What should a Roommate and Shared Housing Agreement include under Thai law?

1. Definitions and Interpretation
2. Relationship with the Landlord
3. Use of the Home
4. Rent
5. Bills and Household Costs
6. Deposit
7. Term and Moving Out
8. Foreign Housemates and Personal Data
9. Stamp Duty
10. Disputes and General

• This Agreement binds only the two Housemates (Clause 2.1). Keep the lease with the landlord in force and comply with it; anything the landlord charges because of one Housemate is borne by that Housemate (Clause 2.3).
• Both Housemates are tenants, so the landlord may claim the whole rent, or the whole cost of damage, from either of them. This Agreement then lets the Housemate who paid more recover the difference from the other (Clause 2.2). To add a replacement housemate or release a leaving one, the landlord must sign a change to the lease.
• Letting a room without the landlord's permission can give the landlord the right to end the whole lease. Keep the landlord's written consent with this Agreement.Ask the landlord for written consent now; without it within 7 days, either Housemate may end this Agreement and the Second Housemate gets every advance payment back (Clause 2.2).
• Under Thai law a sub-tenant can be directly liable to the landlord and cannot rely on rent paid in advance to the First Housemate. The Second Housemate should therefore not pay more than one month in advance and should ask for the First Housemate's proof of payment to the landlord each month (Clause 4.2).

• Pay by bank transfer or PromptPay and keep the slips. Send copies of bills within 3 days and pay shares within 7 days (Clause 5.2). No one may add a mark-up to a bill.
• The First Housemate returns the Deposit within … days after the Second Housemate moves out and returns the keys, with a written list of any deductions and the evidence (Clause 6.2).When the landlord returns the deposit, the Housemate who receives it pays the other Housemate's contribution within … days, after the deductions allowed by Clause 6.2. Take dated photographs of your room when you move in and when you move out.

Stamp duty

• Because a room is let, this Agreement is treated as a lease for stamp duty. The duty is 1 THB for every 1,000 THB or part of 1,000 THB of the total rent for the term. On the share and term you entered, the duty is the amount the system calculates from the figures entered, and a signed counterpart carries the amount the system calculates from the figures entered. It is paid by (calculated by the system from the figures entered) (Clause 9.1). An unstamped agreement cannot be used as evidence in a Thai civil court until the duty and a surcharge are paid.

• The owner or the person in charge of a residence must notify the immigration authorities when a foreign national stays there. Agree who files the notification, and give that person your passport copies within 1 day after moving in and after each return to Thailand (Clause 8.1). Late notification can lead to a fine.

• Give … days' written notice (Clause 7.2). You may propose a replacement; your share stops when the replacement starts paying or the notice ends, whichever comes first.
• Nobody may change the locks, cut off the utilities or remove the other's belongings to force them out (Clause 7.7).
• A dispute about a small amount can be brought to the Thai district (Kwaeng) court for the area of the Home. The court works in Thai, so a certified Thai translation of this Agreement will be needed.

Compiled from the notes that accompany the English contract templates on this site, published by Phuwara Krobtaku (ภูวรา ครอบตะคุ), Thai attorney-at-law, licence no. 477/2558. The short answer and summary at the top of this page are put together by the site from the template's clause headings and notes. Statutes are quoted only in the official Thai text: Thai is the only official language of Thai legislation, and an unofficial translation can mislead. Article registry OKC-A8B251. If you reuse this content, please credit the author and link to the original.