Room Dividers in Thailand: 5 Types, Which to Choose, Prices, Sizes and Mounting 2026

A room divider is a screen, a curtain or a panel that splits one room into two zones without building a wall. Thai uses two words for it, ฉากกั้นห้อง (chak kan hong) and ที่กั้นห้อง (thi kan hong), and English calls it a room divider or a room partition. This guide covers the 5 types sold in Thailand, what each one costs, which suits a condo, a cafe, an office or a hotel, and how Macrame by Nicha makes knotted rope screens to the size of your room.

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Five types of room divider sold in Thailand

Type	Price range	Strengths	Limits	Best for
Knotted cotton rope, ฉากกั้นห้องเชือกถัก (knotted-rope room divider), by Macrame by Nicha	No shelf price. Every piece is quoted individually	Hung from the ceiling it takes no floor space, it is made to your exact width and ceiling-to-floor drop, and no two are alike	Like every open weave it screens sight rather than sound, and cotton yellows in direct sun	A condo, cafe or hotel that wants the divider to be a piece of decor in its own right
PVC folding partition, ฉากกั้นแอร์ (AC-zoning screen)	About 600 to 900 THB per square yard for solid blades and 1,150 to 1,900 THB per square yard for most Japanese-style and European models. Cut-to-size panels are priced by the square metre instead, at about 1,400 to 2,600 THB per square metre	It closes a zone off, folds flat against the wall, and can be made to measure up to about 3.6 m	It scratches easily, it does little for sound, and it needs regular cleaning	A bedroom corner or a meeting nook where you want the air conditioning in that zone alone
Wooden screens, including โชจิ (shoji, the Japanese paper screen)	About 3,000 to 4,100 THB for slatted, solid and painted folding screens, around 3,000 THB for a pine-framed screen with a removable cover, and about 14,500 THB for designer pieces	Warm, solid, easy to move, and it needs no drilling at all	It stands on the floor, so it takes room in a small space, and designer pieces climb in price fast	A living room or bedroom where you want the screen folded away when guests arrive
ม่านกั้นห้อง (curtain divider): fabric, PVC strip and rope	About 875 THB at 175 x 270 cm, 1,200 THB at 240 x 270 cm and around 3,100 THB for a wide coated panel, with the track priced separately at about 120 to 460 THB per metre	Low cost, no floor space at all, easy to wash or swap	A light curtain does little for sound, and the track still has to be fixed to the ceiling	Renters, studios, and anyone who wants the divider gone by the weekend
Rattan and หวายเทียม (synthetic rattan)	The only price we can confirm is a handmade rattan screen at 150 x 170 cm for about 4,990 THB. Marketplace listings gave no price we could verify	Light, and it lets air and light through	An open weave gives privacy in outline only	A cafe corner, a resort reception, or a living room that opens onto a balcony

The units change from one type to the next: per screen, per square yard and per square metre. Compare like with like before you decide.

The prices below are the ranges we checked in September 2026. Some of them are promotional prices.

1. PVC folding partition, also sold as ฉากกั้นแอร์ (AC-zoning screen)

A PVC screen is an accordion-style plastic door that an installer fits from floor to ceiling. Some shops sell it as ม่านกั้นแอร์ (an air-conditioning curtain), because its main job is to keep the cold air in one zone.

Strengths: it closes a zone off, folds flat against the wall, and can be made to measure up to about 3.6 m, with blades around 8.5 cm wide. Limits, as one vendor states itself: it scratches easily, it does little for sound, and it needs regular cleaning.

Price range: installers price per square yard (one square yard is about 0.84 square metres), roughly 600 to 900 THB for solid blades and 1,150 to 1,900 THB for most Japanese-style and European models, and one installer's list prices run two to three times its own promotional prices. A home-improvement chain prices cut-to-size panels by the square metre instead, at about 1,400 to 2,600 THB per square metre. Compare like with like.

Best for: a bedroom corner or a meeting nook where you want the air conditioning in that zone alone.

2. Wooden screens, including โชจิ (shoji, the Japanese paper screen)

A wooden room divider is the classic folding screen, three or four panels on hinges, in slatted, solid or painted wood. It moves in a minute and needs no drilling at all.

Strengths: warm, solid and easy to move. Limits: it stands on the floor, so it takes room in a small space, and designer pieces climb in price fast.

Price range: slatted, solid and painted folding screens run about 3,000 to 4,100 THB. A pine-framed screen with a removable cotton and linen cover sits at around 3,000 THB. Designer pieces reach about 14,500 THB.

One thing to watch: marketplaces list products called Japanese-style room dividers, and PVC installers sell a Japanese model with glass inserts. Neither guarantees a shoji in paper and wood. Check what the listing says the material is, and read our guide to shoji screens as room dividers first.

Best for: a living room or bedroom where you want the screen folded away when guests arrive.

3. ม่านกั้นห้อง (curtain divider): fabric, PVC strip and rope

A curtain divider is the cheapest way to split a room and the easiest to take down, whether it is fabric on a ceiling track, PVC strips or a rope curtain.

Strengths: low cost, no floor space at all, easy to wash or swap. Limits: a light curtain does little for sound, and the track still has to be fixed to the ceiling.

Price range: a ready-made blackout polyester curtain divider runs about 875 THB at 175 x 270 cm, 1,200 THB at 240 x 270 cm, and around 3,100 THB for a wide coated panel. The track is priced separately, at about 120 to 460 THB per metre. For strip and rope curtains we found no price reliable enough to quote.

During the day, hold the curtain open with the INFINITY HOLDER knotted curtain tie-backs by Macrame by Nicha.

Best for: renters, studios, and anyone who wants the divider gone by the weekend.

4. Rattan and หวายเทียม (synthetic rattan)

A rattan room divider is the tropical option: light, open and at home in a Thai cafe or resort. Marketplaces also carry synthetic rattan versions that fold and move easily.

Strengths: light, and it lets air and light through. Limits: an open weave gives privacy in outline only, and the big home-improvement chain we checked lists no rattan divider at all.

Price range: the only price we can confirm is a handmade rattan screen at 150 x 170 cm for about 4,990 THB, from one large furniture group. Marketplace listings gave no price we could verify.

Best for: a cafe corner, a resort reception, or a living room that opens onto a balcony.

5. Knotted cotton rope, or ฉากกั้นห้องเชือกถัก (knotted-rope room divider)

A knotted cotton rope screen, the macrame kind, hangs from a wooden rail or stands as a Stick Space Partition. Macrame by Nicha makes them to the size of your room, and a Thai home magazine has run the macrame curtain as a DIY alternative to building a wall.

Strengths: hung from the ceiling it takes no floor space at all, it is made to your exact width and ceiling-to-floor drop, and no two are alike. Limits: like every open weave it screens sight rather than sound, and cotton yellows in direct sun and catches fire easily, so keep it out of all-day sunlight and away from candles.

Price range: no shelf price. Every piece is quoted individually, and the lead time depends on the current queue.

Best for: a condo, cafe or hotel that wants the divider to be a piece of decor in its own right.

Folding or sliding: how to choose

A folding screen, ฉากกั้นห้องแบบพับได้ (folding room divider), hangs from a top track alone, with no bottom rail in the way when it is stowed, and it either folds to one side or splits open at the centre.

On a gypsum ceiling the fitter adds an aluminium beam underneath and anchors its ends into the side walls, so the walls carry the load instead of the ceiling. Above roughly 3 m wide or 2.5 m tall, installers advise splitting the opening at the centre.

A sliding screen, ฉากกั้นห้องแบบเลื่อนได้ (sliding room divider), gives you two fixing choices: a top-hung รางเลื่อนบน (upper sliding rail) or a floor-run รางเลื่อนล่าง (lower sliding rail). The hardware comes in two standard load ratings, 60 kg and 100 kg, and installers describe the job as needing no demolition.

A floor rail keeps the load off the ceiling and puts a threshold across the floor in exchange. On price, we found no public list price for a sliding divider on 23 September 2026.

For the choice between hanging from the ceiling and standing on the floor, see Ceiling-mounted or floor-standing below.

ฉากกั้นห้อง (room divider), ที่กั้นห้อง (room partition) and พาร์ทิชั่น (partition): how the words differ

Thai has several words for the same object, and shops mix them freely. This section sorts out which ones come from the dictionary, which ones come from shop listings, and which one genuinely describes something else.

Is ที่กั้นห้อง (room partition) different from ฉากกั้นห้อง (room divider)?

The Royal Institute Dictionary defines ฉาก (chak, a screen) as a screening or partitioning object of several kinds, used standing, hung or folded. ฉากกั้น (chak kan) is listed as a screen or panel for dividing a space, and ฉากกั้นห้อง appears as a Thai university library subject heading meaning room divider.

For ที่กั้นห้อง we found no dictionary entry as a fixed term. ที่กั้น (thi kan) is a general word for the thing that blocks.

The straight answer: no authority separates the two words. Retailers use them interchangeably, and the one they put on their category pages is ฉากกั้นห้อง.

พาร์ทิชั่น (partition), the office word

In the Thai office furniture trade, Partition, พาร์ทิชั่น, ฉากกั้น (partition screen) and แผงกั้น (dividing panel) all mean the same thing: a panel that zones a workspace without a permanent wall, in three standard builds, solid, half-glass and full-glass.

Thai dictionaries themselves disagree on how to translate partition. The Royal Society's coined terms give แบ่งกั้น and แบ่งส่วน (to divide, to partition), which is the act. Another gives ฝา, ฝากระดาน and ฝาผนัง (wall, wooden partition board, partition wall), which is the wall itself. A third gives ฉาก (screen), which is the panel.

So the difference that holds up is context rather than object: พาร์ทิชั่น is the office word, ฉากกั้นห้อง is the home word.

ฉากกั้น (partition screen), แผ่นกั้น (partition panel) and มู่ลี่กั้นห้อง (blind divider)

ฉากกั้น is the short form of ฉากกั้นห้อง and covers any dividing panel. For แผ่นกั้น we found no dictionary entry either: it comes from shop listings.

มู่ลี่ (muli, a blind) is genuinely different. The Royal Institute Dictionary defines it as a door and window screen in the manner of a curtain, made of small wooden slats bound with cord into open sections, so its dictionary sense is a window covering.

In the trade, มู่ลี่ means rigid slats that tilt to control light, as against ม่าน (man, a curtain) in fabric. Used across a room, มู่ลี่กั้นห้อง screens sightlines, while air and sound carry on as before.

How many non-permanent ways are there to partition a room?

Several, and they leave the structure alone. A folding screen simply stands where you put it, a curtain or a knotted rope screen hangs from a ceiling track, and a folding PVC screen runs on a top track alone.

If drilling the wall is out, three more methods are in common use: a tension rod pressing between floor and ceiling, from about 2,000 THB; a light rail held by high-strength double-sided tape, from about 2,500 THB; and a free-standing movable rail system, from about 3,000 THB.

The line sits at ผนังเบา (phanang bao, a lightweight partition wall), because that is a built wall on a frame, priced by the square metre: a general lightweight wall at 600 to 900 THB per square metre, gypsum at 800 to 1,200, cement block at 700 to 1,000, aluminium and glass at 1,200 to 2,000, and a prefabricated wall at 1,000 to 1,800.

The boards themselves sell at 60 to 999 THB per sheet, with 6 to 8 mm suggested for temporary partitions, 8 to 12 mm for general use, and 12 to 16 mm where sound or fire matters.

Put simply: standing a screen or hanging a curtain is fitting work, while building a lightweight wall is construction, and the two differ in both price and permissions.

Choosing by space: condo, cafe, office or hotel

Condo

Thai developers put studios at about 20 to 30 square metres and one-bedroom units at up to about 50. Most units are 2.4 to 2.6 m from floor to ceiling. Measure your own ceiling-to-floor drop before you order.

If you rent or move often, choose a curtain or a folding screen. If you own the unit, a ceiling-hung knotted rope divider takes no floor space and is made to fit the opening you want to close.

Before you drill: under the condominium title, the wall between your unit and your neighbour's belongs half to each of you, so tell the juristic person (the building's management) first, and never drill right through.

Cafe

A divider in a cafe splits the seating without darkening the room or hiding the counter. Open weaves (knotted rope, rattan, slatted wood) suit it better than a solid PVC door.

Commercial buildings of 80 square metres and above count as controlled-use buildings, and Thai rules set flame-spread criteria for interior surface materials. We found no rule that names movable hanging textiles specifically. Your building manager or the fire officer has the final say, so ask first.

Office

Offices already use the loanword พาร์ทิชั่น (partition). Panels of about 60 x 120 cm run 1,200 to 1,600 THB each.

A meeting nook with its own air conditioning suits a folding PVC screen, while a reception area suits a knotted rope screen in your company colours.

Hotel

Hotel rules focus on the structure: columns, beams, floors, stairs and walls must be permanent fire-resistant materials. Hotels also count as controlled-use buildings, so the flame-spread criteria for interior surface materials apply to them too, and we found no rule that names movable hanging textiles specifically. Clear any hanging screen with the building engineer first.

In a lobby, breakfast room or spa, a knotted rope screen zones the space in natural cotton and wood.

Sizes, mounting and drilling in a condo

Standard sizes

Ready-made folding screens come at 150 x 200, 180 x 250 and 180 x 350 cm, in four to seven panels. Fabric curtain dividers run 165 to 500 cm wide and 210 to 290 cm high.

PVC screens and knotted rope screens are cut to size, so have your exact width and your ceiling-to-floor drop ready.

Ceiling-mounted or floor-standing

A ceiling-mounted divider hangs from brackets, a rail or a cable, and takes no floor space. A floor-standing or free-standing one sits on feet and leaves the ceiling untouched.

Drilling in a condo

One Thai condo guide sums up common practice: drilling a wall to hang a picture is fine, small jobs are still worth telling the juristic person about, and bigger jobs need at least a week's notice plus a deposit against damage to common property, usually in the tens of thousands of baht.

The smooth ceiling board hangs below the concrete slab on a metal frame fixed at no more than one metre apart. Some owners say they find that frame with a magnet before fixing a rail.

One piece or several panels

A single wide piece reads as one unbroken surface, but it has to fit through the door and into the lift. Several panels side by side can be rearranged as you like, and taken down piece by piece.

Send a photo and rough measurements through our contact page and we will tell you which type suits your room.

Commissioned knotted rope room dividers by Macrame by Nicha

Macrame by Nicha designs and knots made-to-order room dividers in Thailand, in cotton rope and wood, using macrame knots, sailor knots and Chinese knots. Every piece is quoted individually, and the lead time depends on the current queue.

Nicha pairs natural cotton rope with wood or bamboo, so each screen is a piece of craft in the room and a room divider at the same time.

Sizes, hanging and colour

Sizes: from a single panel closing a doorway to several panels running the length of a room, made to your width and your ceiling-to-floor drop. Very wide spans are knotted as separate panels, so each one fits through the door.

Hanging: a ceiling rail, which leaves the screen floating above the floor, or a Stick Space Partition.

Colours and patterns: natural cotton is the base colour, and rope dyed to your brand colours with a pattern designed for your space is included in the quotation.

Every screen is knotted by Akha women in Chiang Rai, through Akha Ma-De, the social programme powered by Macrame by Nicha.

Care and ordering

Care: vacuum gently through a soft brush head, keep it out of all-day direct sun, and keep the room's humidity low. Mould takes months to appear at 70% humidity and only days at 90%.

The request form is on our custom room dividers page.

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Frequently asked questions

How much does a room divider cost in Thailand?

As checked in September 2026: a folding PVC screen runs about 600 to 1,900 THB per square yard, or 1,400 to 2,600 THB per square metre cut to size. Wooden folding screens run 3,000 to 4,100 THB, with designer pieces at about 14,500 THB. Fabric curtain dividers run 875 to 3,100 THB without the track. A handmade rattan screen is about 4,990 THB. Knotted rope screens by Macrame by Nicha are quoted piece by piece, through our made-to-order request page.

Can I make a room divider myself?

Yes, and a knotted rope curtain is the easiest place to start. It takes rope, a rail and patience. If you would rather learn the knots with us first, Macrame by Nicha runs macrame workshops where you can try it.

What is ฉากกั้นห้อง called in English?

ฉากกั้นห้อง (chak kan hong) is a room divider in English, the everyday term for a screen or piece of furniture placed to split a room into parts. A partition is a vertical structure that divides a room, and a folding screen is a set of panels joined by hinges, which Thai listings call ฉากกั้นห้องแบบพับ (a folding room divider).

Which room dividers block sound?

None of these five is built to block sound. A folding screen stops the line of sight, and a light curtain is too thin to stop sound, so it travels around it. A folding PVC screen or a heavy fabric curtain reduces it a little, while knotted rope, wood and rattan are for zoning and looks.

Can I drill the ceiling in a condo?

Owners do fix rails and tracks to condo ceilings, but tell the juristic person in advance. The ceiling boards hang on a metal frame fixed to the concrete slab, so ask your fitter where that frame runs before fixing a rail. Work that touches the structure or common property needs the building's approval, and a licensed engineer or architect has to sign it off.

How does a ฉากกั้นห้อง (room divider) differ from a พาร์ทิชั่น (partition)?

As objects, barely at all. The Thai office furniture trade uses Partition, พาร์ทิชั่น, ฉากกั้น (partition screen) and แผงกั้น (dividing panel) interchangeably, in three standard builds: solid, half-glass and full-glass.

The real difference is context: พาร์ทิชั่น is the office word and ฉากกั้นห้อง is the home word. Thai dictionaries themselves disagree on how to translate partition, giving แบ่งกั้น (to divide), ฝา (wall) and ฉาก (screen).

Can I partition a room without drilling the wall?

Yes. Three methods are in common use: a tension rod pressing between floor and ceiling, from about 2,000 THB; a light rail held by high-strength double-sided tape, from about 2,500 THB; and a free-standing movable rail system, from about 3,000 THB.

The option that fixes nothing at all is a free-standing folding screen, and nine of the ten picks in one 2026 Thai ranking are movable.

One limit worth knowing first: a curtain divider reduces the airflow between two zones rather than sealing it the way a permanent wall does.

What is the difference between a ready-made and a made-to-order room divider?

Ready-made comes in fixed sizes, 150 x 200, 180 x 250 and 180 x 350 cm in four to seven panels, and you assemble it yourself.

Made to order is cut to your width and your ceiling-to-floor drop. PVC screens are priced by the square yard or by the square metre depending on the installer, while knotted rope screens by Macrame by Nicha are quoted piece by piece, with your own choice of colour and pattern.

Can I partition a rented condo?

On the owner's side, the Condominium Act B.E. 2522, section 48(3), requires a resolution of the co-owners meeting for construction, decoration, improvement, alteration or extension of a unit that affects ทรัพย์ส่วนกลาง (common property) or the external appearance of the building, and section 72 sets a fine of up to 100,000 THB.

As a tenant, work from your lease and from the rules of the นิติบุคคลอาคารชุด (juristic person, the building's management), then choose a method that needs no drilling: a free-standing folding screen, a tension rod, or a movable floor-standing rail.

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