Is it possible to buy an apartment or hotel room as a condo in respective type buildings ?

Because in many cases the location and views are better than many condos.

Not really.

You can only buy a condo in a building (or part of a building) that has been specifically designated as a condo and which has the correct juristic structure of common ownership.

You can buy an apartment but it wont be a condo and you wont have a proper chanote in your name. So your ownership of it would be tenuous at best. A lease would be safer.

From time to time some hotels are legally transformed into condo buildings, and you can buy a condo in one of these.

Not really.

You can only buy a condo in a building (or part of a building) that has been specifically designated as a condo and which has the correct juristic structure of common ownership.

You can buy an apartment but it wont be a condo and you wont have a proper chanote in your name. So your ownership of it would be tenuous at best. A lease would be safer.

From time to time some hotels are legally transformed into condo buildings, and you can buy a condo in one of these.

There are some places designated "condotels," though what the legal implications of that designation would be, if any, I do not know. Certainly at least some (maybe all??) of the units can be bought as one would in a conventionally named "condominium."

if you dont mind the drunk/loud/obnoxious hotel guests that will be your neighbors

You can't acquire legal ownership in an apartment that does not qualify as condo, because there is simply no separate legal ownership in that kind of asset. A condotel is typically a condo which is used partly or wholly as a hotel.

A condo hotel, also known as a hotel-condo or a Contel, is a building, which is legally a condominium but which is operated as a hotel, offering short term rentals, and which maintains a Front Desk.

It appears that a lot of the older condo properties in Pattaya are marketed this way but I am not sure if there's so much a 'Front Desk' versus an on site agent. Anyone have experience with a condo let in LOS? I gather the owner buys a unit (or units) in a condo under condo ownership laws but can make a contract with a condotel management company (or whatever such an agent would be called here) to let his property. If a building is already designated as a hotel or serviced apartments, one cannot buy a room.

Not really.

You can only buy a condo in a building (or part of a building) that has been specifically designated as a condo and which has the correct juristic structure of common ownership.

There are some places designated "condotels," though what the legal implications of that designation would be, if any, I do not know. Certainly at least some (maybe all??) of the units can be bought as one would in a conventionally named "condominium."

Yes, those fall into the "part of" category that I mentioned. Part of the building is a properly registered condo and part of it is a hotel that is independently owned and run.

It isn't obvious to me how this actually works in practice: for example, who pays what if the common roof leaks or the common pool needs re-tiling?

One shining example of this type of structure is the Waterfront in Pattaya (yes, that unfinished tower of concrete that no one has worked on since last October).

Ho hum.

Not really.

You can only buy a condo in a building (or part of a building) that has been specifically designated as a condo and which has the correct juristic structure of common ownership.

There are some places designated "condotels," though what the legal implications of that designation would be, if any, I do not know. Certainly at least some (maybe all??) of the units can be bought as one would in a conventionally named "condominium."

Yes, those fall into the "part of" category that I mentioned. Part of the building is a properly registered condo and part of it is a hotel that is independently owned and run.

It isn't obvious to me how this actually works in practice: for example, who pays what if the common roof leaks or the common pool needs re-tiling?

One shining example of this type of structure is the Waterfront in Pattaya (yes, that unfinished tower of concrete that no one has worked on since last October).

Ho hum.

Whitehouse Condotel is doing well. Ho hum.

My friend, a Thai, wants to buy a condo he has been renting for the past 10 years. Who can he use as a trustworthy middleman for the transaction?

Not really.

You can only buy a condo in a building (or part of a building) that has been specifically designated as a condo and which has the correct juristic structure of common ownership.

There are some places designated "condotels," though what the legal implications of that designation would be, if any, I do not know. Certainly at least some (maybe all??) of the units can be bought as one would in a conventionally named "condominium."

Yes, those fall into the "part of" category that I mentioned. Part of the building is a properly registered condo and part of it is a hotel that is independently owned and run.

It isn't obvious to me how this actually works in practice: for example, who pays what if the common roof leaks or the common pool needs re-tiling?

One shining example of this type of structure is the Waterfront in Pattaya (yes, that unfinished tower of concrete that no one has worked on since last October).

Ho hum.

I own an apartment in Bangkok where part of the common area is shared with a hotel / service apartment. So all of the fees are divided among both sides, the plus side is that the place is well maintained, the minus is that when it comes to voting, the hotel/service apartment votes always wins over the individual apartment votes as they have more units and they can have 5-6 representatives vote for their entire units which is pretty unfair. I've only been to the yearly meetings twice, so I don't know much about the details.

I own an apartment in Bangkok where part of the common area is shared with a hotel / service apartment. So all of the fees are divided among both sides, the plus side is that the place is well maintained, the minus is that when it comes to voting, the hotel/service apartment votes always wins over the individual apartment votes as they have more units and they can have 5-6 representatives vote for their entire units which is pretty unfair. I've only been to the yearly meetings twice, so I don't know much about the details.

That's interesting.

The condo act in section 47 says "A joint owner may give a written proxy to the other person in casting the vote on his behalf, however, a proxy shall not be permitted to receive such written proxy to cast the votes in a meeting in excess of three units." Of course if the hotel is voting for the units it owns outright then it only needs one juristic representative to do so as it isn't a proxy vote.

Also there is something somewhere in the act that says that any one owner is limited to having less voting rights than the total of all the other owners put together. But I cant find the relevant section to see exactly how it applies in terms of quorums and actual voter numbers present.

My friend, a Thai, wants to buy a condo he has been renting for the past 10 years. Who can he use as a trustworthy middleman for the transaction?

You should be able to approach any real estate agent for this, though you would need to make it very clear at the outset that you are NOT paying commission, just a small set fee for their time. A lawyer would also do it, but would probably charge more. Fix the price in advance, in writing.

Make sure that anyone you use as an intermediary has no personal or financial links with either party, and never give them any cash under any circumstances. Never make out cheques payable to them either.

Smile a lot but trust no one. It's the Thai way.