activity (lease vs. hotel service), the legal form of the host (individual vs. company) and the actual use of the property.

Personal income tax

Rental income earned by an individual is treated as Section 40(5) income under the Revenue Code and is included in the host's annual personal income tax return (PND 90/91). The progressive rates run from 0% on the first 150,000 THB of net taxable income up to 35% on income above 5,000,000 THB. The host can either deduct actual expenses with documentation or claim a flat 30% standard deduction for buildings, the rate set by the Ministerial Regulation under Section 42 ter of the Revenue Code. Where the tenant is a Thai juristic person, the tenant is required to withhold 5% withholding tax on the rent and remit it to the Revenue Department on the host's behalf, with the host claiming the withholding as a credit against the annual liability.

Corporate income tax

A Thai company that owns and operates a short-term rental property pays corporate income tax at 20% of net profit (subject to SME reductions under Royal Decree where applicable). Hotel-licensed operators that benefit from BOI promotion under Activity 7.6 (Hotels) can be exempt from corporate income tax for up to eight years, capped at the qualifying investment, plus dividend exemption out of the exempt profits under Section 34 of the Investment Promotion Act.

Value added tax (VAT)

The lease of immovable property is exempt from VAT under Section 81(1)(t) of the Revenue Code. By contrast, an accommodation service that includes hotel-style amenities (cleaning between stays, reception, daily breakfast) is treated as a VATable supply of services and is subject to 7% VAT if the operator's annual revenue exceeds the registration threshold of 1.8 million THB. In practice, a genuine 30-day-plus rental qualifies as a VAT-exempt lease, while a typical Airbnb-style operation crosses into the VATable category once services are bundled with the room.

Land and building tax

Under the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019), in force since 1 January 2020, the property is taxed annually on its appraisal value at a rate that depends on its actual use. Residential use of a condominium that the owner uses as a main residence benefits from an exemption on the first 50 million THB of combined land and building value (or 10 million THB for a building only) and is taxed at progressive rates capped at 0.30%. Commercial use, including operation as a hotel or a recurring short-term rental, is taxed at progressive rates capped at 1.20%. Land that is left vacant or unused is taxed at progressive rates capped at 1.20%, increasing every three years to a ceiling of 3%. The local administrative organisation (Tessaban or OBT) collects the tax annually.

Withholding and treaty issues for foreign hosts

Where rental income is paid by a Thai source to a non-resident host, the payor is required to withhold tax at 15% on the gross amount under the Revenue Code, subject to reduction under the applicable double taxation treaty. The host may also be required to register for VAT in Thailand if the activity is treated as a VATable accommodation service.

Practical compliance checklist

Before listing a property for short-term rental in Thailand, every owner should run through the same checklist. Confirm the property type (condominium unit vs. house vs. villa vs. building) and identify the corresponding statutory regime. Read the condominium bylaws if applicable, including any short-term rental restriction registered under Sections 32 and 32/1 of the Condominium Act. Verify the building permit (Or 1) and the certificate of building usage (Or 6) at the local municipality and check that the proposed use is consistent with them. Verify the zoning under the local town-planning ordinance issued under the Town Planning Act B.E. 2562 (2019). Choose the compliance pathway (long-stay, small-accommodation notification or full hotel licence) and prepare the corresponding documentation. Register for the Thai tax obligations (PIT or CIT, VAT if the threshold is crossed, Land and Building Tax) and make the relevant filings. Set up a TM30 reporting workflow for foreign guests. Document each booking with a written agreement, an invoice and a payment receipt to defend the legal characterisation of the activity if it is ever challenged.

How Juslaws & Consult helps

Juslaws & Consult advises owners, investors and developers across Thailand on the structuring and operation of short-term rental and hotel businesses. Our team prepares structuring memos that compare the long-stay, small-accommodation and full-hotel pathways for a specific property, drafts the leases, the small-accommodation notification, the hotel licence application and the secondary licence files (liquor, pool, food, signage), reviews the condominium bylaws and the building's certificate of usage, files the BOI promotion application for hotel projects under Activity 7.6, and assists with the Thai tax registrations and ongoing compliance under the Revenue Code and the Land and Building Tax Act. We also represent clients in administrative proceedings before the Registrar, in disputes with the juristic person of a condominium and in criminal proceedings under the Hotel Act, and we work in English, French and Thai across Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Pattaya.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Airbnb legal in Thailand?

Listing a property on Airbnb is not, in itself, illegal. The legality depends on what the host actually offers. A monthly-plus lease offered through Airbnb is lawful under Section 4(2) of the Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004). A nightly or weekly stay offered without a hotel licence or a small-accommodation notification falls inside the Hotel Act and is unlawful, with criminal penalties under Section 59. The platform is the same; the legal characterisation depends on the contract, the duration and the services bundled with the room.

What is the 30-day rule in Thailand?

The "30-day rule" is the practical name given to the exemption in Section 4(2) of the Hotel Act, which excludes from the definition of a hotel any accommodation provided for a monthly paid service charge or upward only. In practice, an accommodation that is offered exclusively for stays of one calendar month or longer, with the rent calculated monthly, falls outside the Hotel Act and does not require a hotel licence. Anything shorter falls inside.

Can I rent my Thai condominium on Airbnb for short stays if I install a smart lock and I am the only owner using it?

No. The Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), as amended in 2008, prohibits trade activities inside individual condominium units under Section 17/1, paragraph 2, with a fine of up to 50,000 THB plus 5,000 THB per day under Section 65. The Hotel Act applies on top, with imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to 20,000 THB and a continuing fine of up to 10,000 THB per day under Section 59. The fact that the host is the registered owner and uses a smart lock does not change the legal characterisation; the courts have repeatedly held that recurrent short-term renting from a residential condominium unit is unlawful.

Can my villa be rented on Airbnb?

Yes, in two ways. The villa can be rented on a 30-day-plus basis without any licence or notification. Or, if the operator wants to offer shorter stays, the villa can be operated under the small-accommodation notification regime introduced by Ministerial Regulation No. 2 B.E. 2566 (2023), which covers up to eight rooms and a maximum of thirty guests, subject to fire-safety, recordkeeping and operational rules. Larger operations require a full hotel licence under Section 15 of the Hotel Act.

What is the small-accommodation notification under the 2023 ministerial regulation?

Ministerial Regulation No. 2 B.E. 2566 (2023), issued under Section 4(3) of the Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004), allows accommodations of up to eight rooms with a service capacity of up to thirty guests to operate outside the full hotel licensing regime, provided the operator notifies the Registrar at the Department of Provincial Administration (or the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in Bangkok) and complies with the prescribed fire-safety and operational rules. The notification is valid for five years and is renewable. It is not available to a condominium unit.

What are the criminal penalties for running an unlicensed hotel in Thailand?

Under Section 59 of the Hotel Act B.E. 2547 (2004), operating a hotel without the licence required by Section 15 is punishable by imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to 20,000 THB, or both, plus a continuing fine of up to 10,000 THB per day for as long as the violation persists. Where the operator is a juristic person, the directors and authorised representatives in charge of the operation can be held personally liable.

What does Section 17/1 of the Condominium Act say about Airbnb?

Section 17/1, paragraph 2, of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979), introduced by the 2008 amendment, prohibits any person from engaging in trade or business activities inside the condominium except in the area of the condominium that the juristic person has specifically designated for commercial use under paragraph 1 of the same section. Section 65 imposes a fine of up to 50,000 THB plus a continuing fine of up to 5,000 THB per day. Recurring short-term rental from an individual condominium unit is treated by the courts as a trade transaction within the meaning of the section.

What did the Hua Hin court decide about Airbnb?

The Hua Hin Provincial Court convicted condominium-unit hosts at the Wan Vayla Condominium in early 2018 for operating an unlicensed hotel by listing their units on Airbnb for nightly stays. The first judgment, dated 5 January 2018, imposed a fine of 5,000 THB plus a continuing fine of 500 THB per day. The case was the first reported judicial confirmation in Thailand that nightly Airbnb-style listings violate the Hotel Act and has been referenced in administrative actions against unlicensed short-term rental operators since.

How is short-term rental income taxed in Thailand?

For an individual host, rental income is treated as Section 40(5) income under the Revenue Code and is taxed at the progressive personal income tax rates from 0% to 35%, with a 30% standard deduction available for buildings or with actual expenses. Where the tenant is a Thai juristic person, 5% withholding tax applies; for hotel-style accommodation services, 3% withholding may apply on the service fee. VAT at 7% applies if the activity qualifies as a VATable accommodation service and turnover exceeds 1.8 million THB. The Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019) applies an annual tax on the appraisal value of the property at residential or commercial rates depending on actual use, capped at 0.30% for residential use and 1.20% for commercial use.

Do foreign owners need any additional permission to host on Airbnb?

Foreign owners face two extra constraints. They cannot own the land on which a villa is built (Section 86 of the Land Code), so any structure that involves land ownership has to use a Thai-majority company, a 30-year lease, or a BOI promotion that authorises foreign land ownership under Section 27 of the Investment Promotion Act. They cannot operate a hotel-type accommodation business through a foreign-majority company without either a foreign business licence under Section 17 of the Foreign Business Act or a BOI promotion certificate under Activity 7.6 (Hotels). They must in addition file the TM30 notification with the Immigration Bureau within 24 hours of each foreign guest's arrival.

Are condominium bylaws that prohibit short-term rentals enforceable?

Yes. Condominium bylaws registered with the Land Office under Sections 32 and 32/1 of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979) bind every co-owner, regardless of when the bylaw was passed and regardless of the co-owner's vote, provided the procedural requirements were met. The Supreme Court of Thailand has consistently upheld this binding effect. A registered short-term-rental prohibition is therefore enforceable against every owner of a unit in the building.

What is the TM30 notification and does Airbnb hosting trigger it?

The TM30 notification is the duty imposed on the master of the house, the head of the household, the owner of the dwelling place or the manager of an accommodation under Section 38 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) to notify the Immigration Bureau of every foreign national staying at the property. The notification must be filed within 24 hours of the foreigner's arrival. It applies to every host who accommodates a foreign guest, including informal short-stay hosts.

What is the most common compliant structure for an Airbnb-style operation?

For a single villa or small home-stay, the small-accommodation notification under Ministerial Regulation No. 2 B.E. 2566 (2023) is the most efficient compliant structure. For a single condominium unit, only a 30-day-plus rental is realistic, and even then the bylaws must be checked. For a portfolio of villas, a serviced-apartment building or a small resort, a full hotel licence under Section 15 of the Hotel Act is the right path, often combined with BOI promotion under Activity 7.6 (Hotels).

Can Juslaws & Consult handle the licensing and tax registration for my short-term rental?

Yes. We prepare the structuring memo, draft the leases or the hotel management agreement, file the small-accommodation notification or the full hotel licence application with the Department of Provincial Administration or the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, register the operator with the Revenue Department for personal or corporate income tax, register for VAT where applicable, file the Land and Building Tax declaration with the local administrative organisation, and set up the TM30 reporting workflow. We also defend clients in administrative and criminal proceedings under the Hotel Act and the Condominium Act. Contact us through the Juslaws & Consult website to schedule a consultation.