The common area fee, or CAM fee, is a monthly maintenance fee paid by every owner of a unit in a condominium development. The fee is calculated based upon the square meters of each individual unit, so owners with larger units pay more than owner with smaller units in the same estate.

The CAM fee covers the maintenance, up-keep and repair of common area such as security, swimming pool, gym, reception area, gardens, elevators and walkways among other things. It also covers monthly electricity bills of the common area lighting, air-conditioning etc and other fees such as window cleaning.

In Phuket the common area fee in condominium developments ranges between 40 and 80 Baht per square meter per month, with the average being around 50 Baht for a well-managed property. You might be tempted to go for a property with a low maintenance fee, but you might want to read our article on cheap condos in Phuket why that might not be the best idea.

Let’s say you own a 60 square meter condo in Patong with a common area fee of 50 Baht per square meter per month. Your monthly fee is calculated as follows:

60 square meter x 50 THB per square meter = 3,000 THB.

Usually, the monthly maintenance fee is paid yearly; so in our example your yearly payment would be:

3,000 THB per month x 12 months = 36,000 THB.

It is a called a “common area fee” because in a condominium development all the unit owners are the joint owners of all the common areas under the land title. This is one of the reasons where there is an owners’ committee who among other things have an input in the management of the common areas and also allocates the sinking fund in order to make improvements.