By the end of 2007, 41 houses had joined the Home Owner Association. By the change into 2008 we also change the criterias for membership. Asking for money "to join" can be difficult when houses are sold, and determing how much to pay according to when during a calendar year someone joines is not easy either.

So we skipped the "membership fee" - READ OUR 7 BASIC RULES BELOW and try to understand how we want our citizens to think and to act. .

The membership will give our community YOUR COMMITMENT. Uniting neighbours and citizens will make Chan Tha a better place to stay. As a menber you will have the oportunity to elect board members and receive extensive information on the activities and the financing of CTHOA. As a farang non-member you will still be invoiced for shared common costs and will have to share the expenses we all decide to take on, but without being able to see it all from the "inside".

Some "non-members" might try to avoid, refuse or reject the annual fee of shared costs and expenses, and we risc a minor debate about the money issue when we meet streetwise. We do not want to make it unfriendly for anyone - we just want to remind EVERYBODY that the security is paid by somebody, the arial outdoor cleaning is paid by somebody, the trashcollecting is paid by somebody, the streetlights and now the pavement (asfalt) will be paid by somebody. That "somebody" is the CTHOA and our declared members - and thats why we constantly invite the rest of the village citizens to wake up and declaire their partisipation as a committed member. That means to join!

READ THE BASIC 7 RULES of CHAN-THA, AND SEND YOUR E-MAIL TO info@chan-tha.com AND ASK US TO STATE AND ANNOUNCE YOUR MEMBERSHIP. IT DOESN'T COST YOU A THAI BATH - at least not today :-)

CTHOA - 7 BASIC MEMBER RULES... § 1 - DEFINITION CHAN THA HOME OWNER ASSOCIATION ( CTHOA ) is an association founded by house- and landowners in the Chan Tha Village, Cha Am, Thailand. Everybody who owns a property in Chan Tha is welcome to join as a member. § 2 – THE GOAL OF CTHOA The goal is to unite and strengthen the bounds between neighbours and citizens. The goal is further on to work for our common environment, safety and to handle practical issues and challenges in the village of Chan Tha. CTHOA is a non profit organization and all financial assets collected from the citizens (members and non-member) will be used to improve our community and finance tasks and projects according to decisions made at annual meetings and in the elected board of CTHOA. No member of the board or others will receive payments for their work. § 3 - BOARD ELECTIONS & RULING PERIODS The board is elected every 18 MONTH by majority votes. This means summer one year - and winter 1,5 years (18 months) later. And then the cycle repeats. The election for board members is conducted at two places simultaneously: at the annual meeting, to be held in Chan Tha or surroundings (for those who are present in Thailand) at the CTHOA web pages where there might be a secure log in system for voting - or by e-mail. Voting will be open 7 days before the annual meeting (and qualifying members can conduct this online election from anywhere in the world) The result of the combined election will be announced the following day. Only members can be elected as board members. The board do not have a chairman, but all members works from equal positions. The board itself decide who (1 person) to be in-charge of financial assets and who (1 or 2 persons) to handle information to members and to other citizens, hosting a website and maintaining e-mail-sent newsletters. § 4 - BOARD SIZE & ASSEMBLING The board will consist of 5, 7 or 9 board members (an un-even number). The board shall have members from minimum two different countries - more if possible. The number of seats in the board from each country should as close as possible mirror the share of each country from the list of registered farang (member) citizens of Chan Tha. § 5 - MEMBERSHIP & ANNUAL FEES To obtain a membership, a house- or property-owner has to agree and accept these 7 rules - to obey them and to conduct payment of each years decided annual shared costs for Chan Tha (decided by the Board of CTHOA). From 2008 the membership itself is free - but all registered members are obligated (have pre-agreed) to pay the "SHARED ANNUAL COSTS", decided by the board. The annual meeting can set a maximum limit to the amount of annual costs which the board later in their decisions are obligated to follow. The decided "SHARED ANNUAL COSTS" for Chan Tha are invoiced between the 1st and 31st of January every year to all farangs - members and non-members. CTHOA expect all recipients (farang citizens) to handle (and pay) this claim – and regard it as common expenses that will benefit all house and properties localized in Chan Tha. Every farang with a house finished will be invoiced per January each year. Every unfinished house which ends construction later in the year and where the owner move in and start their living, will receive an invoice of the annual fee divided into quarterly rates according to how many quarters (3 months) there are left of the year (invoiced in Q1 = 100%, Q2: 75%, Q3. 50% and Q4: 25%). § 6 - DECISION OF SHARED COSTS Before each annual meeting the board has to present all costs for running expenses and services with an estimate of shared costs for the next years annual fee. The annual meeting should be able to vote a YES/NO to each running service/project decided by the board. Based on the YES/NO votes - the result will decide whether a service/project is continued with shared financing or whether the service/project will be discontinued or cancelled. Such voting decisions will tie up the board for the next 18 months period. Other major plans for new, separate and/or expensive projects, which might require substantial financial assets are also to be presented to the members for discussion at the time of relevance. § 7 – MEMBER, VOTING RIGHTS & ANNUAL MEETING Only citizens who have joined "AS A MEMBER", and by their membership has AGREED TO and ACCEPTED these 7 rules – and therefore have pre-agreed to share the annual costs, are considered as a MEMBER. Only a member can attend an annual meeting. Only a member can vote. Only a member can be elected as a board member. Members will receive more extensive updates on board activities and better insight in CTHOA’s financial status. At annual meetings – the meeting should be arranged in two sessions. The first session is a general information meeting where all citizens, members and non-members are invited and welcome. This session ends with an invitation to the non-members to accept the “Standard 7 rules of CTHOA” and instantly become a member. Then the meeting take a short break for refreshments and possible food. Non-members leave but newly recruited members from session one stays together with old members. The next session will be the formal annual meeting, with full financial presentation, further on presentation of new projects and issues - and finally election of the board. Members are also offered, entitled and encouraged to use a sign to put up on their garden gate, which will have two purposes: to identify them as members - and to preserve the internal property numbering system of the Chan Tha Village. Example on such a sign (still undecided) is: ( Prop.Number + Nationality + Member-confirmation ) A sign like this will be “a dream” for taxi-drivers, because the numbers increase along the streets. Can be combined with a big sign with map of CT somewhere. (Trevor complains, because too few signs point taxi’s to the village). ---- The Board of CTHOA unanimously agreed on the text, November 2007 Composed by Henning Jakobsen (sign.)

With kind regards
Chan Tha community
webmaster