Looking forward to moving to BKK in a year and a half or so. We will be renting. One point I never see discussed is how you actually pay the rent. Do you mail a check to the landlord and get the cancelled check back from your bank to serve as your proof of payment? If not, what is the preferred method? I am particularly concerned with effective proof of payment as protection in the case of a dispute with a landlord.

I often wire the money as I am not in the country so much these days. If I am there I generally leave it as cash with the front desk and she calls in and collects it after I send an SMS saying it's there to collect.

It really depends on each individual arrangement. You may end up renting a condo/apartment that is in a block that has a management company in place. In this case, there will be an office within the apartment block where you may be able to pay your rent (and receive a receipt each month).

Or you may have an arrangement similar to mine, where I rent directly from my landlord. I pay the rent into my landlord's bank account by using the 'cash deposit' machine at the bank. I receive a receipt each time I use this machine which states the date, the amount paid, and the account name to which it has been paid.

We pay by ATM transfer, get the ATM receipt as proof of payment. Easy and quick.

EDIT We used to pay via the condo management company, they took the cash and issued receipts, unfortunately they often 'forgot' to pass the payment on to the landlord

Dunno about other banks, but with HSBC you can pay direct into any Thai bank account (landlord, family member, own account etc).

It still takes 3 or 4 days to clear (why??????????????????????????????????????????)

But you do have the receipt that can be saved &/or printed out.

Costs £17 on the UK side (not sure if if/what charges are levied on the Thai side).

Still cheaper than normal bank transfers (I think), plus you can do it at your leisure and from the comfort of your own armchair.

I'm sure that how you pay the rent varies from place to place. I live on Sukhumvit Soi 24...apartment, not condo. About 3 days before the end of the month they stop by with a receipt already marked paid (which is weird), that also includes the water charge and any odd incidentals (none unfairly, so far). Then within the next 3 days I go down to the on-site office and pay...and they strongly prefer it in cash. It's all rather pleasant. Our property manager is Indian and he places a high premium on polite and pleasant personal relationships within the complex. It's not unusual to be invited in for coffee or even lunch with him, and although I am not at all at coffee drinker, I always accept because it is clearly important to him on a social level.

Easiest is to open a bank account here in Thailand and keep enough money in the account. Then all you have to do it is to transfer money to the owner/manager account via web

I find using an ATM is much easier then online transfers to individuals and it gives you a receipt of the transfer. For SCB, the transfer charge is 30 baht into any other bank account, for an SCB account it is free. Both are done immediately and money shows up in other account literally in seconds.
I do use Bangkok Banks online banking to pay utility bills. Don’t like standing at the ATM while doing that.
TH

Thanks for the info. Looks like checks are not the local style.