Hi,

We're married, got a small piece of land in Nakhon Sawan, and have paid to have the land filled about 10 months ago. We hope to start building on it within 4 years. We will be visiting Thailand again in April. We can only afford to visit every 2 years and so I'm trying to do as many constructive things as I can think of whilst there.

During next visit we intend to go to the local office to get the door number for the house.

Do we also need to ask for planning permission, or is that the same as above?

I will also buy books of house plans to check out (have also found some good plans from threads here - thanks).

May possibly approach builders for quotes - though maybe too early for that.

May visit a builders yard to get an idea of what materials are available.

Do you have any suggestions of other steps I could take while out there, however minor they may seem?

Is there anything from the UK I should be taking out with me for future use?

Thanks,

Robin.

Plant fruit trees....lots of them....more than you want since you are probably not sure where exactly you will be wanting them and you can always sell the extras or give them away to family and neighbors who will appreciate getting them. If they are planted in April they will need to be watered regularly until about June or July when the rains come. Get someone who is reliable to do this...someone who has an interest in your success in living in Thailnad (mother in law?....uncle?....preferably someone who has an interest in farming or raising trees or flowers etc.). If you feel you need to hire someone to water them then pay them by how many survive until the end of June perhaps....if you plant 100 trees pay them 20 baht for each one that survives....that would be 2000 baht and should be enough to cover the work of watering 100 trees for 2 months (assuming the water is not too far away!!)

You might check the fill to see if it has settled and add some more or see if the fill is good topsoil and if not then have some good top soil delivered and spread around on top....you might plant some kind of cover crop on the soil....maybe a legume that would enrich the soil or something that cows would eat so their manure would enrich the soil.

You could build a fence or wall if you know where you will want them....dig a well for water or lay a pipeline to bring water to the property. See if the fill you added is causing any drainage problems and fix them.

Chownah

Thanks for the idea Chownha. My mother in law lives next door and could take care of these.

Presumably I need to buy these part grown - 0.5 to 1m high? Any idea of a rough price each?

Thanks.

You can buy them like this almost anywhere (oop North)..mai peng...and they soon GROW.....

we lanted 400 last year and roll on March to slook see....

My key oard is art6ic up...sorry....

The price depends on what kind and size but the usual range is from 20 to 40 baht or so....ask some locals about what kinds and how big they should be and the approximate prices.

Chownah