The short answer
A buyer of a new condo from a developer in Thailand has rights on delay that are written into the contract by law, not left to negotiation. The table gives the position on each point, with the clause it comes from.
| Situation | What the contract must provide | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| The developer cannot finish on time, or clearly will not | The buyer may cancel and reclaim all money paid, with interest at the same rate the contract charges a buyer who pays late. Other damage can still be claimed in court | Notification of B.E. 2543, clause 3 (8) 8.6 (a) |
| The buyer prefers to wait for the unit | A daily penalty at the agreed rate: not less than 0.01 percent of the unit price a day, not more than 10 percent of the unit price in total | Clause 3 (8) 8.6 (b) |
| The penalty has reached 10 percent and the unit is still not ready | The buyer may cancel at that point | Clause 3 (8) 8.6 (b) |
| Construction stopped through no fault of the developer | The contract may allow an extension no longer than the stoppage and never more than one year, with written notice and evidence within seven days after the cause ends | Clause 3 (8) 8.5 |
| The project cannot go on because of force majeure | Refund of everything paid, with interest at the highest fixed deposit rate of Krung Thai Bank from the day the money was received | Clause 3 (8) 8.7 |
| The contract differs from the official form to the buyer's disadvantage | That part of the contract has no effect | Condominium Act, section 6/2 |
| The brochure promised something the contract leaves out | Advertising is part of the contract and is read in the buyer's favor | Condominium Act, section 6/1 |
Clause numbers refer to the Contract Committee notification making the sale of condominium units a contract-controlled business, B.E. 2543 (2000). Section numbers refer to the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979) as amended in 2008. Both were read in Thai on 14 November 2026.
These rules protect a consumer buying from a developer. They sit alongside the practical checks in our guide to buying off-plan property in Thailand, which covers payment schedules, escrow and how to judge a developer before paying anything.
Two sets of rules behind every developer contract
A condo sale contract from a developer looks like a private document, but two public instruments decide much of what it says.
- The Condominium Act and the Interior Ministry form. Section 6/2 of the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 says a contract to sell and buy a unit, or a sale contract, between the owner of the land and building and the buyer must follow the form the Minister prescribes. The Act names the Minister of Interior as the minister in charge. The form for a contract to sell and buy carries the code Or Chor 22, and the form for the sale contract is Or Chor 23. Both were prescribed by an Interior Ministry notification published in the Royal Gazette on 20 August 2008.
- The Contract Committee notification. Under the Consumer Protection Act, the Contract Committee made the business of selling condominium units a contract-controlled business. Its notification of B.E. 2543, in force from 15 September 2000, lists what a contract between the business and a consumer must contain and two kinds of term it must not contain.
The notification is wide in scope. It defines the business as selling units in a condominium that is going to be built, is being built, is finished and about to be registered, or is finished and already registered. So it reaches a purchase made from a showroom model years before completion and a purchase of a finished unit from the developer's remaining stock.
The Act backs the form with two consequences. Any part of the contract that does not follow the form and is not favorable to the buyer has no effect. And a developer that does not use the form is liable to a fine of up to 100,000 baht under section 63.
The delay rules below are quoted from the Contract Committee notification, which opened as clean text. The Royal Gazette file of the Or Chor 22 form opened but its text could not be read reliably, so this guide does not quote the form's clauses. Its headings that did come through show it covers the same ground: the seller's warranties, transfer registration costs, penalties and default interest and termination, and liability for defects.
Ask the sales office which form the contract follows before you pay a reservation fee, and ask for the full contract, not a summary. Our property reservation agreement checklist lists what to settle at that first stage.
The completion date, and the limits on extending it
For a condominium that is still to be built or is under construction, the contract must state the time by which the developer will complete the project ready to transfer ownership of the unit to the buyer. That is clause 3 (8) 8.4. Everything else in this guide is measured from that date, so find it in your contract and note whether it is a calendar date or a period counted from signing.
Clause 3 (8) 8.5 then deals with extensions. A contract may allow the developer to extend the construction period, but only inside four limits:
- The cause. Construction must have come to a stop through no fault of the developer.
- The length. The extension cannot be longer than the time construction was stopped.
- The notice. The developer must tell the buyer of the cause in writing, with evidence, within seven days from the day the cause came to an end. If it does not, it is treated as having given up the right to extend.
- The ceiling. The extended period cannot exceed one year.
The clause adds one exception in the buyer's favor: the extension rule does not apply to a purchase of a unit that is to be used at one particular fixed time.
Three practical points follow from that wording.
- An extension is something the developer has to claim and prove. A general statement that the project is running behind is not the written notice with evidence the clause describes.
- The notice goes to the address in the contract. Clause 3 (11) says the developer sends written notices by registered post with acknowledgment of receipt to the address in the contract or the last address the buyer notified in writing. A buyer living abroad should keep that address current in writing.
- A contract clause that lets the developer push the date back for any reason, or without limit, departs from these minimum terms.
The notification read for this guide does not list which events count as a stoppage that is not the developer's fault. That is decided on the facts of each project.
A late developer: cancel with a refund, or charge a daily penalty
Clause 3 (8) 8.6 is the heart of the protection. It applies in two situations: the developer cannot complete the project within the time in the contract, or it can be foreseen that the project will not be completed in time. The second limb matters. A buyer does not have to wait for the date to pass when the site has plainly stopped.
The buyer then has a choice between two routes.
| Route A: cancel | Route B: wait and charge a penalty | |
|---|---|---|
| What the buyer does | Terminates the contract | Keeps the contract alive and does not terminate |
| Money due to the buyer | All money already paid to the developer | A penalty for each day of delay, at the rate agreed in the contract |
| The rate | Interest at the same rate as the penalty the developer set for a buyer who defaults on payment | Not less than 0.01 percent of the unit price a day |
| Ceiling | None stated | 10 percent of the unit price in total |
| Further claims | The right to sue for other damage is expressly kept | Once the penalty reaches 10 percent, a buyer who considers the developer cannot go on performing may terminate |
From clause 3 (8) 8.6, paragraphs (a) and (b) in the Thai lettering, of the Contract Committee notification of B.E. 2543, read on 14 November 2026.
On Route A, the interest rate mirrors your own. The notification does not print a percentage for the refund. It ties the rate to whatever the developer wrote into the contract as the charge on a buyer who pays an installment late. A developer that sets a stiff rate for late buyers has set the same rate against itself. Look for that figure in the default clause of your contract before you write to the developer.
On Route B, 0.01 percent a day is a floor, not the rate. The contract can agree a higher daily figure. At the floor, the penalty takes one thousand days to reach the 10 percent ceiling, so on most delays the ceiling is never touched and the sum is modest. Section 05 works through the arithmetic.
The two routes run in sequence, not together. The text gives the penalty to a buyer who does not use the right to cancel, and then reopens the right to cancel when the penalty is exhausted. It does not say a buyer may collect the daily penalty and then cancel at any earlier moment, and this guide does not read that into it.
Cancelling returns your money but ends your claim to the unit, at a price you may not find again. Waiting keeps the unit but leaves your money with a developer that is already behind. The notification gives the right to choose and says nothing on which is wiser. That depends on how far the building has progressed, the developer's finances and your own plans, and it is worth an hour of a lawyer's time before you send a termination letter that cannot be taken back.
The notification read for this guide sets no deadline for the developer to pay the refund and no form for the buyer's notice. Send it in writing, in a way that proves delivery, and keep a copy.
A worked example with invented figures
The figures below are invented to show how the two routes compare. They are not taken from any project or any contract, and the late payment rate in particular varies from one contract to the next.
Assume a unit priced at 5,000,000 baht. The buyer has paid 1,000,000 baht in a deposit and installments. The contract charges a buyer who pays late 7.5 percent a year, and sets the developer's daily penalty at the legal floor of 0.01 percent. The completion date passes and the unit is ready 180 days late.
| Step | Route A: cancel | Route B: wait |
|---|---|---|
| Base amount | 1,000,000 baht already paid | 5,000,000 baht unit price |
| Rate | 7.5 percent a year, the contract's own late payment rate | 0.01 percent a day, which is 500 baht a day |
| Result after 180 days | 1,000,000 baht back, plus interest for the period the contract and the facts support | 180 days at 500 baht: 90,000 baht |
| Ceiling | None stated in the notification | 500,000 baht, reached after 1,000 days at the floor rate |
| What the buyer ends with | The money and no unit | The unit and 90,000 baht |
Arithmetic on invented figures. The notification does not say from which day interest on a refund under clause 3 (8) 8.6 runs. By contrast, clause 3 (8) 8.7 on force majeure says in terms that interest runs from the day the developer received the money.
The example shows why the daily penalty rate is worth reading before signing. At the floor, six months of delay is worth under two percent of the price. A contract that agrees a higher daily rate changes that sum directly.
Force majeure and a project that cannot go on
Clause 3 (8) 8.7 covers a different case from lateness: the developer cannot carry on with the condominium project at all because of force majeure. The contract must then provide three things.
- A full refund. The developer must return all the money the buyer has paid.
- Interest at a named benchmark. Interest is added at the highest rate for fixed deposits at Krung Thai Bank, counted from the day the developer received the money from the buyer.
- Other claims stay open. The refund does not cut off the buyer's right to sue for other damage.
One allowance runs the other way. If the developer has already spent some of the money, the contract may give it the right to deduct what it spent from the interest it has to repay. The wording limits the deduction to the interest. It does not allow a deduction from the money paid itself.
Compare the two interest rules. A developer that is merely late owes interest at the contract's own late payment rate. A developer stopped by force majeure owes interest at a bank deposit rate, and the two figures can be far apart. The label a developer puts on the cause of a failed project therefore changes what it owes, and a buyer is entitled to ask for the evidence behind that label.
A refund clause is only as good as the developer's ability to pay it. Thailand's escrow law is opt-in, as our off-plan guide explains, so the checks on a developer's record and finances in our condo due diligence checklist still come first.
Advertising, plans and materials are part of the deal
Delay is often paired with a second complaint: the finished unit or the shared facilities do not match what was sold. Section 6/1 of the Condominium Act addresses that directly.
- Advertising is part of the contract. Advertising text, images and sales brochures are treated as part of the contract to sell and buy or the sale contract. Where any text or image conflicts with the contract wording, it is to be interpreted in the way that favors the buyer.
- The developer must keep its advertising. A developer that advertises units must keep copies of the text, images and brochures it put out to the public, in any format, at its place of business until all units are sold, and must give at least one set to the condominium juristic person.
- Advertising must match the registration papers. Where an advertisement deals with the evidence and details filed to register the condominium, it must match them, and it must set out the common property clearly.
The penalties are in sections 63 and 64. Not keeping the advertising copies carries a fine of up to 100,000 baht. Advertising that does not match the registration details carries a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 baht.
The Contract Committee notification adds contract terms on the building itself, for a condominium that is to be built or is under construction:
| Subject | What the contract must say | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| Materials | The type, brand, model, quality, size and color of the floor, wall and ceiling finishes, the roof, the sanitary ware, and the doors and windows with their fittings. If a named material cannot be found on the market, the developer must supply one of better or equal quality | 3 (8) 8.1 |
| Plans | Construction will follow the design and specification approved by the competent official, to a standard no lower than the law requires | 3 (8) 8.2 |
| Use of space and shared facilities | The purpose of every part of the building, the details of the unit, and a list of the common property and facilities with their sizes | 3 (5) |
| Price and area | The sale price per square meter and the area of the unit being sold | 3 (4) |
| Land and encumbrances | The location and title deed number of the project land, a site plan, and whether the land, building and units are encumbered to a financial institution or anyone else | 3 (2), 3 (3) |
| The seller's standing | A warranty that the developer owns the land or the unit and that the person signing has authority, with the supporting documents attached | 3 (1) |
| Legibility | The contract must be in Thai that can be seen and read clearly, in characters no smaller than two millimeters | 3, opening words |
From clause 3 of the Contract Committee notification of B.E. 2543, read in Thai on 14 November 2026.
Keep every brochure, floor plan, price list and screenshot from the day you first visit the sales office. Under section 6/1 they are contract documents. The inspection itself is covered in our guide to condo handover and defect inspection.
The buyer's side: missed payments and the developer's right to cancel
The same notification limits when a developer may cancel on a buyer who falls behind with the payments due before transfer. Clause 3 (7) allows termination in three cases only.
| How the pre-transfer price is paid | The developer may terminate when |
|---|---|
| In a single payment | The buyer defaults on that payment |
| In twenty-four installments or more | The buyer defaults on three installments in a row |
| In fewer than twenty-four installments | The default reaches 12.5 percent of that price |
From clause 3 (7) of the notification. The price referred to is the part of the price agreed to be paid before ownership is transferred.
In every case there is a step before termination. The developer must first send the buyer a written notice to pay the arrears within not less than thirty days from the day the buyer receives it, and may terminate only if the buyer ignores that notice.
This matters to a buyer facing a delay for a practical reason. Stopping your installments in protest at slow construction can hand the developer its own ground to cancel. If you intend to rely on the developer's delay, do it by written notice under the delay clause, and take advice before you withhold a payment.
The notification does not set the interest rate a developer may charge on a late installment, a cap on it, or what a developer may keep after it terminates. Those points are in the contract form itself, which could not be read reliably for this guide, so they are left out here.
Transfer day: the notice, the taxes and the meters
A project that finishes still has to be transferred at the Land Office, and the notification fixes four points about that day.
- Thirty days' written notice. When the developer is going to register the transfer of ownership, it must tell the buyer in writing at least thirty days in advance so the buyer can attend (clause 3 (9)).
- An earlier transfer at the buyer's request. If the buyer states in writing a wish to take the transfer before the date the developer set, the developer must carry out the transfer within seven days of receiving that notice (clause 3 (9), second paragraph).
- The developer pays the taxes. Income tax, specific business tax and stamp duty on the transfer are paid by the developer. Only the fee for registering the right and the legal act may be shared, and the two sides may agree to pay it in equal parts (clause 3 (6)).
- Utility meters. The developer installs the meters for the common areas and for each unit and pays the fees and installation costs up front. It may collect those from the buyer only after it has transferred the unit and put the meter in the buyer's name, and not more than the amount it paid (clause 3 (8) 8.3).
A contract that puts income tax, specific business tax or stamp duty on the buyer does not match clause 3 (6). The amounts involved are set out in our guide to condo transfer costs in Thailand.
The notification says nothing about the advance on common fees or the sinking fund payment that developers usually collect on transfer day. Those are covered in our guide to condo fees and the sinking fund.
Defects after handover, and two terms a contract may not contain
A late building is often a rushed one. Clause 3 (10) makes the developer liable for damage caused by defects in the condominium or the unit for minimum periods that run from the date the condominium is registered, not from the date you move in.
| Part of the building | Minimum liability period | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| The structure, and equipment that is a component of the building and is immovable property | Not less than five years | The date the condominium is registered |
| Other component parts | Not less than two years | The date the condominium is registered |
From clause 3 (10) of the notification, read on 14 November 2026.
The repair duty has a clock. The developer must fix a defect within thirty days from the day the buyer or the condominium juristic person gives written notice of it. A defect that needs urgent action must be fixed at once. If the developer does not repair, the buyer or the juristic person may do the repair or hire someone else to do it, and the developer must pay the damage and the cost.
Clause 4 then names two kinds of term that a contract with a consumer must not use:
- A term that excludes or limits liability arising from the developer's own fault.
- A term that excludes or limits the developer's liability for defects or for a third party's superior right to the property. There is one exception: the buyer accepted the particular defect or cause in writing when the contract was made. Even then the exclusion is enforceable only as far as is fair and reasonable in the circumstances.
A clause saying the developer is not responsible for any delay, or that the buyer accepts the unit as it stands with no claim for defects, is the kind of term clause 4 is aimed at. When the building is occupied, defect claims on shared areas usually run through the condominium juristic person.
Steps to take when handover slips
The rules above only help a buyer who can show the dates and the paperwork. These steps follow from the texts read for this guide.
- Find four things in your contract. The completion date, the extension clause, the daily penalty rate against the developer, and the late payment rate against you. The last one sets the interest on a refund.
- Check whether a valid extension was claimed. Look for a written notice with evidence, sent within seven days after the cause ended. Without it the developer is treated as having given up the extension, and no extension can pass one year.
- Keep paying unless you have taken advice. Three missed installments in a row, or arrears of 12.5 percent, can give the developer its own right to terminate after thirty days' notice.
- Gather the evidence. The contract and every annex, receipts for each payment, the brochure and other advertising, dated photographs of the site, and all letters and messages from the developer.
- Decide between the two routes, then say so in writing. State whether you are terminating and claiming a refund with interest, or keeping the contract and claiming the daily penalty. Send it in a way that proves delivery.
- Use the consumer complaint route if the developer does not answer. The Office of the Consumer Protection Board takes complaints against businesses and can mediate. Our guide to consumer complaints in Thailand sets out the channels and documents.
- Know the court route. A claim by a consumer against a business can be brought as a consumer case. Our guide to small claims court in Thailand explains how consumer cases work, though a claim for a condo refund will usually be above the petty case limit.
Because the sums are large and a termination letter is hard to undo, most buyers in this position should have a lawyer read the contract first. See our guide to hiring a lawyer in Thailand.
The Contract Committee notification was read in the text published in 2000. Whether a later notification has changed it was not checked, so confirm the current text with the Office of the Consumer Protection Board or a lawyer before relying on a figure. The Or Chor 22 form was not readable in the official file, so this guide gives no rule on a difference between the contract area and the built area, on selling your contract to another buyer before transfer, or on what a developer may keep when a buyer defaults. No court decisions were read.
A resale unit bought from a private owner sits outside both instruments on the wording read. There the contract the two sides sign decides what happens if completion is late, and our guide to the buying process covers that route.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, where you bought as a consumer from a business that sells condo units. Clause 3 (8) 8.6 of the Contract Committee notification of B.E. 2543 says the contract must give the buyer the right to terminate when the developer cannot complete the project within the contract period, or when it can be foreseen that it will not be completed in time.
The notification says the buyer may reclaim all money already paid, with interest. The interest runs at the same rate as the penalty the developer set for a buyer who pays late, so the rate is the one printed in your own contract. Cancelling does not stop you suing for other damage.
If you choose not to cancel, the developer must accept a daily penalty at the rate agreed in the contract. The notification sets a floor of 0.01 percent of the unit price a day and a ceiling of 10 percent of the unit price in total. On a unit priced at 5,000,000 baht the floor is 500 baht a day and the ceiling is 500,000 baht.
Yes, once the penalty has reached the ceiling. The notification says that when the buyer has charged the penalty up to 10 percent of the unit price and considers that the developer cannot go on performing the contract, the buyer may terminate.
Only where construction stopped through no fault of the developer, only for as long as the stoppage lasted, and never for more than one year. The developer must tell the buyer in writing, with evidence, within seven days after the cause ends. A developer that does not give that notice is treated as having given up the extension.
The developer must return everything the buyer has paid, with interest at the highest fixed deposit rate of Krung Thai Bank counted from the day it received the money. The buyer may still sue for other damage. The contract may let the developer deduct money it has already spent from the interest it owes.
It is the form of contract to sell and buy a condominium unit that the Minister of Interior prescribed in 2008 under section 6/2 of the Condominium Act. A developer selling units in its own building must use it. Under the same section, any part of the contract that departs from the form and is not favorable to the buyer has no effect.
Yes. Section 6/1 of the Condominium Act says advertising text, images and sales brochures are treated as part of the contract to sell and buy or the sale contract. If an advertisement conflicts with the contract wording, it is read in the way that favors the buyer. The developer must keep copies of its advertising until every unit is sold.
Under clause 3 (6) of the notification the developer pays the income tax, the specific business tax and the stamp duty on the transfer. Only the fee for registering the transfer may be shared, and then in equal halves if the two sides agree.
Not less than five years from the date the condominium is registered for the structure and equipment that forms part of the building, and not less than two years for other component parts. The developer must repair within thirty days of written notice, or at once if the defect is urgent.
On the wording read for this guide, no. Section 6/2 of the Condominium Act covers contracts with the owner of the land and building who registers the condominium, and the notification covers a business that sells condo units to consumers. A resale from an individual owner is governed by the contract the two of you sign.
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Live condos for sale with asking prices, photos and the agency that lists each one, for buyers who would rather inspect a finished unit than wait on a completion date.
General information only, not legal advice. Contracts differ and courts decide disputes on their own facts. The Condominium Act sections are from the latest consolidated Thai text on the Office of the Council of State law search. The Contract Committee notification is from a retyped Thai copy hosted by the Office of the Attorney General, as published in 2000, and later changes were not checked. The Interior Ministry contract form was identified from its Royal Gazette file but its clauses could not be read and are not quoted. The worked example uses invented figures. A lawyer should review any contract or dispute that matters to you. BAANLYY LLC is a Nevada company and a listing portal: homes on this site are listed by independent owners, agents and agencies, and BAANLYY is not a party to their leases or sales. Legal rules are from the sources named below, read on 14 November 2026.
Sources
- Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (Thai, latest consolidated text, status in force): section 5 Minister of Interior in charge, section 6/1 advertising kept and treated as part of the contract, section 6/2 contract must follow the Minister's form and a departing term not favorable to the buyer has no effect, sections 63 and 64 fines; footnotes record these were added by the Condominium Act (No. 4) B.E. 2551 ↗Office of the Council of State · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Law index entry for the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (Thai), linking to the consolidated text ↗Office of the Council of State · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Contract Committee Notification making the condominium unit sale business a contract-controlled business B.E. 2543 (Thai, retyped copy, 3 pages; in force 15 September 2000, Royal Gazette volume 117, special part 74 Ngor, 28 July 2000): clause 3 (6) taxes, 3 (7) buyer default, 3 (8) 8.4 to 8.7 completion, extension, delay and force majeure, 3 (9) transfer notice, 3 (10) defects, clause 4 prohibited terms. Later amendments were not checked ↗Contract Committee under the Consumer Protection Act (copy hosted by the Office of the Attorney General) · Accessed 14 November 2026
- Interior Ministry Notification prescribing the forms of contract to sell and buy and of sale contract for condominium units under the Condominium Act (Thai, Royal Gazette volume 125, special part 140 Ngor, 20 August 2008, 9 pages; forms Or Chor 22 and Or Chor 23). The file opened but its text layer is scrambled: used only to identify the instrument and its clause headings, no clause is quoted from it ↗Royal Thai Government Gazette, Secretariat of the Cabinet · Accessed 14 November 2026
Official primary sources are listed above with the date we last checked them. Thai rules, fees, thresholds and procedures change and can be applied differently by individual offices and embassies — confirm the current requirement with the responsible authority before relying on it. General information only, not legal, tax or medical advice. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.