Thai Condo Fees and the Owners' Meeting: CAM Fees, Sinking Funds and Your Vote
Who Runs Your Building
Every Thai condominium is managed by a Condominium Juristic Person: all co-owners are its members, the general meeting is the top decision body, an elected committee supervises, and day-to-day operations sit with the juristic manager or a hired management company. The framework comes from the Condominium Act, and foreign owners hold essentially the same rights as Thai owners — yet many never attend or vote, effectively handing their building's wallet to others. Check the Act and your building's regulations for specifics.
The Two Pots of Money
| Charge | How it's collected | Reference level |
|---|---|---|
| CAM fee (common area management) | Monthly rate per square meter of ownership, typically billed annually | Roughly 35-60 THB/sqm/month in ordinary buildings, 70+ in luxury ones |
| Sinking fund | One-time payment at transfer; top-ups possible by resolution for major works | Roughly 400-1,000 THB/sqm |
| Utilities | Metered | Electricity at government rates or with building surcharges — ask before buying |
Do the math: a 50 sqm unit at 50 THB/sqm/month is 30,000 THB a year — the largest holding cost, and one to budget at purchase; see our property buying guide.
How the General Meeting Works
- The AGM meets annually to review accounts, budgets, fee rates and committee elections
- Votes are weighted by ownership ratio (floor area share), not one-vote-per-unit; short quorums trigger adjourned meetings with lower thresholds under the rules
- Different matters need different majorities: routine resolutions pass on simple majority; touching the sinking fund, amending regulations and major works need special majorities
- Foreign owners attend, vote and stand for the committee; absent owners can vote by proxy
- Meeting notices go out per the regulations — overseas owners should register an email address with the juristic office and keep it current
What Happens If You Don't Pay
- Late charges: the Condominium Act allows interest and surcharges on arrears, escalating with time
- Service restrictions: some buildings restrict key-card upgrades or parking for defaulters under their rules (basic access can't be cut)
- The transfer chokepoint: the Land Office requires a debt-free certificate from the juristic person to transfer the unit — arrears must be cleared first, and owners discovering years of accumulated fees plus penalties at the point of sale is a recurring story
- The juristic person can sue, with costs following the loss
Fees on a rented-out unit remain the owner's burden unless the lease says otherwise — remote owners should set up annual payment handling; see our landlord guide.
Dealing With Bad Management
- Documents first: co-owners have the right to inspect the juristic person's accounts and meeting minutes — the most efficient starting point
- Complain in writing to the committee about service failures (broken lifts, closed pools, thinned security); the record grounds later action
- Organize: owners holding the threshold percentage under the rules can force an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) — changing the management company and re-electing the committee both happen by resolution
- For serious misconduct (embezzlement, forged resolutions), complain to the authorities and pursue liability
Practical reality: a lone complaining owner gets ignored; an organized 10-15% of voting weight gets the juristic manager's full attention. In buildings with many foreign owners, an owners' chat group is the cheapest governance infrastructure there is.
FAQ
Can the juristic person raise CAM fees on its own?
No. Fee rates are a general meeting matter and increases need a resolution under the building's rules. On receiving a raise notice, ask for the resolution behind it — a raise without a meeting can be challenged, with the old rate applying.
The developer's affiliated management company is doing a poor job — can owners replace it?
Yes. Developer-affiliated management in a building's early years is a high-frequency complaint, and the general meeting has the power to replace the manager and the management company — it takes organized voting weight, nothing more. When buying resale, whether a building has ever changed managers is a useful signal of how alive its owner governance is.
I live abroad and the meeting papers are all in Thai — how do I participate?
Three steps: register your email with the juristic office for meeting notices; give a proxy to a trusted person in Thailand to attend and vote; and in the years that matter (fee raises, sinking fund spending, management changes) have the agenda translated before deciding your vote. Full abstention means accepting every resolution passively.
Need Help?
TaiHuBang supports condo owners: fee statement review and payment handling, meeting agenda translation and proxy attendance, debt-free certificate processing and legal referral for management disputes. See our legal consulting service, or submit an inquiry — a consultant will reply within 24 hours.