We’ve negotiated 18 warehouse leases on the Bangna-Trad corridor in the last two years. Every tenant who signed without asking these five questions ended up paying 10-25% more than they expected. Every tenant who did ask them came in 5-15% under their initial budget.
Use this list at your next site visit. With any landlord.
1. What is the ALL-IN cost per sqm, not just the headline rate?
The number a landlord quotes you is base rent. The number you actually pay is base rent + CAM (common-area maintenance) + utilities deposit + insurance + annual escalation + restoration clause reserves. On an industrial estate, that “additional” stack can add 15-25% to the headline rate.
Ask for a single number that includes all of it. If the landlord can’t or won’t give you one, that’s information.
2. Is there a CAM and a CAM cap?
Common-area maintenance fees are standard at industrial estates (Amata, WHA, Hemaraj, etc.) and typically run 10-25 THB/sqm/month. The real risk isn’t the fee — it’s that CAM can increase 5-10% annually on top of rent escalation.
Negotiate a 5-year CAM cap. Most landlords will agree if you ask before signing the LOI. Without a cap, your 5-year cost is open-ended.
3. What is the annual escalation clause — and is it compounding?
Standard escalation is 3-5% annually. The question is whether it’s flat (3% of year-1 rent) or compounding (3% of last year’s rent). Over a 5-year lease, compounding can be 22%+ above year-1 rate.
Ask for ≤4% compounded with a 5-year cap. If you’re being offered a “free month” or “free 2 months” sweetener, model the 5-year total before deciding — sometimes a flat-4% deal with no sweetener is cheaper than a sweetener + 5% escalation.
4. What is the restoration clause at lease end?
This is the hidden cost most tenants don’t think about until it’s too late. Many leases require you to “restore the premises to original condition” at exit — which can mean repainting floors, removing all racking, patching walls, removing leasehold improvements. A vague clause can cost 200-600 THB/sqm at end of lease.
Negotiate a per-sqm cap (e.g., 200 THB/sqm max). Get specifics on what must be restored vs. what can be left. Get it in writing.
5. Who is the landlord — and will they renew past tenants?
The single most overlooked question. The quality of your landlord matters more over a 5-year lease than the per-sqm rate. Bad landlords nickel-and-dime on repairs, slow-walk approvals for fit-out changes, and aggressively interpret restoration clauses.
Ask for two past-tenant references. Good landlords keep tenants for 5-10+ years and are happy to give you contacts.
The bonus question for foreign tenants
Will the landlord handle BOI/Free Zone documentation, customs broker introductions and bilingual paperwork? If the answer is “we’ll figure it out,” expect 6 weeks of avoidable delays at move-in.
The full 10-question checklist (plus 5-year TCO scenarios and a hidden-cost map) is in our free EEC Warehouse Cost Benchmark 2026. Download the PDF →