Buying Golf Memberships in Thailand

[Toosetinmyways]

The article in the Business section of the xxxxxxxx on Sept 11, regarding the grievances of xxxxxxx members raises several interesting questions about the rights of club members in general. Through our involvement in that case, we have given further thought to the issues that arise, including how these rights should be protected

When you buy a club membership, whether it's a golf club or a holiday club or any leisure club membership, you often consider that you have bought yourself an "asset" that is worth something. Perhaps it is something that can be sold on to someone else or passed on to your children.

Time to think again. What is the "asset" that you are buying and what do you own? Consider what you are actually buying or getting when you become a member of a club. The short answer is that you are buying the right to use the facilities offered by the club for a fixed period of time, and in certain cases, for life.

Your rights and obligations as a member of that club are purely contractual in nature. This means that the rights and obligations that arise between you as the buyer and the club owner. as the seller are set out in the purchase contract only. At present, there are no specific laws that deal with this type of contract.

In most cases, at the launch of a project, developers will often have several packages and benefits to offer in order to attract buyers. Most people are so overwhelmed by the "attractive benefits" on offer that they forget to pay any attention to the contract itself. For example, when you buy a membership, you know that you will have to pay a maintenance fee; a transfer fee and an annual subscription fee.

You may be led to believe that some of these payments are fixed amounts or one time‑payments but the fact is that most developers) will have included a

provision in the contract that entitles it to increase the fees unilaterally at any time.. .

You may also think that the "maintenance fees" that you will pay to the club will be fore repairs arising from the normal Wear and' tear of the club. There is, however, no provision that stops the owner from using the fees to build something else and worse still to increase the fees in order to do so.

Before you buy, it is worth taking the time to consider what is actually being offered and to satisfy yourself that the club owner is likely to be able to deliver the benefits that are being promised. One of the most important issues that you should consider is "What will happen to my rights if there is a change in ownership of the club?" At present, there is no' answer to this question because the terms and conditions in club membership contracts are almost always not negotiable and if you raise this issue with the owner, you will be faced with the answer that the owner intends to operate and develop the club for a long time and it has every intention of providing you with the best service.

As we all know, things change and the reality is that the owner is entitled to sell the club and the land to a third party who may not then be under any .obligation to honour the terms and conditions of your contract. Your only recourse would be a claim for damages against the original owner and this will not help you to regain the membership rights that you thought you had acquired or the asset you thought you had bought.

After you have bought the membership, it is advisable to keep all of the promotional and marketing material such as announcements made or leaflets and

brochures distributed by the developer. This information may become useful as evidence in court if a dispute arises with the club owner at a later date and it becomes necessary to prove what offers were actually made by the developer at the time of purchase.

Obviously the most effective way to protect , a member's rights in a club would' Be through the enactment of appropriate consumer‑protection legislation. It is necessary for the government to consider passing legislation that requires club owners to provide their members with some measure of control over the club and its activities.

For example, the enactment of regulations requiring club owners to reach an agreement with its members over the permitted amount of increase in the maintenance fees and transfer fees would assist in placing some restrictions on the freedom of owners to increase fee amounts as they see fit.

Going one step further, the position of a club member should be similar to that of a minority shareholder of a public listed company. The protection offered to a minority shareholder should also be offered to a club member. For example, the law should allow members to have some ability to decide whether or not a proposed sale of the club to a third party should proceed. This could be done by providing that the sale of the club would require the votes of a certain agreed percentage of the members of the club.

This type of protection will make investing in club memberships more attractive because consumers will be more certain of what they are getting and this will, in the long run also be beneficial to developers.

[JAS21]

I have membership at Muang Ake ... well actually it's a share ... I actually have two shares ... I only pay the caddy fee when I play and no annual maintenance fee. I could be tempted to sell one of the shares. PM me if you want details.