Condominium Act

A condominium is a building whose ownership can be split into parts, each part consisting of ownership of an individual unit (ห้องชุด) together with co-ownership of the common property (ทรัพย์ส่วนกลาง). Common property is the non-unit parts of the building, the land it stands on, and other land or assets held for shared use or benefit. A co-owner (เจ้าของร่วม) is the owner of a unit.

The owner of the land and building applies to the competent officer to register it as a condominium, filing the title deed, the plan including access to a public road, details of the units, individual property and common property, each unit's co-ownership ratio in the common property under Section 14, a declaration that the building is free of encumbrances (except a mortgage over building and land together), the draft bylaws and any other evidence set by ministerial regulation. The total unit area fixed at this application is the base for the Section 14 ratio and the Section 19 bis foreign ceiling.

If the officer orders that a condominium registration not be accepted, the applicant may appeal in writing to the Minister within 30 days of learning of the order. The Minister must decide within 60 days of receiving the appeal, and the Minister's decision is final.

Each co-owner's share in the common property equals the ratio of that unit's area to the total area of all units in the condominium, fixed as at the application to register the condominium under Section 6.

Co-owners must jointly bear taxes in proportion to their Section 14 ownership ratio. They must also jointly bear the cost of shared services, shared equipment and facilities, and the upkeep of the common property, either in proportion to the Section 14 ratio or in proportion to the benefit each unit receives, as the bylaws provide; the benefit alternative applies to these service and upkeep costs, not to taxes. The owner of the land and building is a co-owner of units not yet transferred and bears the expenses for them. Under Act (No. 4), Section 31, the earlier version of this section continues to apply to condominiums registered on or before that Act took effect.

A co-owner who does not pay Section 18 amounts on time owes a surcharge of up to 12% a year on the unpaid amount, without compounding, as the bylaws provide. A co-owner in arrears for six months or more owes a surcharge of up to 20% a year, may have shared services or use of common property suspended as the bylaws provide, and has no vote at general meetings. The surcharge counts as a Section 18 expense.

Foreign nationals and juristic persons treated as foreign may hold a unit only in five listed cases: (1) holders of a permit to reside in Thailand under immigration law; (2) foreigners admitted under investment-promotion law; (3) Thai-registered juristic persons within Land Code Sections 97 and 98; (4) juristic persons that are foreign under Revolutionary Council Announcement No. 281 of 24 November B.E. 2515 and hold an investment-promotion certificate; and (5) foreigners or foreign-treated juristic persons who bring foreign currency into Thailand or withdraw funds from a non-resident's baht account or from a foreign-currency deposit account.

The foreigners and juristic persons described in Section 19, taken together, may not hold more than 49% of the total area of all units in a condominium, measured as at the application to register it under Section 6. The ceiling is aggregate across all such holders and does not apply to Thai nationals. Under Act (No. 3) B.E. 2542, Section 9, holders who acquired under the former second paragraph of this section, and Section 19 persons who take transfer from them in succession, may keep those units even above the ratio, so the 49% limit bears on other, newer acquisitions. The officer registers a transfer to a foreign buyer only if the existing and incoming holdings together stay within the ratio (Section 19 quater).

On a transfer to a foreigner or foreign-treated juristic person, the transferor notifies the officer of the foreign holders and the area ratio they already hold, and the buyer shows evidence for their Section 19 category. For category (5) the evidence is proof of bringing foreign currency into Thailand, or of withdrawing from a non-resident's baht account or from a foreign-currency deposit account, in an amount not less than the price of the unit. Any of the three routes meets the requirement.

A Section 19 foreign holder must sell in five cases: inheriting units that, with existing foreign holdings, exceed the Section 19 bis ratio; loss or invalidity of the residence permit; deportation without leniency; refusal of permission to stay by the Board of Investment (category (2)); and revocation of the investment-promotion certificate (category (4)). The holder must notify the officer in writing within 60 days and dispose within one year of the triggering date. Only the excess is sold in the inheritance case; all units are sold in the others. If the holder does not sell in time, the Director-General of the Land Department may sell the unit.

A foreigner or foreign-treated juristic person that is not within Section 19 and acquires a unit by inheritance, as statutory heir, legatee or otherwise, must notify the officer in writing within 60 days of acquiring ownership and must dispose of the unit within one year of acquiring it. If it is not sold in time, the Director-General of the Land Department may sell it under the Section 19 quinquies mechanism.

A transfer of a unit can be registered only if the unit is free of unpaid Section 18 expenses, shown by the condominium juristic person's latest debt-free certificate. The manager must issue the certificate within 15 days of the request once the co-owner has paid all Section 18 debts. The rule does not apply to a transfer before the juristic person is registered.

The bylaws must at least contain: the name, which must include the words นิติบุคคลอาคารชุด; the Section 33 purpose; the office address, which must be in the condominium; the expenses co-owners must pay in advance; management of the common property; use of individual and common property; each unit's registered ownership ratio in the common property; the Section 18 expense-sharing ratio; and other matters set by ministerial regulation. Registered bylaws can be amended only by a resolution of the general meeting of co-owners, which the manager must register within 30 days of the resolution.

A condominium juristic person registered under Section 31 has the status of a juristic person. Its purpose is to manage and maintain the common property, and it may act for that purpose on the co-owners' resolutions and subject to the Act. Registration is applied for under Section 31 together with a transfer, and the manager is provided for in Section 35.

Each condominium juristic person has one manager, who may be an individual or a juristic person; if a juristic person, it appoints an individual to act for it. The manager's powers are in Section 36, which includes suing co-owners who have owed Section 18 expenses for more than six months.