Moving Day Checklist: Everything You Need to Prepare
One Week Before Moving Day
Seven days out is the time to resolve all logistics questions, not to start packing. Confirm your booking with the moving company: date, start time, truck size, number of crew, and quoted price. Confirm the freight elevator reservation at both your origin and destination buildings — get the management office confirmation in writing (a LINE message screenshot is sufficient). If you are moving into a Bangkok condominium, confirm the allowed move-in hours; many buildings restrict moves to 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM on weekdays and 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM on weekends, with no moves permitted on public holidays. Notify your current building management of your move-out date if required.
Also this week: confirm utilities at your new property are active (electricity, water, air conditioning). Arrange disconnection of utilities at your current property for the day after you move out. Collect packing materials if packing yourself — double-wall boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape, permanent markers, and specialty boxes for wardrobes or dishes. Begin packing non-essential items: books, decorative objects, off-season clothing, guest room contents, and items in storage areas. Label every box on two sides with the destination room and a contents summary.
The Day Before Moving Day
The day before is for finishing packing, not starting it. All boxes should be sealed, labelled, and positioned near the door of each room by end of day. Disassemble flat-pack furniture (IKEA beds, bookshelves, etc.) and bundle all hardware (screws, bolts) in labelled ziplock bags taped to the relevant piece of furniture. Wrap fragile items — picture frames, mirrors, televisions — and stack them in a designated area away from traffic paths. Prepare your moving day essentials bag: a change of clothes, toiletries, phone chargers, important documents (passport, lease agreement, ID), medication, laptop, and anything else you will need during the first 24 hours at the new property. This bag travels with you, not on the truck.
Defrost your fridge and freezer the night before — moving a fridge still containing ice blocks is messy and adds unnecessary weight. Drain washing machine hoses. Disconnect and bag all TV and computer cables. Charge your phone and power bank fully. Confirm the moving company's phone number is in your contacts and message them to reconfirm the next morning's start time.
Morning of the Move
On moving day, be ready before the crew arrives. Clear pathways through the apartment so the crew can work efficiently. Remove any fragile items from surfaces that crew members will need to pass — a broken item knocked off a shelf during a move is technically the homeowner's responsibility if it was not packed. Protect floor surfaces with cardboard or old towels in areas the crew will be carrying heavy items across. Brief the crew lead on any items requiring special handling: fragile artwork, items to go into your own vehicle rather than the truck, or items at the property that are NOT to be moved (landlord's furniture, shared building property). Check that no parking-related surprises have emerged at either building — a quick call to building management first thing on moving day is good practice.
During and After the Move
During the loading process, do a room-by-room check behind the crew: inside wardrobes, under beds, on top of cabinets, balcony storage, any locked storage rooms. It is much easier to add a forgotten item to the truck than to send a separate vehicle for it later. At the destination, direct crew members clearly for each item: "this goes to the master bedroom, against the window wall" is better than "bedroom." Take a moment as each room is unloaded to confirm the layout rather than correcting it once everything is in place — repositioning a loaded bookcase is significantly harder than directing it correctly on first placement.
After the crew departs, conduct your final walk-through of the old property. Check every room, every cupboard, every storage area. Photograph the condition of floors, walls, and fittings at move-out for your deposit record. Return keys, access cards, and parking transponders. Send move-out photos to your landlord or agent by LINE with a timestamp, and request a written confirmation of return of keys. At the new property, send your updated address to your employer, bank, insurance provider, the Revenue Department (if you file Thai income tax), and your immigration office if you have a visa requiring an updated TM-30 address registration.