A month in Phuket

The Hotel Act defines a hotel as accommodation set up for business to lodge people temporarily for payment, and it leaves out accommodation set up to provide lodging charged by the month or longer. A flat or house let for a month or more is therefore not hotel business, while the same flat let by the night or the week needs a hotel licence unless it is a small notified place with 4 rooms and 20 guests at most.

The host still reports the stay. Under section 38 of the Immigration Act, whoever takes in a foreign guest, hotel manager, landlord or homeowner, notifies immigration within 24 hours of arrival on form TM30, and the form covers rented houses, apartments and mansions as well as hotels.

Since 15 September 2026 the visa exemption for tourism is 30 days for citizens of the EU, the UK and the US; the 60-day scheme was revoked. The date on the entry stamp is the last day of the permitted stay, so a month has to end on or before it. UK travel advice says that staying longer needs the appropriate visa before travel or, where eligible, an extension from Thai immigration, and that overstaying costs THB 500 a day up to THB 20,000, with detention, deportation and bans of up to 10 years possible.

Entries by land under the exemption are generally limited to two a calendar year, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, so leaving for a neighbouring country and coming back by road is not an open-ended plan. Proof of funds of THB 10,000 per person or THB 20,000 per family may be asked at the border.

Old Phuket Town suits a month with shops, restaurants and museums in walking distance and the west coast beaches about 15 to 20 km away by road. Kata and Karon suit a quieter beach month away from Patong's nightlife. Kamala and Bang Tao, north of Patong, suit a month in a villa or apartment on the west coast with the airport about 21 to 25 km away. These choices are editorial; the stock on offer was not checked.

No per-night tourist tax was found. VAT at 7% applies to providers with more than THB 1.8 million of turnover a year, so a hotel adds it and a private landlord may not. The Thailand Digital Arrival Card is completed online within 3 days before each arrival, and the official site states that no fee is charged.

Airbnb calls a reservation of 28 nights or more a monthly stay: the first month is charged up front and released to the host 24 hours after check-in, later months are charged 10 days in advance, and the price is locked at booking. Its long-term cancellation policy applies to all of these stays and, as a rule, needs 30 days' notice of changes. Whether a 28-night booking counts as charged by the month under the Hotel Act was not verified, so a lease for a full month is the clearer choice.

No official parking scheme was found for Patong, Phuket Town or the beaches, so a month with a car starts with a place that has its own parking. In the Old Town, GetCar's advice is to park on the edge of the old quarter and walk (via GetCar). The hill roads between the beaches and the rest of the island are steep, with low-gear signs on the descents (via GetCar).

Booking a condo by the night outside a hotel licence. Under a month, that is unlicensed hotel business.

Planning a month past the 30 days on the entry stamp. Get a visa before travel if the stay runs longer.

Handing over the passport as a deposit. UK travel advice warns against leaving it with rental businesses.

Assuming the host has filed TM30. Ask for confirmation, since the duty falls on the host within 24 hours.