Does it make sense to be a condominium committee member?

[Henryford]

I am a Committee member and i think it's worth it. After all this is my home and i want to have a say in how it is run/maintained.  It is not a big time commitment and hey i am retired i have plenty of time. Mostly farangs on our Committee which helps. Also important i think to keep on eye on the finances and who is not paying their common fee.

[arithai12]

12 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

In my condominium they are looking for new committee members. It seems few people are interested.

We have currently a few Thai people and a few farangs in the committee.

Does it make sense to become a member?

 

If I would do it, then for the reason to actually improve the building and regulations in the building.

I am not interested in "commissions", and I am not a control freak.

As an outsider, listening to the committee in meetings, it seems they are not efficient. Not the question is, do I criticize them from outside for all the things which they don't do or don't do good enough? Or do I become a member and be part of the problem?

 

Are you a committee member? What is your experience?

 

 

I have been a committee member for many years in my condo. Your question "does it make sense" has no answer because it really depends on the specifics of your condo. In some condos the administrators really inform and listen, in some others they don't. Happy overall with my own experience, but who knows about your context. Try it for one year, you can always resign. And drop "criticize", try to follow Thai ways.

[Peterw42]

I am on the committee for my 150 house moobaan, and its hilarious, as nothing ever happens.

I was involved in the "who didn't pick up their dogs poop" scandal of 2023, the only time the CCTV has ever been looked at. The number one current hot issue is a renter from number 23 not showering before swimming, extra ordinary committee meetings have been called, suggestions of police involvement, and the issue is still ongoing.

 

Jokes aside, I think its always good to be on the committee, just to keep an eye on things. Condo blocks can go from good to bad very quickly. And its usually to do with control of how the money gets spent. Some of the big blocks, its a significant amount of money and people want to get their hands on it. All of a sudden the gardening is contracted out to a 3rd party, being on the committee you can be aware that the gardening company is owned by somchai in condo 427.

[transam]

10 hours ago, G_Money said:

Sounds like she’s a good person.  Must have a great deal of patience.

 

At this point in my life I would not want to deal with any committee.  But then I try to choose where I live wisely.

You don't know how wise you were in your home choice until you have lived there for a while, unless your abode is in the middle of a bloody big field..........😉

[OneMoreFarang]

Thanks for even more of your helpful comments.

 

After reading this and some thinking I will probably not (try to) join the committee.

 

First, I thought I will join a group of managers and I will talk to them, and we will make decisions. I would like to join in such a scenario.

But the reality is that some committee members have no management skills and don't have a clue what managers are supposed to do. And then there are all the owners who ask the committee what is going on. And some of those owners are very annoying like they want everything done, but they ignore reality. And some don't want to pay.

Personally, in general, I get along with competent people, but I don't play well with incompetent idiots. I guess as a committee member I would be in a way like a politician. Be nice to everyone and be patient and all that. No, that is not my "style".

Luckily, I know two farang committee members well. I am pretty sure they are not corrupt and have basically the same goals that I have. I will continue to support them. Maybe I can do some things outside of the committee to help. But I don't want to do things which are just headache.

 

Thanks for all your comments. I appreciate them. 

 

[lkn]

6 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

She  suggested they were cleaned but most  owners  dont want to pay for it. Result they never get cleaned

The “trick” is to just put it in the budget, rather than propose some extra expense for something specific.

 

I got several bigger projects approved indirectly via the budget and we now have more service of our equipment plus yearly deep cleaning including windows, etc.

 

Things are fairly cheap in Thailand, but it’s also easy to overpay, especially if you go for companies that have English speaking staff. There are also expenses like electricity consumption that can be looked into, I got our power consumption reduced significantly by switching everything to LED.

[AverageAussie]

@Rampant Rabbit  I can feel your frustration with those windows. Whilst the view is nice, cleaning is a definite minus when you have floor to ceiling windows without the balcony.

 

Fortunately labour is relatively cheap in Thailand, so the abseilers wouldn't have broken the bank. I probably would have done the same - especially if I was intending to sell the unit. Perceptions matter & a couple of thousand Baht spent here might have added fifty thousand Baht of value.

 

And even if the committee wasn't on board, I would have gone a step further and canvassed other owners if they wanted to come on board with a "joint" cleaning project - so shared some of the expense.

[AverageAussie]

@OneMoreFarang - I respect your decision. It was probably #1 and a bit of #3 of my points that warranted a "No".

 

Do keep your ear to the ground and stay close to those 2 farang committee members. The bridge will always be there - at least whilst they're involved.

Edited March 17 by AverageAussie
Minor typo

[Toby1947]

What's the point when the majority of Thais don't pay their maintenance. Always remember the nursery rhyme London bridge is falling down 

[OneMoreFarang]

3 minutes ago, Toby1947 said:

What's the point when the majority of Thais don't pay their maintenance. Always remember the nursery rhyme London bridge is falling down 

That is not so bad in my condominium.

There were lots of people who didn't pay. And then it was decided to do some legal action against them. Now almost everybody paid.

[Grusa]

If you do join the committee, be sure to read and understand in detail the Condominium Act.

If you don't, be sure to read and understand in detail the Condominium Act.

Very often committee members have no idea whether what they are doing is legal, their obligations or their rights,and the possible legal consequences. Nor do their co-owners.....

Edited March 18 by Grusa
clarification

[digbeth]

usually the condo's line group is a good indicator of how much mess you'll be dealing with 

[Mark Nothing]

It took me a year to get the votes required to install toilet paper dispensers and soap in the communal toilets from the committee.

 

I had to install a crying baby ring tone on my phone.  But owners kept calling.

 

Only join the committee If you have a quorum of owners on the committee who will vote for your projects so you can enact what you desire.  Otherwise you will have to listen to those who require 5 years research and discussion from blocking your every move.

[jojothai]

On 3/17/2024 at 9:40 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

Thanks for all your comments. I appreciate them. 

 

I agree that many good comments warn you off joining.
Yes, if it is just a passing idea with no real reason or commitment.

Otherwise, perhaps consider two factors as follows:

1. Is the condo being run reasonably well, and being maintained.
What kind of complaints do they get and are they being addressed.
If you go to the meetings and see participation from attendees , and action being done. 
Then why get involved?
On the other hand if nothing is happening about problems, then consider if you can make any difference.
Its no good if you see the committee doing nothing and you would be a lone voice.

if you know committee members and understand that they want improvement, then they may need another voice. 

But also see the next point that i make.

 

2. Can you make any difference?

How many people do you know in the condo? Can you generate support needed at AGMs?
Are you familiar with some of the problems raised and can contribute to solutions?

 

I have owned five condos and seen many different situations.
So let me give some info that may help you or others thinks about this.

 

I had two condo well maintained in Bangkok what i saw and went to AGMs looked ok. No reasons to get involved.

 

i had two condos in a very badly maintained condo in Jomtien, where the thai developer was creaming off whatever money he could.

He controlled the committee and votes. No maintenance and the condo was badly rated and cheap.
I got to know many people in the condo. Not intentional, but it Included some with big votes.
I took over a satellite tv box system for over 40 people (took over from the guy who set it up, Unfortunately he had to leave).

So I had a lot of people telling me the problems and could generate a large vote in AGMs.

I joined the committee in agreement with some of the other members so that we eventually controlled the vote and ousted the developer.

Then it took us a few years to eventually get owners to agree to extra maintenance payments to get many issues fixed.
Needed external repair and painting. Transformer problems. Lifts not serviced. Old water piping. no proper security, etc ....
I left the committee when i had to work overseas again and it appeared that things were under control.

Then fyi, after several years of dragging on court cases the condo won their battle against the original developer for compensation.

 

i have a condo in Bangkok that was old and needed renovation and improvements. I still have it.
I could not commit to joining the committee, Then i had overseas jobs a lot of the time.

However at the AGMs i got to know some of the committee members who were trying to get improvements done.
I used to talk to them and advise comments and suggestions for some of the improvements. I am an experienced Civil / Buildiing engineer.

Some other co-owners contributed comments when they had joined in discussing problems and assisted in some more detail where they had expertise.  e.g. one guy knew how to get the water piping checked properly for corrosion and got a cheap survey done. All common piping then got replaced.
Renewing the three lifts was discussed many times over several years and it took a couple of AGMs before co-owners agreed to pay the cost.
The work was an important safety issue and has just been completed.

On both the last two condo comments above, the condo committee formed some groups of co-owners to assist in looking at proposals to solve issues and get proposals developed for the committee.

So, You do not have to be on the committee to contribute.

 

Lessons.
Don't get involved unless you think there are problems that need fixing, or / and you can contribute.

Be aware that for improvements it can take a long time, and you have to persevere.

You can contribute even if you are not on the committee.

 

And from knowledge of may other condo problems, i agree with the posters who point out that committees can be a waste of time if there are Thai controlling votes from people who don't care and just want to collect the rent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Henryford]

On 3/18/2024 at 8:46 AM, Toby1947 said:

What's the point when the majority of Thais don't pay their maintenance. Always remember the nursery rhyme London bridge is falling down 

 

We only have about 10% of Thais in my condo and those are the ones who don't pay their common fees (until we take them to Court). If the building had 100% Thais there would be zero maintenance done.

Edited March 21 by Henryford

[OneMoreFarang]

13 minutes ago, Henryford said:

We only have about 10% of Thais in my condo and those are the ones who don't pay their common fees (until we take them to Court). If the building had 100% Thais there would be zero maintenance done.

Maybe the problem is not so much the fact that they are Thai but the collection of the fees.

If people have to pay, then they normally do - if they are able to pay.

If they experience that they get away with not paying, then I guess they would call anybody stupid who voluntarily pays.

In "my" condominium they started to sue people who didn't pay. Now almost everybody has paid up. 

[OneMoreFarang]

14 minutes ago, Henryford said:

We only have about 10% of Thais in my condo

How does that work if >50% must be owned by Thais? 

[Henryford]

14 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How does that work if >50% must be owned by Thais? 

 

40% are empty unsold, owned by the original developer. They don't pay their common fees either, until we take them to court. Which is stupid really because they have to pay eventually plus quite large interest and penalty fees.

Edited March 21 by Henryford

[NanLaew]

On 3/16/2024 at 10:05 PM, G_Money said:

But then I try to choose where I live wisely.

 

So, which country are you currently living in?

[OneMoreFarang]

4 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

On 3/16/2024 at 10:05 PM, G_Money said:

But then I try to choose where I live wisely.

 

So, which country are you currently living in?

 

I live in Thailand. Looking at the rest of the world and possible future problems Thailand seems like a good location. 

[NanLaew]

On 3/16/2024 at 10:05 PM, G_Money said:

Sounds like she’s a good person.  Must have a great deal of patience.

 

At this point in my life I would not want to deal with any committee.  But then I try to choose where I live wisely.

 

I don't think that making Thailand one's home is a wise choice.

 

Why aren't you living in your home country?