Tracker › Local rental types › Thai apartment and หอพัก
Apartments and dormitories (อพาร์ทเมนท์, หอพัก) in Thailand
In Thailand, an "apartment" (อพาร์ทเมนท์) usually means a whole building with one owner that is rented out room by room, mostly by the month. It is not a condominium, where each unit has its own owner. A หอพัก (hor phak, "dormitory") is a building of rental rooms, often near a university or industrial area. In law, a "dormitory" is narrower: the Dormitory Act B.E. 2558 (2015) covers dorms for students up to bachelor's level, aged 25 or under, and these need a licence.
What is อพาร์ทเมนท์ in English?
| Local term | In English | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| อพาร์ทเมนท์ | apartment (Thai usage) | A single-owner building rented by the room, usually monthly; listing sites file these separately from condo units. | RentHub (Thai apartment and dorm listings) (21 Oct 2026) |
| หอพัก (hor phak) | dormitory / dorm | Rental rooms for students and workers; leases are often 6–12 months (Nayoo FAQ). | Nayoo Thailand apartments and dorms (21 Oct 2026) |
| หอพักนักศึกษา | student dormitory (legal sense) | A dorm for students up to bachelor's level aged 25 or under; licensed under the Dormitory Act B.E. 2558. | Office of the Permanent Secretary, MSDHS: Dormitory Act B.E. 2558 (21 Oct 2026) |
| คอนโดมิเนียม | condominium | Individually owned units; renting one means renting from that unit's owner, not from a building operator. | RentHub (Thai apartment and dorm listings) (21 Oct 2026) |
Who rents it and for how long
Who: Students, young workers and people new to a city. Dorms near campuses often have single-sex floors or buildings.
Typical stay: Monthly. Listing sites quote rent per month; dorm contracts are often 6–12 months (Nayoo FAQ, checked 21 Oct 2026).
Key figures
- Bangkok rooms on RentHub's home page range from 1,800 to 24,000 THB a month. [source, 21 Oct 2026]
- RentHub says it lists 16,000+ locations (Google Play listing, updated Mar 2025). [source, 21 Oct 2026]
Rules
- Dormitory Act B.E. 2558 (2015): dorms for students up to bachelor's level aged 25 or under need a licence from the local registrar (the Bangkok governor in Bangkok, otherwise the local mayor or chief executive). [source, 21 Oct 2026]
- A private dormitory licence is valid for 5 years (2017 ministerial regulation, as summarised by a local authority). Note: that page timed out from our checker on 21 Oct 2026, so this point rests on search results. [source, 21 Oct 2026] (search-based: the official page timed out from our checker)
- The Department of Children and Youth publishes the licensed-dormitory register as open data (dataset dcy605, last updated 8 Jul 2026 when we checked on 21 Oct 2026; it timed out on our re-check). [source, 21 Oct 2026]
Main operators
- LiveIn Thailand: Says it manages "90+ buildings" (figure dated 1 Jan 2026 on its site; the site timed out from our checker on 21 Oct 2026).
Most Thai apartment buildings and dorms are run by their owners. Only operators with a public portfolio figure are listed here. Tracker records for Thailand are linked below.
Tracker coverage in Thailand: Co-living in Thailand (8) · Student housing (PBSA) in Thailand (2) · Serviced apartments in Thailand (2) (12 records in total).
Where to find listings
| Site | What it lists | Status (checked) | Tranco rank* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hongpak | Apartments and dorms (Thai) | live (HTTP 200) (21 Oct 2026) | #209,510 |
| Nayoo | Apartments and dorms for rent | live (HTTP 200) (21 Oct 2026) | #383,294 |
| RentHub | Apartments and dorms by area, university or BTS/MRT station (Thai, with an English page) | live (HTTP 200) (21 Oct 2026) | #85,368 |
| RentHubX | Apartment listings (2,789 listings shown on its home page, 21 Oct 2026) | live (HTTP 200) (21 Oct 2026) | not in top 1M |
* Tranco top-1M list, 18 Oct 2026: a rough guide to site traffic, not an endorsement. Sites are listed alphabetically. Status is from an automated check; "blocks automated checks" means the site refused our checker but is public.
Related: Co-living in Thailand · Student housing in Thailand · Serviced apartments
Sources checked 21 Oct 2026. See an error? Email hello@sealivingdesk.com.