The Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) will summon property associations to discuss poor-quality housing projects next month after complaints soared by 68% in the first five months of this year.
Secretary-general Umpon Wongsiri said the meeting was aimed at reducing the rising number of complaints about property developments.
"We will gather and summarise problems that were complained about and ask the associations to help notify their members to tackle the problems and prevent any possible problems in the future," he said.
From January to May, there were 752 complaints about property projects submitted to the OCPB, up from 448 cases in the same period last year. The property sector was the subject of most complaints to the office.
The five associations summoned to the meeting with the OCPB are the Housing Business Association, Thai Condominium Association, Thai Real Estate Association, Home Builder Association and Thai Home Builders Association.
"Developers should be more cautious and should not take advantage of consumers, who have many ways to make a complaint," Mr Umpon said yesterday during an inspection of townhouses at Pruksa Ville 42 on Thoet Thai Road in Bangkok.
The OCPB, together with representatives from Phasicharoen District Office and Nong Khaem Lands Office, visited the project after receiving a complaint about the poor quality of construction including cracks, a collapse and broken foundation piles that were the main cause of the collapse.
Launched in 2012 and developed by SET-listed developer Pruksa Real Estate Plc, the project comprises 371 townhouses, nearly half of which had the same problems of incomplete equipment that did not comply with the contract.
"If the number of complaints about property increases, we need to consider whether to take criminal cases against developers," Mr Umpon said.