Rent from owner in Pattaya: owner or agent listings?

Who posts rental listings in Pattaya: 53 owners, 391 agents, 450 that say nothing

On 28 October 2026 at 10:27 (Thailand time), RENT KHA counts 894 rental listings online in Pattaya and around, posted between 16 and 28 October 2026 by 447 different posters. 391 of them, 44%, show an agency, an invitation to co-agents, a commission or a reference code: we label them “agent”. 53, 6%, say the owner is posting (“owner”, “direct owner”, เจ้าของ in Thai): “owner”. The other 450, 50%, say neither.

The share changes with the type of home. Of 563 condo listings, 224 come from an agent (40%), 40 from an owner (7%) and 299 say nothing (53%). Villas belong to agents: 87 listings out of 128 (68%), against 4 owners (3%) and 37 silent ones. For houses, 54 listings out of 121 come from an agent (45%), 4 from an owner (3%), 63 say nothing (52%). Townhouses: 21 agents, 3 owners (7%), 22 silent out of 46. The 24 apartment listings almost never say: 1 agent, 1 owner, 22 silent (92%).

“Agent” and “owner” are read in the text of the listing, not verified. 10 posters publish some listings as owner and others as agent; 12 of the 53 owner listings also invite agents to offer the place (“agents welcome”, “co-agent”). On each listing page, the “Posted by” line shows Owner or Agent when the post says so; the “Owners only” filter on the Listings page keeps those 53 listings and nothing else.

Rents are medians: half of the listings ask less, the other half more. We only give a median from three listings that state the figure, and the number of listings goes with every figure. The words counted here (code, co-agent, deposit, contact) are read in the full text of each listing, in English and in Thai. A listing leaves RENT KHA 30 days after its last repost, or as soon as its author marks it rented, and only listings with a photo are counted, as on the Listings page.

• Owners only
• Condos for rent
• Rents by area

Rent from owner in Pattaya: where the 53 owner listings are

Of the 53 owner listings, 40 are condos, 4 villas, 4 houses, 3 townhouses, plus 1 apartment and 1 room. They come from 49 posters; 45 of them post a single one as owner, and none posts 5 or more under that label. 8 of the 53 are also offered for sale (15%), against 36 of the 391 agent listings (9%) and 19 of the 450 silent ones (4%).

By area: Jomtien 17 listings out of 231 (median rent ฿18,000), Pratumnak 8 out of 109 (฿20,000), Wongamat 6 out of 52 (฿21,000), Na Jomtien 4 out of 24 (฿17,500), Central Pattaya 3 out of 50 (฿20,000), Na Kluea 2 out of 15, Huay Yai 1 out of 30; 6 do not state the area. No owner listing in East Pattaya (42 listings, 27 of them from agents), South Pattaya (33), North Pattaya (20) or Khao Talo (19).

Budgets: the 40 owner condos ask ฿19,000 as a median, from ฿8,500 to ฿65,000; 4 are at ฿10,000 or less, 13 at ฿15,000 or less, 28 at ฿20,000 or less, 37 at ฿30,000 or less, 2 above ฿50,000. The 4 villas go from ฿85,000 to ฿150,000 (median ฿111,500), the 4 houses from ฿32,000 to ฿95,000, and the 3 townhouses ask ฿16,000, ฿17,000 and ฿32,000.

Owners can be reached: 40 listings out of 53 (75%) give at least one direct contact in their text, a phone number in 39, WhatsApp in 31, LINE in 19; 34 give two or more. Agents do better: 350 listings out of 391 (90%), 319 of them with two contacts or more; silent listings, 311 out of 450 (69%). These contacts appear on the listing page for a subscriber, with the button that opens a conversation with the poster.

• Owners in Jomtien
• Owners at ฿20,000 or less
• Rents by area

Owner or agent in Pattaya: the rent is not lower when you rent direct

For a one-bedroom condo, the owner asks ฿20,000 a month as a median, on 22 rents, half of them between ฿17,625 and ฿22,750, from ฿9,500 to ฿30,000. The agent asks ฿18,000, on 125 rents, half between ฿13,000 and ฿25,000. The silent listing asks ฿15,000, on 148 rents, half between ฿12,000 and ฿21,250. Per square metre, same order: ฿493 per m² from the owner (20 listings with a size, 37.5 m² median), ฿444 from the agent (120 listings, 37 m²), ฿429 for silent ones (137 listings, 35 m²).

Studios follow: ฿14,000 from the owner (8 rents, ฿500 per m²), ฿11,500 from the agent (30 rents, ฿363 per m²), ฿11,000 in a silent listing (44 rents, ฿363 per m²). For two-bedroom condos, the 5 owner rents go from ฿14,000 to ฿65,000, median ฿45,000, too small a sample to conclude; agents ask ฿30,000 (46 rents), silent listings ฿30,000 as well (77 rents).

Area by area, the gap holds. One bedroom in Jomtien: ฿21,000 from the owner (6 rents, ฿493 per m²), ฿15,250 from the agent (44 rents, ฿373 per m²), ฿15,000 in a silent listing (67 rents, ฿429 per m² on 65). In Pratumnak: ฿20,000 from the owner (5 rents), ฿20,000 from the agent (27 rents), ฿18,500 for silent ones (22 rents). Two-bedroom houses are the exception: ฿17,000 from the owner, on 3 rents only, against ฿25,000 from the agent (30 rents) and ฿20,000 for silent ones (34 rents); with 4 bedrooms, ฿70,500 (4 rents), ฿70,000 (34 rents) and ฿65,000 (15 rents).

Two reasons explain why a “direct” rent is not lower. The agent’s commission is generally paid by the owner, not by the tenant: the rent shown by an agent does not add it on top, and the owner who posts does not take it off. And owners rent short more often, which costs more per month (next section). Compare a rent per square metre, for the same lease, rather than by poster.

• One-bedroom condos at ฿18,000 or less
• Rents by area
• Pattaya rent by area in 2026

Short lease from the owner, one-year lease from the agent

This is the real difference. Of the 53 owner listings, 43 state a minimum lease: 18 accept 3 months or less (42%), 14 of them a single month; 4 ask for 4 to 6 months; 21 ask for 7 months or more (49%), all at 12 months. Among agents, 257 listings state the lease: 11 at 3 months or less (4%, 6 of them one month), 18 from 4 to 6 months, 228 at 12 months (89%). Listings silent about the poster, 336 stated: 40 at 3 months or less (12%, 30 of them one month), 15 from 4 to 6 months, 281 at 7 months or more (84%, 280 of them at 12 months).

Condos only, the gap stays: 17 of the 34 leases stated by an owner accept 3 months or less (13 one month), 4 run from 4 to 6 months, 13 ask for 7 months or more. From an agent, 11 short leases out of 166, 17 from 4 to 6 months, 138 long; in silent listings, 38 out of 249, 15 and 196.

The lease shows in the rent. On a long lease (7 months or more, almost always 12), a one-bedroom condo asks ฿19,000 from the owner (6 rents), ฿16,000 from the agent (76 rents), ฿15,000 in a silent listing (99 rents). On a lease of 3 months or less: ฿20,000 from the owner (10 rents), ฿24,500 from the agent (8 rents), ฿16,000 for silent ones (19 rents). All condos together, the short lease costs ฿20,000 from the owner (17 rents), ฿25,000 from the agent (11 rents), ฿16,750 in a silent listing (36 rents).

The deposit follows the lease. 27 owner listings out of 53 cite two months of deposit, 9 a single month (17%); among agents, 251 cite two months and 36 one month out of 391 (9%); in silent listings, 259 and 27 out of 450 (6%). For a one-year lease, the most common practice is a deposit of two months’ rent plus the first month paid in advance; for a short lease, often one month. Pets: 6 owner listings accept them and 9 refuse (38 say nothing); 26 and 30 among agents, 26 and 59 in silent listings. The home is said to be furnished in 43 owner listings out of 53, 282 agent listings out of 391, 294 silent ones out of 450.

• Condos, lease of 3 months or less
• Monthly rental in Pattaya: short lease or one year?

What the poster changes for the tenant: codes, co-agents and checks

An agent’s listing often shows its marks: 115 of the 391 agent listings carry a reference code (“ID”, “REF”, “CODE”), against 24 of the 450 silent listings and 2 owner listings; 60 invite co-agents. 126 of the 391 agent listings come from 27 posters with 5 or more online; 99 come from posters with a single one. Among the 450 silent listings, 89 come from a poster who presents as an agent in other listings, 70 from silent posters with 5 or more, and 140 are the only listing of their author.

The same home circulates among several posters. Of 651 listings that give the building, the number of bedrooms and the rent, 57 (9%) describe a home that another poster also publishes at the same rent: 24 from agents, 31 silent, 2 from owners. With an agent, ask whether they hold the keys and who signs the lease: a co-agent sometimes answers for a place they have never visited.

The words “direct owner”, “by owner” or “no agents” prove nothing: 29 listings use them, and 15 of those also carry a reference code or an invitation to co-agents, including 9 of the 10 labelled agent and 4 of the 16 labelled owner. Ask plainly: who signs the lease, and in whose name is the deposit paid?

At the lease, it is customary to attach a copy of the owner’s ID and of the title deed of the home: ask for them whether the listing comes from an agent or an owner, and compare the name on the title with the person who signs. The agent’s commission is generally paid by the owner; if you are asked for one, have it put in writing before the visit. The owner must report a foreign tenant to immigration (TM30): ask who does it. And pay nothing before you have seen the home and the person renting it.

On RENT KHA, the “Posted by” line of each listing page repeats what the post says, and the “Owners only” filter on the Listings page saves as an alert like any other. Access, at ฿75 a month instead of ฿100, lets you message the poster directly and shows the contacts they published, with e-mail alerts; at ฿150 instead of ฿200, the Professional plan also sends every new matching listing on Telegram or WhatsApp, and promotes one property a month for those renting out their own.

• Spot a rental scam before you pay
• Owners, listings from the last 7 days