TM30: the landlord's duty that lands on the tenant

Section 38 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) puts the duty squarely on the accommodation provider: the householder, the owner or possessor of a dwelling, or a hotel manager who takes in a foreigner with temporary permission to stay must notify the local immigration office within twenty-four hours of the foreigner taking residence — or the local police station where there is no immigration office; in Bangkok, the Immigration Division. The form is TM.30, and notification can be made in person, by an authorised representative, by registered mail, or through the Immigration Bureau's online system at tm30.immigration.go.th.

The forum folklore says TM30 is the foreigner's obligation. Legally it is not — the statutory duty and the fine sit with the house-master or hotel, under section 77: a fine up to 2,000 baht, rising to between 2,000 and 10,000 baht for hotel managers. But street-level practice inverts this: long-stayers and immigration lawyers widely report that offices ask to see a current TM30 receipt before processing extensions of stay, 90-day reports or residence certificates — a documentary practice no statute imposes, and expectations vary by office, so an absent landlord's non-compliance becomes the tenant's problem at the counter. Long-stayers renting privately should get the landlord registered on the online system, or hold a signed copy of the receipt, well before any immigration appointment.