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Posted

Ive read on this forum many times about people asking the village head to help resolve problems eg noisy issues near ones house etc. 

 

What else do they do? Do they have much authority or power?

 

We are considering to buy land that has a small dirt road (public road) to access the land. The village head told us that we can only raise the soil on our land by 0.5m not 1m.   If we ignore him can I safely assume he could cause us issues and grass us up to the local govt?

 

What is their role exactly?

thanks

Jack

Posted
2 hours ago, jack71 said:

The village head told us that we can only raise the soil on our land by 0.5m not 1m.  

Go to the local govt with the reason you have for a recommended height in case of flooding, advise by expert engineer builder's,  told by architect etc, etc and he will be overruled.

 

  • Like 1
Posted
1 hour ago, sirineou said:

    Why do you want to raise your land more than ,5M, ?? What hardship will it present to you and your property,  if you only raise it ,5M.? These are the questions you need to address , that might allow you to get a variance from the ,5M limit. 

my MIL house gets flooded out every HEAVY rain we are thinking about raising the level also .. and yes it will effect the neighbors empty field  ..  

  • Like 1
Posted

Seems as if anyone can apply to be village head, did'nt the chief suspect in the kho tao murders case get turned down a couple of months back after applying for vacant village head post, must be some gain in the position to bother yourselves with the job monetary or otherwise!

Posted
5 minutes ago, ifmu said:

my MIL house gets flooded out every HEAVY rain we are thinking about raising the level also .. and yes it will effect the neighbors empty field  ..  

If your property floods at .5M above grade elevation then you have a good point .

So the question is , dose your road flood during the rainy season. 

The argument that I would make is not how high you elevate your property but how low it was before you back filled. obviously a property that was low such as a rice field would have to be elevated more than .5M. That's where I would start the conversation with the village boss. Smile a lot. and be friendly, remember he is elected  (I think every 6 or seven years) and he wants to keep everybody happy and liking him. 

Posted
1 hour ago, ifmu said:

my MIL house gets flooded out every HEAVY rain we are thinking about raising the level also .. and yes it will effect the neighbors empty field  ..  

Flooded empty fields tend to flood other lowlands unless they're diked.

Posted
On 12/13/2021 at 12:56 PM, CharlieH said:

The last thing you want to do is upset that guy !

You are moving into a new area that woukd be very unwise in my opinion.

 

To be clear, are you talking "Pu yai" for your soi/area, or "Gamnant" for your village ?

Perhaps you can work something out.

 

Its best to have your wife and Thai family have consul with him.

 

Being pleasant and working things out can usually bring out an amicable outcome.

 

 

Posted

You can blame America for the village loudspeakers.

 

Their introduction was a CIA led initiative to instill  national pride at the time Thailand was threatened with a communist uprising.

  • Sad 1
Posted
6 hours ago, ifmu said:

my MIL house gets flooded out every HEAVY rain we are thinking about raising the level also .. and yes it will effect the neighbors empty field  ..  

In that case I would build my house on stilts, traditional Thai style, so when the flood comes only your driveway will be affected and your house stays dry. 

Posted

They can actually condone violent village arrests of thieves and druggies, usually one and the same. The issue with the land height in our village on a block I bought meant that an old lady living next door complained to him and I had to put in a cheap low wall on her side. Another time a different official told me that I had to pay 1000bt for approval to "tom din" or put dirt down. I told the wife to cancel it and I'll do it again soon, Covid means they have other worries.

 

I have heard it said over the loud speaker that he, "poo yai", knows who is stealing the motorbikes, he recovered two from Cambodian buyers, and that if it happened again the culprit would be taking a long one way walk into the forest.

Posted
On 12/13/2021 at 3:26 PM, Kwasaki said:

Go to the local govt with the reason you have for a recommended height in case of flooding, advise by expert engineer builder's,  told by architect etc, etc and he will be overruled.

 

.....and then you will get real trouble.

  • Haha 1
Posted
14 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

.....and then you will get real trouble.

Absolutely rubbish I don't understand this thing people have here about a village head the local govt can over-rule anything and we have done so. 

If you have a reasonable reason  to do something and it is submitted to local govt office what makes people think a village head is above the local govt. 

Posted
On 12/13/2021 at 1:06 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

As far as I see there is a huge difference between his official rights and his power and position.

 

I.e. my gf told me about a drug dealer in her village who was not only a drug dealer but also otherwise a bad person. I asked her why people didn't report him to the police. Her answer was: He is the son of the village head.

 

And that is/was end of the discussion. Like: Don't mess with the village head - even if there would be good legal reasons to do that. After all, TiT.

And they willingly accepted his money when they voted for him/her! Just had two coming to our land now lately, one with 600,- and the other with 1 100,- baht to be voted. The guy who gave 600 got the most votes, but everyone kept their money. Conclusion and quite logic, the one who paid 600, is less corrupt ???? than the one who can pay more. 

 

In my eyes they are useless and can be damaging if you are not friends with them, but so far no problems in our village, and seems like a fair and decent boss, but things take time, and they do go around and talk to people to get both sides before giving an final decission. Mostly land border, talking to ampure for you if any issues, and so on. 

 

In our village, the police control the drugs, so no use calling them. 

 

 

Posted
10 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And obviously they charge for their service to do that.

I guess their money comes from building schools, roads, dikes, ponds, basically maintenence, etc. never heard they have any official charges, but if you want your case to go your way, then I guess there is money involved, but again, bonds, network etc is important, since they want to keep their position, and have to keep the majority of the people happy for next vote. 

Posted
20 hours ago, Hummin said:

I guess their money comes from building schools, roads, dikes, ponds, basically maintenence, etc. never heard they have any official charges, but if you want your case to go your way, then I guess there is money involved, but again, bonds, network etc is important, since they want to keep their position, and have to keep the majority of the people happy for next vote. 

I think they don't need to worry about the next vote, I'm pretty sure they changed the system and they can remain as pu yai till they retire at 60

Posted
On 12/13/2021 at 1:06 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

As far as I see there is a huge difference between his official rights and his power and position.

..........

And that is/was end of the discussion. Like: Don't mess with the village head - even if there would be good legal reasons to do that. After all, TiT.

Village heads are just middlemen, the facilitators of whatever goes on in their 'patch', be that legal or otherwise. There are some places where it's essentially a private fiefdom loyalty/family network (the islands for example). There are people above and below, be that wealth or positions of official power. There are some places in our turf (the remote northern borders) that are functionally lawless. The headman in our town needs my family to support him in his position. That means don't puhck with my family ????

 

Don't get me wrong. These are not bad people. In Thailand we just don't really bother pretending like we do in western democracies. In my home country whoever wants the lucrative contract gives someone at the District Council a reacharound and pretends it went through a tender process.

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Posted
1 hour ago, Bday Prang said:

I think they don't need to worry about the next vote, I'm pretty sure they changed the system and they can remain as pu yai till they retire at 60

I guess that can be true some places, and other places they can be up for a new vote every 4 years or if the majority of the villagers are unhappy with his work.

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