Thai Director Cut My Electric

[ukfriend]

I bought a apartment 6 year ago, lease hold and from day one had water penetration problem, the original developers and directors seized a opportunity to off load the company to a fellow owner, the new Director turned out to be a complete liability and increased the fee's without maintenance being carried out. At this point owners/ lessee's sort advice from a lawyer who said "only pay the original fee's in the original lease agreement" until maintenance can be seen to be done. The development went from bad to worse and the farang director handed the company to his Thai girlfriend. Now 2 years on, my apartment is unsellable, unrentable and worthless so it has become very personal and the final straw is that the Thai director cut my electric. So with my paperwork i went straight to the police, they agreed 100% with me, said it's illegal for the Thai director to cut my electric, as i'd paid all my electric in full and the legal fee's, but they are powerless to order her to reconnect the electric only the courts can do that, at which she said "i'm Director i can do anything", the police explained i'd have to seek a court order to have the electric reconnected. The Thai director thinks she is a power unto herself, not professional, knows nothing about Thai company law, has no respect for the protocols of which the companies adhere to (articles of association), does anyone know is there a authority or system between the police and court system i can contact, By the time i instruct my lawyer, then register money at the courts it quite expensive. Is there anyone that can help personally, please PM me if you can

[katabeachbum]

Just reminding about Thai laws and Forum rules against naming and shaming. So no names or location please

[LivinginKata]

I would say that the police are giving you good advice. The only legal method would be to apply for a court order. Unfortunately that will likely take a very long time and cost quite a lot.

[danbradster]

What is her reason for cutting the electricity?

[BillR]

If you rented, you could just move and forget about the whole thing.

[katabeachbum]

I would say that the police are giving you good advice. The only legal method would be to apply for a court order. Unfortunately that will likely take a very long time and cost quite a lot.

I have been there before, I mean cut elecric and water supply in the first property I bought here +7 years ago.

A lawyer should for 10-20k baht bring the case up for a quick court (forget the name). The court can then come to property and have you connected, they will bring Police to protect and enforce. start on tuesday (mondays are crowded in court building) and you ll be done by friday.

You need to prove you have paid as agreed on. You need to make court believe it is impossible to live in this apartment, and you do not have somewhere else to live. What we did was to fill up the toilets with, well you know what.

You need to have someone do the actual connection work when court arrives. They want to leave again in 30 minutes

The court also issues a warning to "owner"/disconnector, and next time they do will be a criminal act Police can handle (breach of court order).

It is important to keep the case quiet until court appears on premises, cause if they arrive and find you have electric connected they can not issue warning to "owner". Court knows this so they call for Police just when they arrive, not giving time for any leaks

Be aware the "owner" will loose face, so make sure you are protected for some weeks or months

Good luck

[ukfriend]

Any repairs i'm having to do myself, even in the common area's, the company refuse to pay towards anything, so enough is enough and i started billing the company for the repairs, no success there, the communal water system failed so i ended up being there at the time of the repair and paid for it, it was only 1000B, and deducted it from my monthly fee's, but still paid my electric in full, as they refuse to do any repairs it's the only cause of action owners can take, i agree it'll have to go the provincial courts sometime soon, several owners decided to have work done to stop the water penetration at our expense, the director refused entry to the workers, no expense to her company, how crazy is that!!!

What is her reason for cutting the electricity?

Edited January 17, 2011 by ukfriend

[Kernow86]

Any repairs i'm having to do myself, even in the common area's, the company refuse to pay towards anything, so enough is enough and i started billing the company for the repairs, no success there, the communal water system failed so i ended up being there at the time of the repair and paid for it, it was only 1000B, and deducted it from my monthly fee's, but still paid my electric in full, as they refuse to do any repairs it's the only cause of action owners can take, i agree it'll have to go the provincial courts sometime soon, several owners decided to have work done to stop the water penetration at our expense, the director refused entry to the workers, no expense to her company, how crazy is that!!!

What is her reason for cutting the electricity?

I live in pretty nice place with good structure, design and location. My current landlord is the best so far(i have had 4) but he still refuses to fix certain things such as drainage, non essential elecrics etc. It baffles me that people don't seem to want to maintain even a quite high end property. The swimming pool has 6 lights in it - only one works. His argument is that one is good enough. This is common with all the landlords i have had here - even the one farrang.

Bah mak.

[ukfriend]

just a quick update, seemly to can seek lost revenue (if i can prove my apartment is worth 20-30,000 rental income per month), as there electricity disconnection was 100% illegal, my lawyer says easy to get the electric back via the courts, but suggests to inform fellow owners to file there grievances and complaints with the patong then Phuket town police, the Director will be run ragged, and get owners together as a collective, let the director know i'm in no hurry and at any time i can get a court order to have the electric reconnected.

[mikebike]

It baffles me that people don't seem to want to maintain even a quite high end property.

Its really quite simple. In asia, in general, maintenance is considered the responsibility of the renter, not the landlord - diametrically opposing the western convention which makes maintenance the landlord's responsibility. It is also ultimately easier and cheaper for the landlord to do a full renno when you are gone rather than dealing with everything that goes wrong while you are there... Simple no?

[thaiwanderer]

just a quick update, seemly to can seek lost revenue (if i can prove my apartment is worth 20-30,000 rental income per month), as there electricity disconnection was 100% illegal, my lawyer says easy to get the electric back via the courts, but suggests to inform fellow owners to file there grievances and complaints with the patong then Phuket town police, the Director will be run ragged, and get owners together as a collective, let the director know i'm in no hurry and at any time i can get a court order to have the electric reconnected.

You said it was unrentable remember?

While I sympathise with your predicament I suspect the elecricity being cut off may have been due to your not paying fees?

Seems you've unilaterally decided to do work yourself when not allowed to and hoping to bill them - born out of frustration I'm sure, but in relation to the general problems (electricty aside) you should band together with other owners at the very least.

Is this a lease condo or lease apartment? If the latter how legal is it?

in any case was none of this envisaged and adequately dealt with in the management agreement?

[harrry]

THe Condo act does allow the condo to prevent access to common areas and that includes the path to your Condo. As electriciy and water also pass through common areas it is considered they may shut that off in breachj of thecondo regulations by the owner. Non payment of maintainance fees in full is such a breach. It is probable that the court however would order imediate connection in case of a dispute which would then inolve you having to claim against the condo and them against you with a negotiated outcome being cheaper and preferable to a court imposed one on either.

[ukfriend]

Yes, i 100% stand by with what i said, my apartment is unrentable but when they have cut my electric illegally and i'm getting mucked about so despicably in the eyes of the law i'll make it rentable. Again on the advice of my lawyer i pay the original legal lease agreement fee's, not there inflated fee's with no maintenance carried out. In the eyes of the law i pay full fee's, no amendments or contracts have ever been presented or signed to agree the inflated fee's, It's not me saying the disconnection is illegal, it's the phuket police and my lawyer and the phuket provincial courts. I am the lessee, the Director is the lessor. The dispute over the maintenance is a separate issue and if i have paid my electric fully up to date without any clauses in lease agreements or contracts stating reasons to cut electric, then it's deemed 100% illegal. My original query was does anyone know really how to get the electric reconnected without the expense of going to court. A intermediate governing body between the police and the court system.

THe Condo act does allow the condo to prevent access to common areas and that includes the path to your Condo. As electriciy and water also pass through common areas it is considered they may shut that off in breachj of thecondo regulations by the owner. Non payment of maintainance fees in full is such a breach. It is probable that the court however would order imediate connection in case of a dispute which would then inolve you having to claim against the condo and them against you with a negotiated outcome being cheaper and preferable to a court imposed one on either.

[thaiwanderer]

Yes, i 100% stand by with what i said, my apartment is unrentable but when they have cut my electric illegally and i'm getting mucked about so despicably in the eyes of the law i'll make it rentable. Again on the advice of my lawyer i pay the original legal lease agreement fee's, not there inflated fee's with no maintenance carried out. In the eyes of the law i pay full fee's, no amendments or contracts have ever been presented or signed to agree the inflated fee's, It's not me saying the disconnection is illegal, it's the phuket police and my lawyer and the phuket provincial courts. I am the lessee, the Director is the lessor. The dispute over the maintenance is a separate issue and if i have paid my electric fully up to date without any clauses in lease agreements or contracts stating reasons to cut electric, then it's deemed 100% illegal. My original query was does anyone know really how to get the electric reconnected without the expense of going to court. A intermediate governing body between the police and the court system.

There is no intermidiary. Pay your lawyer and instruct them to file a case forthwith (since you are so convinced the electricity is an entirely separate issue).

(I queried the 'unrentable' since you seemed to be saying the 'clear cut' electricity issue gave rise to a loss of rent claim but if for non-electric reasons the apartment wasn't rentable anyway that doesn't hold true)

Is it a Condoinium or merely an Apartment?