flare

^

The 'heavily intoxicated' and 'punches thrown by Jack' portion of the letter is from the attackers' account of what happened (from the police report they filed)- the mother calls those charges 'laughable' in her letter, and only mentioned them to show the character of the Chinese boys and the father who's become involved.

Thanks for the thoughts and advice, Khun Per- I appreciate the effort you put into that post.

I want to keep the construction cost under 20mil if possible, which- for ~600m- works out to about 33K per sq m- this would include all finishing- I really don't want to go higher than that. I realize this isn't going to be Four Seasons rental villa level, but it should be pretty nice in the sense of my being able to expect straight lines and proper alignment, as well as wood and tiles on the better end of the spectrum. I would raise the budget slightly to get exactly what I want, but I don't think I'll have to.

At any rate, I'll be visiting some contractors soon- I'll report my findings.

Thank you all for the replies.

I'm planning on a modern courtyard style home. I saw a few house plans today that suit my style in the 30K per sq/m range- I've seen nothing but sketches and haven't yet talked to the builder, but I liked what they had on offer- I've no idea of their reputation, and I'll visit their office in the next couple of weeks to make an assessment of what they can do for me (I'm researching companies- any suggestions would be most welcome). I'm still a ways from breaking ground (perhaps I'd be able to start in late October), but at least now I have somewhere to begin my search. As far as the architectural plan goes, I would probably opt for an existing design modified to my own needs and specifications (I'll also be building a fairly large man-cave separate from the rest of the house where I can hide from my family and have a bit of peace;)).

Enough time had passed since my last construction project that much of the pain has faded (in much the same way that we remember the good times and forget the hangovers), but I know it will be a struggle to get what I really want...

To the OP, try Landy Home Thailand, located on soi 19 Lat prao Bkk.

I absolutely will look into them- thank you for that.

WOW, for that price, it better be "high end". I know it's different costs at different locations. I live in Chiang Mai and you can get a decent high end build here for 15k sq met. You're talking about a 15 mil baht house, did I get that right?

I think you have a diferent understanding about high end as the OP, or you're talking about the construction only, excluding the finishes.

Yup- basically I got a pretty nice house built as far as the basic construction was concerned and I had few complaints, but the finishing left a lot to be desired- for what I paid I'd say I got good value, but now I want something better. This is going back about eight years, and while I retain my knowledge of what it takes to get something built, I'm out of the loop as far as prices are concerned.

I realize the title might read as a 'How long is a piece of string?' type of query...

I've built a couple houses before in LOS (and I'm well aware of the struggles and inherent risks), but it's been several years since the last one, and while it was nice it wasn't 'AAA' quality.

I'm thinking of building in the Kanchanaburi area, with a living area of ~600 square meters and a budget of 25K-30K per sq m- this is close to double the budget for the last house I built in both cost and size. I used small, 'local' construction companies before, but now I'm thinking of going with a bigger firm with a (hopefully) better reputation to go along with it, along with improved fit-and-finish (which is usually where the biggest headaches reside).

I'd like opinions on whether my budget sounds realistic as far as being able to expect a proper build standard, and I'd especially like to hear the names of any recommended construction firms (ideally they'd be able to show me examples of their previous work beyond simple photos- I'd be happy to visit any current or completed projects).

Horror stories/cautionary tales/general comments would also be most welcome.

Basically, I want to know if my budget is in the ballpark.

I have always warned riders of helmet checks, and I will continue to do so in the future, for the simple reason that they have nothing to do with safety, but, rather, are revenue-generating schemes. When your ticket serves as a 'get out of jail free' card for subsequent stops on the same day for the same infraction, there is no real interest in the well-being of the rider, and therefore a basic pointlessness to the law, and I don't feel I'm wrong in assisting people in avoiding a penalty for a violation of which the local police themselves are often guilty.

I haven't been there yet, but does the quality and selection of the department store negate the need to go to the Surat Thani outlet? If not, it would seem like a bit of a waste.

Got it- thank you.

Does anyone have simple written directions to the Central Department Store in Surat Thani for someone unfamiliar with the Donsak area (and who's directionally challenged in general;))?

Dealerships and private parties are charging a 50K-100K premium to move to the head of the line (which still will mean waiting for a while- a friend paid 100k over-the-odds for an order in August and received his 3.2 Wildtrak in early November- this was in Bangkok and not on Samui).

i cannot beleive that if people are willing to flash that sort of money around then surley they woud buy a more expensive car.

i was told to wait 9 month with honda. i went to ford and droive it out the same day

i know that paying to speed things up does happen but i cannot believ onb such a large scale.

if that was the case iw ould not buy one out of spite obviously the more u want it th worse u get treated

Whether something is true is not predicated upon your belief in it.

50K-100K is hardly an out-of-line premium to pay for a truck that can run over 1.2 million baht with optional accessories- it's not like the cost has been doubled.

Please tell me which 'more expensive car' (assuming you mean better quality or more desirable) you would buy over the 3.2 Wildtrak if you want/need a pick-up truck and are willing to spend another 5-10% over the asking price? There isn't one currently available. Only a few of these vehicles are made available per month, and it will be that way for a while- if you have the money and you want one in a reasonable timeframe, paying a premium is currently the only way to do that, otherwise you might wait a year or more- it's hardly 'unbelievable'- in fact it's a common practice all over the world.

Dealerships and private parties are charging a 50K-100K premium to move to the head of the line (which still will mean waiting for a while- a friend paid 100k over-the-odds for an order in August and received his 3.2 Wildtrak in early November- this was in Bangkok and not on Samui).

The rule of thumb has long been to list at twice what you paid to have it built- the problem there is that so many people bought land at the top market price (say, a decent half rai at 2-4 million in a mid-level spot) and then dropped a 4mil house on it, and then list it at 12-15mil when it's still very possible to buy land and build a similar house for the original price- most people in the market are aware of this and (if they're considering a move to Samui) decide to build themselves rather than pay a ridiculous price- the agents are well aware of this, and won't waste time showing an over-priced property.

When they tell someone the land/house they have 6-8mil into might only sell for 7-10mil, they often reject the idea out-of-hand. If a house goes on the market for a really good price the agents are all over it- it's not so much 'laziness' on their part but rather realism- it gets old trying to sell the same overpriced house over-and-over.

Fixed deposits are covered by the DPA- it used to be for up to 50mil baht, but it will drop to 1mil baht in August- if you check their website, you will see that your bank is listed.

The land has already been leased (not bought) by the Central group- while nothing is ever written in stone in Thailand (and certainly not on Samui) the plan is to use the land in the area across from Chaweng Buri (a bit to the north of it, actually) to build a department store outlet (not as massive as one in Bangkok, of course).

The old Community Magazine/Newspaper never reported anything like 30 road deaths per month that I can recall- during a high season month it was usually 6-8 deaths (sometimes with one or two foreigners among them, though they were most often young Thai males with 'late at night' used as a euphemism for 'drunk'- they were almost always reported as not wearing a helmet- during a low season month it might have been 4-6)- there may well have been greater numbers of actual fatalities (perhaps chalked up to other causes or involving undocumented workers), but the actual reported number was never that high- I honestly can't remember ever seeing it as high as 10.

I couldn't find any old links- if I'm wrong and anyone has some verification, please post a link.