Enforcing 'By Laws' In A Secure Development?

[golferchin76]

So all in all you CAN get things running smoothly if you try it would seem. Things can always be improved if people want to see that happen. I wish you luck with your development.

If anybody needs any information regarding any of the above please feel free to contact me.

Hi,

I carefully read the whole thread before I write this post.

First I try to ignore most of those useless rants because that's what TV is all about. Most people in this forum have nothing better to do, are pessimistic, are happy to shower you with cold water all day long.

Secondly, to answer your OP. A mooban's committee has no real power other than cause annoyance, to "legally enforce" any resolution. The term enforce means execute, compel by force. There is no "legal law" to back this up because it can and will lead to abuse.

There are a few useful posts stated that residents are obligated to pay monthly community maintenance fees, etc. If not, the committee in charge can take them to court. This is the best THE real law can do, and the result is to only get the payment in line. Residents cannot be fined, jailed, forced to comply with anything other than pay the community maintenance fee. Also, those particular residents can and may choose to leave the community (not physically), and the law says one can't do a thing about it. (I mean the real law does not say what you can do about it.)

Thirdly, why am I reading this thread.

The community I am about to move in, is a 75-ish unit gated mooban. Each house's worth is about 15 million baht or more, so you can get a feel of what type of community this is about. (everyone thinks he/she is right, no one agrees with anyone, people have BIG attitudes, etc.). I bought the house second-hand from my elder sister and am in the renovation process. I have lived here with my sister a couple of years ago and I liked the layout and the atmosphere of this mooban very much, but not most of the people. Some are great, but many are beyond reasonable.

But, the flood came and went. So earlier this year to rebuild, the committee has decided to collect up front the whole year's maintenance fee, which I happily paid because the waist high flood destroyed everything beautiful.

Do you know what nut scheme the same committee has resolved to proceed next? It decided that it will build a flood deterrent wall on the inside of the existing wall of the mooban. Therefore, I am in the process of researching, if I can "legally" object and say, "hey, do what you want to do, but fuc_k off I am not paying for the 100,000 baht you are asking."

I am not going to comply because of simple reasons:

1. more than 20 housess backyard are attached to the wall. And the plan is to build up on the inside of the wall. Will you let someone build a 1.3 meter high x 20cm thick wall that eats up your backyard space, not to mention its look? My house is not affected but I certainly would not if I am one of those residents.

2. The construction has already started!! even without budget collected from every household. Where did the star-up money come from? Did the committee abuse the up front community maintenance fee? The money that was to rebuild the look of the mooban and not other purpose?

3. Of course not all has agreed to this nut scheme. For residents whose backyard is attached to the wall, almost all are against the scheme. For residents like me, I am against it because I foresee the plan will fail eventually as it eats into other residents private property. When it fails, it becomes an incomplete project. What follows is a build contractor vs. mooban law suit. If the court favors the contractor, then every house owner 'check bin' to an unfinished wall. And this time around is really paying because it is hard to live in a mooban with a committee declared bankrupt.

4. Not to mention that I simply do not believe a chest high flood can be deterred. There are holes everywhere. I came from a flood prone country. The idea is: evacuate and rebuild. Move to higher ground if you can afford it.

Your goal is to create a better community for all. I say luckily the REAL law does not support the by-laws.

[travelmann]

Sounds like your trying to impose ridiculous western values on this lovely idiot free country we love... Go HOME

Agreed.

Pathetic when some communities tries to state what colors one can re-paint the house in, the length of the grass in the yard and other such nonsense.

Which is why many look like sh**e after a few years.

[StreetCowboy]

Sounds like your trying to impose ridiculous western values on this lovely idiot free country we love... Go HOME

I guess some of our members would rather live in Sierra Leone, but as far as I can tell, the general consensus in Thailand is that a move towards law and order, and stable, deterministic and predictable legislation is seen as a good thing.

I would rather that the rules were changed to reflect the way that we want to live, rather than breaking the rules or enforcing extrajudicial dictats. Gangsters and rogues may disagree, but I think most Thais would concur

SC

[StreetCowboy]

So all in all you CAN get things running smoothly if you try it would seem. Things can always be improved if people want to see that happen. I wish you luck with your development.

If anybody needs any information regarding any of the above please feel free to contact me.

Hi,

I carefully read the whole thread before I write this post.

First I try to ignore most of those useless rants because that's what TV is all about. Most people in this forum have nothing better to do, are pessimistic, are happy to shower you with cold water all day long.

Secondly, to answer your OP. A mooban's committee has no real power other than cause annoyance, to "legally enforce" any resolution. The term enforce means execute, compel by force. There is no "legal law" to back this up because it can and will lead to abuse.

There are a few useful posts stated that residents are obligated to pay monthly community maintenance fees, etc. If not, the committee in charge can take them to court. This is the best THE real law can do, and the result is to only get the payment in line. Residents cannot be fined, jailed, forced to comply with anything other than pay the community maintenance fee. Also, those particular residents can and may choose to leave the community (not physically), and the law says one can't do a thing about it. (I mean the real law does not say what you can do about it.)

Thirdly, why am I reading this thread.

The community I am about to move in, is a 75-ish unit gated mooban. Each house's worth is about 15 million baht or more, so you can get a feel of what type of community this is about. (everyone thinks he/she is right, no one agrees with anyone, people have BIG attitudes, etc.). I bought the house second-hand from my elder sister and am in the renovation process. I have lived here with my sister a couple of years ago and I liked the layout and the atmosphere of this mooban very much, but not most of the people. Some are great, but many are beyond reasonable.

But, the flood came and went. So earlier this year to rebuild, the committee has decided to collect up front the whole year's maintenance fee, which I happily paid because the waist high flood destroyed everything beautiful.

Do you know what nut scheme the same committee has resolved to proceed next? It decided that it will build a flood deterrent wall on the inside of the existing wall of the mooban. Therefore, I am in the process of researching, if I can "legally" object and say, "hey, do what you want to do, but fuc_k off I am not paying for the 100,000 baht you are asking."

I am not going to comply because of simple reasons:

1. more than 20 housess backyard are attached to the wall. And the plan is to build up on the inside of the wall. Will you let someone build a 1.3 meter high x 20cm thick wall that eats up your backyard space, not to mention its look? My house is not affected but I certainly would not if I am one of those residents.

2. The construction has already started!! even without budget collected from every household. Where did the star-up money come from? Did the committee abuse the up front community maintenance fee? The money that was to rebuild the look of the mooban and not other purpose?

3. Of course not all has agreed to this nut scheme. For residents whose backyard is attached to the wall, almost all are against the scheme. For residents like me, I am against it because I foresee the plan will fail eventually as it eats into other residents private property. When it fails, it becomes an incomplete project. What follows is a build contractor vs. mooban law suit. If the court favors the contractor, then every house owner 'check bin' to an unfinished wall. And this time around is really paying because it is hard to live in a mooban with a committee declared bankrupt.

4. Not to mention that I simply do not believe a chest high flood can be deterred. There are holes everywhere. I came from a flood prone country. The idea is: evacuate and rebuild. Move to higher ground if you can afford it.

Your goal is to create a better community for all. I say luckily the REAL law does not support the by-laws.

But resumably your committee is acting ultra vires to authorise the construction and pay for it from maintenance funds.

We are lucky, those of us that live in a common law jurisdiction, that such issues have been tried and tested peviously in a long history of case law, and a good lawyer could advise you regarding your position.

I don't know how such things stand in Thailand, but I am guessing that agreements (such as the agreeement to comply with the community by-laws) may be legally enforceable, albeit subject to the limits of civil enforcement.

SC