วิธีขอคืนเงินประกันการเช่าในประเทศไทย

รีวิวโดย วิชุฑา อัตตะมัธคอน, LL.M., ใบอนุญาตประกอบวิชาชีพทนายความ 3149/2556 จาก ThaiLawOnline ซึ่งเป็นบริษัทกฎหมายในประเทศไทยที่ให้บริการด้านกฎหมายแก่ชาวต่างชาติมาตั้งแต่ปี 2006.

ปรับปรุงล่าสุดเมื่อ 10 พฤศจิกายน 2569

If your landlord in Thailand has kept your lease deposit, a formal demand letter from a Thai lawyer is usually the first step to get it back. This page explains what a landlord may and may not deduct, the time limits that apply, and what happens if the landlord still refuses to pay.

• Who it is for: tenants of a house, apartment or condominium in Thailand whose deposit has not been returned, or has been cut without reason.
• ค่าธรรมเนียม: หนังสือทวงถาม 5,000 บาท (ค่าบริการคงที่) งานคดีในศาลเสนอราคาหลังตรวจเอกสาร
• ระยะเวลา: we send the letter within five working days of payment and complete documents.

1. Order the demand letter and send us your lease, proof of the deposit and the check-out details.
2. We check the deductions against the lease and the law.
3. We send the letter to the landlord with a deadline to pay.
4. If the landlord does not pay, we quote the court stage in writing.

กฎหมายว่าด้วยเงินประกันการเช่า

​ Civil and Commercial Code section 537 defines a lease (hire of property) as a contract to let another person use a property for a limited time in return for rent. A lease of immovable property cannot be enforced in court without written evidence signed by the party liable (มาตรา 538). The Code has no section that fixes the amount of a deposit or when it must be returned, so for most landlords the lease itself governs the deposit.

Two rules of the Code limit what the landlord can keep. The tenant must look after the property with ordinary care and carry out petty repairs (section 553). The tenant is liable for loss or damage caused by the tenant’s fault, by people living with the tenant or by a sub-tenant, but not for loss or damage that results from proper use (section 562). Faded paint, worn floors and ageing appliances are the result of proper use.

ผู้ให้เช่าที่มีตั้งแต่ 3 หน่วยขึ้นไป: หลักเกณฑ์คุ้มครองผู้บริโภค

ภายใต้ Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 section 35 bis, the Contract Committee can make a type of business a contract-controlled business and fix terms the business must use. Residential leasing is one. The Contract Committee notification on residential leasing B.E. 2568 came into force on 4 September 2025. It applies to a landlord who lets 3 or more residential units (houses, rooms, apartments or condominium units, in one building or several) to individuals. It replaced the 2019 notification, which applied from 5 units. Hotels and dormitories are outside it.

• Deposit and advance rent together may not exceed 3 months’ rent.
• The deposit must be returned at once, or within 7 days if the landlord inspects and finds no damage, or within 14 days when repair costs are deducted, counted from the end of the lease and the return of the property.
• A tenant may leave after half of the lease term with 30 days’ notice.
• The landlord may not keep the deposit unless the tenant is at fault, and may not charge a fee to renew.

If your landlord falls within this rule, a term that lets the landlord keep the whole deposit for any reason is likely to be unenforceable against you. Our คู่มือสัญญาเช่า sets out the rest of the notification.

รายการหักที่ชอบด้วยกฎหมาย และรายการที่ท่านปฏิเสธได้

รายการหัก	หักได้หรือไม่
Unpaid rent up to the date you returned the keys	ใช่
Unpaid electricity and water, from the meter readings	ใช่
Repair of damage you or your occupants caused	Yes, at a reasonable cost, ideally with invoices
Small repairs you left undone (bulbs, taps, filters)	Yes, at a reasonable cost
Normal wear and tear: paint, worn floors, ageing appliances	No (section 562)
Defects recorded in the check-in report	ไม่
A cleaning or admin fee not in the lease	ไม่

Ask the landlord for a written list of deductions with photos and invoices. A landlord who will not explain a deduction in writing usually has trouble proving it in court.

การออกก่อนครบสัญญา

Many leases say the tenant loses the deposit if they leave before the end of the term. That clause is a โทษแบน. ภายใต้ section 383, a court may reduce a penalty that is disproportionately high to a reasonable amount, taking into account every legitimate interest of the landlord. If the landlord let the property again quickly, the loss is small, and so is a reasonable penalty. For landlords with 3 or more units, the tenant may in any case leave after half of the term with 30 days’ notice.

Where the lease has no fixed term, either party may end it at the end of a rent period with notice of at least one rent period, and no more than two months is required (section 566).

เมื่อผู้ให้เช่าขายทรัพย์สินที่เช่า

A sale does not end the lease. The buyer takes over the rights and duties of the seller towards the tenant (มาตรา 569). Whether that includes the duty to return your deposit depends on what the deposit secured. In Supreme Court decision 44/2553 the buyer was entitled to the tenant’s security deposit and the seller had to hand it over. In Supreme Court decision 1990/2552 an advance paid to the former owner as security for utilities and taxes was a side term, not a duty of the lease, so it did not pass to the buyer. Before you sue, we work out from which landlord to claim.

หนังสือทวงถาม

A letter from a lawyer changes the conversation. It sets out the lease, the deposit paid, the date you returned the property, the deductions you accept and the amount due, and it fixes a deadline to pay before court action. Many landlords pay at this stage. The letter also proves that you made a clear demand, which matters later in court. Our tenant deposit demand letter ราคา 5,000 บาท

การฟ้องคดีต่อศาล

If the landlord does not pay, the claim goes to the civil court. A small claims case under the Civil Procedure Code is one where the amount claimed does not exceed 40,000 baht or a higher amount fixed by Royal Decree. The claim may be filed in writing or stated orally to the court (section 191), the court tries to settle the case at the first hearing (มาตรา 193), and court fees in a small claim are capped at 1,000 baht (section 190 quater).

If the landlord lets property as a business, the claim may be a consumer case under the Consumer Case Procedure Act B.E. 2551, which covers a civil dispute between a consumer and a business operator (section 3). A consumer filing a consumer case is exempt from court fees, subject to the court’s power to order otherwise (section 18). Either way, we quote the court stage in writing before any work starts.

Time limits run against the landlord too. A landlord’s claims against the tenant under the lease must be brought within six months of the return of the property (section 563). A landlord who keeps your deposit and says you owe more must sue within that time.

สิ่งที่ต้องส่งให้เรา

• The lease and any renewal or addendum
• Proof of the deposit paid
• The check-in report and photos, if any
• The date you returned the keys, and photos of the property on that day
• Every message from the landlord about the deposit

สั่งซื้อหรือสอบถาม

สั่งหนังสือทวงถาม ในราคา 5,000 บาท หรือสอบถามเรื่องการฟ้องคดีด้านล่าง

ที่เกี่ยวข้อง: สัญญาเช่าในประเทศไทย, Evicting a tenant, การทวงหนี้.

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