I signed a new lease yesterday. The contract was in Thai and English. Read the contract. You can negotiate. The owner also supplied a full photo inventory. You should do the same before you move in. I asked if she had ever rented to a foreigner and will do a TM30. Does the owner live in Thailand and can they be contacted about various issues. My girlfriend will move in with me. Is that OK and can we get two sets of keys. Check out the neighborhood, the parking,the transportation options. Check out the pool, gym, mailroom, package delivery, food delivery. Check out the building security.
I’ve lived in Thailand 8 years and have been lucky to have a great landlord. I hope the new one is the same.
Make sure your US bank does international wire transfers. Once you get a Thai bank account you get their SWIFT code and you can connect your US bank to your Thai bank account. Do a small test transfer then you are all set.
I find that letters sent to me as tracked regular mail get to me in 10-14 days. That was last year when my sister sent me a credit card from California.