Thai Condo Juristic Person, Sinking Fund, and CAM Fees: 2026 Guide for Foreign Owners

Why building governance matters more than the lobby

A foreign buyer can own a Thai condominium unit in freehold when the unit fits the foreign-quota rules, but that title does not make the building run itself. The pool, lifts, roof, fire system, car park, waste system, insurance, security staff, and long-term repairs are managed through the condominium juristic person, known in Thai as the นิติบุคคลอาคารชุด.

This is where many foreign owners misread the risk. They compare view, floor, transfer fee, rent yield, and resale price, then treat the monthly common-area fee as a small afterthought. In a well-run building, that fee protects the value of the unit. In a weak building, the fee can be too low, arrears can grow, repairs can be deferred, and a cheap purchase can become an expensive ownership problem.

The issue is not only legal. It is financial. A condo is a private unit inside a shared machine. If the shared machine is underfunded, every unit owner is exposed. That is why a buyer who has already read our guide to hidden purchase costs in Thailand should also check the building balance sheet before signing.

What the condominium juristic person actually does

The Condominium Act B.E. 2522 creates the framework. Section 13 gives each unit owner personal ownership in the unit and joint ownership in common property. Section 15 lists common property, including the land, structural frame, common-use parts of the building, shared machines, facilities, the juristic-person office, and building systems such as fire, lighting, ventilation, drainage, wastewater, and waste disposal systems.

Section 33 then gives the registered juristic condominium legal status and an objective: manage and maintain common property for the benefit of that objective, subject to the Act and co-owner resolutions. This matters because the office cannot properly spend common funds on unrelated private favors. Its mandate is the building.

Day to day, the juristic person usually works through three layers. The manager represents the juristic person, signs for it, prepares monthly receipt and expense accounts, handles urgent safety matters, and can sue for long-overdue expenses when the legal conditions are met. The committee monitors management, calls board meetings, and acts as the owner-side control point. The professional management company, if one is hired, runs operations under contract.

Do not confuse these roles. A friendly juristic office clerk is not the law. A developer sales team is not the building owner after handover. A management company is a contractor, not the ultimate decision maker. The real power sits in the Act, the registered bylaws, the committee, the manager, and the co-owner meeting.

For a foreign owner, the practical question is simple: can the building turn legal authority, owner money, and maintenance planning into reliable execution? If it cannot, your title deed may be clean while the building around it loses condition.

CAM fees vs the sinking fund

Thai buyers and agents often use several labels in conversation: common fee, CAM fee, maintenance fee, ค่าส่วนกลาง, fund, reserve, and เงินกองทุน. The legal and practical difference is important.

CAM fees, or common-area maintenance fees, are recurring charges used for ordinary building operations. They pay for security, cleaning, shared electricity, lift service contracts, pool and gym upkeep, gardening, pest control, waste collection, management staff, accounting, small repairs, and other running costs. Under section 18, co-owners share expenses for common services and the maintenance and operation of common property according to the ownership ratio or benefit ratio set by the bylaws.

The sinking fund is a reserve for larger works and future capital needs. Section 40 refers to money paid to the juristic person for its business, including advance expenses, a fund upon starting an activity under the bylaws or a general meeting resolution, and other money for carrying out a general meeting resolution. In market language, the sinking fund is the building's repair reserve.

In new-build projects in 2026, a common market range is roughly THB 40 to 100 per sqm per month for CAM in mid-market and premium buildings, with budget or older buildings sometimes below that and luxury projects often above it. Sinking-fund collections commonly sit around THB 500 to 1,000 per sqm at handover, while premium and branded projects may ask more. These are market norms, not fixed statutory rates.

Older buildings require a different test. A low CAM rate can be a sign of discipline, but it can also be a sign that the owners have refused to fund reality. A 20-year building with old lifts, aging waterproofing, tired pipes, and a thin reserve may need a special assessment even if the monthly fee looks cheap.

A buyer comparing two condos should not only ask, "What is the fee?" Ask, "What does the fee cover, what is excluded, how much is unpaid, and what major work is coming?" This links directly to the long-run ownership math in our 10-year Thailand condo cost guide.

Budget, AGM, committee, and co-owner voting

The annual general meeting is not a formality. Section 42/1 requires an ordinary annual meeting once a year within 120 days from the end of the accounting year. The meeting considers the balance sheet, annual report, auditor appointment, and other matters. Section 38/1 requires a balance sheet at least once every 12-month accounting cycle, audited and submitted to the meeting. Section 38/2 requires an annual operational report sent with the balance sheet to co-owners at least seven days before the meeting.

Votes are not one person, one vote. Section 45 says each co-owner votes according to the ownership ratio in common property. This is usually tied to unit area or the registered common-property ratio. Section 43 sets the general meeting quorum at at least one fourth of total votes for the first meeting. If the first meeting lacks quorum, a second meeting can be called under the Act.

Some decisions need more than a simple majority. Section 48 requires at least half of total co-owner votes for major matters such as disposing of common-property real estate, altering bylaws on common-property use or management, changing the common-expense ratio in the bylaws, construction that changes common property, or exploiting common property. If the first meeting cannot reach the required attendance for those matters, the Act provides a lower one-third total-vote threshold at the second meeting for the listed matters.

Section 49 requires at least one fourth of total co-owner votes for appointment or removal of the manager and for defining what work the manager can assign to others. This is the lever owners use when management has lost trust.

Foreign owners can vote if they are registered co-owners and are not restricted by arrears rules. Section 18/1 allows surcharges for unpaid section 18 expenses, and owners with arrears from six months upward may face suspension from common services or use of common property as set in the bylaws, plus loss of voting rights at the general meeting. If you buy a resale unit, always confirm that unpaid fees have been cleared before transfer.

Owner rights when management underperforms

Bad management usually shows itself in patterns: late financial statements, vague invoices, no tender comparison, weak arrears collection, under-insured common property, repeated lift failures, water leaks left unresolved, poor minutes, and a committee that cannot explain where the money goes. A foreign owner should respond through documents and votes rather than anger at the front desk.

Start with records. Section 36 requires the manager to prepare a monthly receipt and expenditure account and post it on the bulletin board within 15 days from month end. Sections 38/1 to 38/3 deal with annual accounts, reports, and record retention. Owners should ask for the latest audited financial statement, annual report, AGM minutes, budget, arrears report, insurance summary, and contracts for major services.

If the issue is operational, write to the manager and committee with a dated request. If the issue is budget control, ask for the agenda item before the AGM. If enough owners agree, section 42/2 allows co-owners holding not less than 20 percent of total votes to request an extraordinary general meeting. If the board does not call it within the Act's timeline, those co-owners can arrange the meeting themselves under the statute.

If the manager is the problem, the legal route is a general meeting vote under section 49. If the committee is weak, owners can stand for committee roles or vote in better members. If a service provider is poor, owners can press the committee to retender. If there is a legal dispute, use a Thai property lawyer rather than relying on chat groups.

Do not assume the juristic person can do anything it wants to force payment or discipline owners. Tilleke & Gibbins notes Thai Supreme Court rulings on common-fee disputes where blocking use of common property to compel payment can be treated as wrongful. At the same time, unpaid fees are serious. The juristic person has statutory tools, surcharges, voting restrictions, debt clearance controls, and court claims.

What to check before buying

Before buying, treat the juristic-person file like part of due diligence. This is just as important as checking foreign quota, title deed, transfer taxes, and the structure discussed in our ownership vehicle guide.

Ask for the current CAM rate in THB per sqm per month, the payment schedule, and whether fees are paid monthly, quarterly, or annually in advance. Ask whether parking, internet, cable, meter service, insurance, pest control, or facility access are billed separately. Some listings show a neat common fee but leave out other owner-level charges.

Ask for the sinking-fund balance and compare it with building age. A five-year building with a modest reserve may be fine if major systems are still young. A 25-year building with a small reserve, old lifts, roof leaks, facade issues, and no capital plan is a different risk. The right question is not only, "How much is in the fund?" It is, "What major work will the building need in the next five years, and has money already been reserved for it?"

Ask for fee arrears. High arrears mean paying owners carry the building while non-paying owners delay the budget. If arrears are concentrated in many unsold developer units, investor-owned units, or disputed units, the risk is not only collection. It is governance. Low participation at meetings can leave decisions to a small group.

Ask for the latest audited financial statements. Look for cash balance, receivables, payables, repair expenses, insurance, management fees, legal fees, and capital spending. A building can look polished while the accounts show rising debt. A building can look plain while the accounts show disciplined reserves and stable collections.

Ask for AGM minutes from at least the last two meetings. Look for fee increases, special assessments, disputes, changes of manager, insurance issues, structural repairs, lift replacement, facade work, water leakage, fire system work, and owner complaints. Minutes often reveal what sales brochures omit.

Ask for the insurance summary. The juristic person's master policy normally covers common property, not your furniture, renovations, tenant liability, or loss of rent. Our Thai property insurance guide for foreign owners explains why unit-level cover still matters.

Ask about inheritance and absence. Foreign owners often hold units from overseas, miss AGMs, and leave documents scattered. That creates risk if fees go unpaid, proxies are not arranged, or the owner dies. Tie this file to your annual routine with our foreign-owner compliance calendar and our guide to what happens when a foreign owner dies.

The practical decision rule

For a foreign buyer, the best condo is rarely the unit with the lowest monthly fee. It is the building where the fee matches the service level, the reserve matches the age of the asset, the accounts are clear, arrears are controlled, insurance is current, and owners can replace weak management through the meeting process.

Use this rule before signing: if the seller or agent cannot provide the financial statement, AGM minutes, fee schedule, sinking-fund balance, arrears confirmation, and insurance summary, pause. A good unit in a weak building is not a clean investment. It is a private apartment attached to a shared liability.

The juristic-person system is not perfect, but it gives owners tools. Read the bylaws. Attend the AGM or appoint a valid proxy. Track the budget. Pay your fees on time. Ask for documents. Vote on the manager and committee. A foreign owner who does these basics is much better protected than a buyer who only sees the room.

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