Condo sinking fund and CAM fees on Koh Phangan and Koh Samui: the recurring cost freehold buyers forget to budget

How much does a condo really cost to own once the transfer taxes are behind you? Two recurring charges follow every unit for as long as you own it: a sinking fund and a monthly common-area-maintenance (CAM) fee. Both are set and collected by the building's juristic person under the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 — not something an individual owner can opt out of or negotiate down.

The sinking fund: paid once, never refunded

• What it's for — a capital reserve for major, infrequent repairs: structural work, lift replacement, roof and facade repainting, pool resurfacing.
• Typical rate — ฿500–1,000 per sqm of saleable area, charged once at handover or first registration. Budget buildings run as low as ฿300/sqm; luxury developments ฿1,000–1,500/sqm.
• Not refundable on resale — it stays with the building's reserve fund permanently. A second-hand buyer normally doesn't pay the initial sinking fund again, unless the juristic person calls a fresh top-up.
• Special top-up calls — beyond the initial contribution, a general-meeting resolution can levy a further ฿10,000–50,000 per unit for a major repair, typically once every 5–10 years in older buildings.

CAM: the monthly running cost

• Budget buildings — roughly ฿25–40 per sqm per month.
• Mid-market buildings — roughly ฿40–70 per sqm per month.
• Premium beachfront buildings — roughly ฿70–120 per sqm per month.
• Branded or ultra-luxury developments — roughly ฿120–180 per sqm per month.
• CAM covers security, cleaning, landscaping, pool upkeep, lift servicing, shared utilities and the juristic person's own administration. It's billed monthly, quarterly or annually in advance, with the first year often collected at handover alongside the sinking fund.

Published CAM rates are a floor, not a ceiling. The juristic person can raise CAM by a simple general-meeting vote, and older buildings that deferred maintenance often see CAM roughly double over ten years — a low CAM rate on an older building is a reason to ask what's being deferred, not a reason to celebrate the saving.

What happens if you don't pay

• Late-payment surcharge (Condominium Act Section 18/1) — up to 12% per year on the unpaid balance. Once arrears reach six months or more, the surcharge rises to up to 20% per year, and the by-laws can suspend the owner from common services and common-property use, including the right to vote at the general meeting.
• Blocked resale — the Land Office will not register a transfer without a debt-free certificate from the juristic person, confirming no outstanding CAM, sinking-fund or utility debt on the unit. The certificate is typically valid for only 7–15 days from issue, so sellers need to time the request close to transfer day.

Before buying resale, ask the juristic person for two to three years of financial statements and general-meeting minutes, and ask when the last special assessment was called and why — a building with a thin reserve and deferred maintenance is a future special assessment waiting to happen. For the taxes due at transfer, see The full cost of buying on Koh Phangan; for the ownership trade-offs against a leasehold villa, see Freehold condo vs leasehold villa.