Rental returns in Pattaya: the honest numbers

What the data says

Global Property Guide's figures for the third quarter of 2026 give an average gross yield of 6.10% for Chon Buri (Pattaya), based on asking prices and asking rents. It notes that net yields are typically 1.5 to 2 percentage points lower once costs are taken off. Individual units do better or worse than the average.

The short-let rule

Under the Hotel Act, renting out accommodation for less than 30 days is hotel business and needs a licence. Condominium units generally cannot get one, and many buildings ban short lets in their rules. Yield claims built on nightly rates assume a use that is usually not lawful in a condominium. Base your figures on tenancies of a month or longer.

The costs that come off

• Common area fees, charged per square metre every month. Where the developer has published the rate it is on the project page.
• Empty months between tenants.
• Letting and management fees.
• Furniture, repairs and replacements.
• Tax: rent paid to a non-resident is subject to 15% withholding, and you file a Thai tax return on the income.

A worked illustration

This is an example of the arithmetic, not a forecast. Take a 35 m² unit bought for ฿3,000,000 and let at ฿15,000 a month. A full year is ฿180,000, a gross yield of 6.0%.

Now take off a common fee of ฿40 per m² a month (฿16,800 a year), one empty month (฿15,000) and a letting fee of one month's rent (฿15,000). That leaves ฿133,200, or 4.4%, before tax, furniture and repairs.

Developer rental programmes

Some developers offer to let and manage the unit for you, sometimes with a stated return for a set period. Read who is giving the promise, for how long, what it costs you in price, and what happens when it ends. A guarantee is only as strong as the company behind it.