Morden

We engaged a Thai lawyer when we were contemplating buying a ready-built house in LOS. I made it clear that, although I knew that I could not own the land, I wanted to protect my interests as best I could. We had to complete a couple of official forms at the London Thai Embassy (but this can be done in LOS at the local Land Office). One form described the property and its location and the other, signed by me, said that the money that would buy the house and land belonged to my Thai wife and that neither the money nor the property was mine.

I guess that most of you know about that procedure. However, the lawyer also drew up a 'testamant' in which my wife and I agreed that she would not sell the property during my lifetime unless I agreed. This seems to be the piece of law that the originator of the thread is referring to. As far as I know it's normal 'last will and testament' stuff and not new. It seems to be a fairly simple way of giving farang some security but how it would hold up in Court or with the family if a couple split up I haven't a clue.

We have decided against the house purchase and, instead, plan now to buy 3 rai for a home and business. I look forward to hearing the lawyer's advice about this one!

ProThaiExpat,

Thanks very much for that tip. I think that the builder ('engineer') is a sub-contractor to the main developer and employs his own crew or crews. Even if he uses only one crew the individuals within it may change, of course. I shall raise the question with him as we view the houses and also make sure that the ones he shows us were built by him rather than another sub-contractor.

We will probably fly to LOS to deal with the land purchase next month and that is when we will view the housing development. I had better keep making those notes in the meantime!

The builder has offered to show us some houses that he is building on a development near to Korat. His suggestion is that we decide what style we like and tell him what changes we want to make. This would seem to be a good way of dealing with the issue of the specification. It would enable us, as ProThaiExpat has suggested, to concentrate on features, facilities and appearance and not get too involved in the engineering spec.

Thanks yet again Guys!

Having started to think about this now, I can see already that my notes will build into something substantial without even a trace of anything technical creeping in! It's amazing what you think of when you get down to work on this.

Phase two will be to get the little lady to look through my ideas. Then there will be another few months of negotiation over the changes.

ProThaiExpat & lopburi3,

Thanks very much for your welcome and practical advice. I just wish that I could be there every day to watch progress and standards myself but, sadly, that's unlikely to be possible.

I think that I might have to abandon the idea of working from 'government' plans for our dream LOS home and carefully choose from a range that the builder can offer. That would mean he would be comfortable with the design too. It's also very clear from all the advice that has been given to me here that I must be very careful about the minutest detail of the specification before committing to it and a price. Sunken bathroom floors is a good example; a good way to crack your head open on the washbasin during a nightime visit!

I had better start making some notes!

Thanks again folks. If any other thoughts occur to you, please jot them down here.

Spacekadet,

Thanks for the link. At the very least that gives me a some guide prices for various styles.

Chownah,

Thank for your sound advice. Transactions can be frustrating at times, I know, and I'll bear in mind what you say.

The builder is well known in the area and has a reputation to maintain so I have high hopes that there will be no serious quality problems. He has offered to help us choose some materials such as tiles and include them in a fixed price for the job. My wife says that she will ask him for a contract that includes penalties if he's late finishing - I hope that she can achieve that.

It's very important to have a detailed specification, I think, and that's why I was trying to trace standard official ones. From the advice I'm getting here I have the feeling that they are uninspiring so I might abandon that route. When we go out to buy the land we will spend some time with the builder looking at houses to get ideas on plans. But saying 'We'll have one like that' doesn't ensure that everything turns as it should. If anyone has advice on this route, I'd be glad to have it.

Thanks again,

Morden

Many thanks for your advice, folks. I'm not totally surprised at what you say, of course. Much the same in the UK - take your eye off the contractor and your cavity wall insulation has been moved to the next site! The builder that we may use is a family friend and came to our wedding so there's a chance that we can keep him to the deal. I just can't be in LOS for the all of the time that he will need to build - unfortunately. Perhaps I can rely on the family to watch him.

Chownah,

Many thanks for your reply. That's just what I needed to know. We'll be in the local office next time we are over there. The way that things are going, that will be next month to buy the land!

Morden

I have heard that the Thai government publishes a set of full house specifications. The idea is that individuals with land can choose a specification from the range offered, show it to a builder, agree a price and get exactly what it says on the tin and nothing overlooked. So, no hidden extras.

Has anyone heard of this scheme, please? Any idea where we can get our hands on them. If it helps, we are in the UK and will build close to Korat.