Thailand Rental Yields Explained: What a Condo Really Earns
Gross yield, net yield, and the six line items that sit between them. A plain-English model for what a Thai condominium actually pays you.
Most yield figures quoted in Thai property marketing are gross, annualised from a peak-season month, and assume the unit never sits empty. Here is the version we use internally.
Start with gross
Gross yield = annual rent ÷ purchase price. A 6,000,000 THB one-bedroom renting at 25,000 THB per month gives 300,000 ÷ 6,000,000 = 5.0% gross. That is your ceiling, not your return.
Then subtract the six line items
- Vacancy. Budget one month per year on a long-let unit in a good building; two if the location is secondary.
- Common-area fees. Charged per square metre per month, typically 50–90 THB in mid-market buildings and higher in branded stock.
- Letting and management fees. One month''s rent per new 12-month tenancy is standard; full management runs 5–10% of rent.
- Maintenance and refurbishment. Air-conditioning servicing, appliance replacement, repainting between tenants.
- Insurance. Small, but real.
- Tax. Rental income is taxable in Thailand, and possibly in your home country under the relevant treaty.
Run those through the example above and a 5.0% gross typically becomes 3.4% to 4.0% net. That is a normal, healthy Bangkok result — and it is a number you can actually rely on.
Short-let is a different business
Daily-rate letting can double gross revenue in resort markets, but it comes with operator fees of 20–35%, seasonality, higher wear, and building rules that increasingly restrict stays under 30 days. Check the juristic person''s regulations before you model short-let income; enforcement has tightened considerably.
What moves the number most
- Furnishing. In Bangkok, an unfurnished unit rents slower and cheaper. A well-specified furniture pack usually pays for itself within two tenancies.
- Distance to transit. Every additional 300 metres from a station costs you both rent and tenant quality.
- Unit mix in the building. If your building has 200 identical one-bedrooms, you are in a price war with your neighbours every renewal.
- Building management. Well-run buildings command a premium and hold value; poorly run ones lose both.
Rental guarantees
A five-year guaranteed 7% is a marketing structure, not an investment return — the developer has priced the guarantee into the sale price. The question to ask is what the unit earns in year six, and what comparable resale units in the same building are achieving.
Total return, not just yield
Yield is one half. Capital growth, currency movement between THB and your home currency, and exit costs — transfer fee, withholding tax, specific business tax within five years — decide the other half. We model all of it before recommending anything.
Send us a building you are considering and we will run the real numbers on it, including the ones the brochure leaves out.
