Floating Villas/houses

[LaoPo]

What are the (im)-possibilities ?

What about legal laws ?

What about....well, so many questions; but, couldn't it be a great loophole to buy/build/construct a floating villa in the various river- and coastal water-parts of Thailand ?

Interested to hear your opinions !

LaoPo

Edited July 3, 2007 by LaoPo

[quiksilva]

Great thread!

Very interesting train of thought LaoPo, never considered that before....

hmmm would it be classified as a boat?

Mooring rights would come into play then wouldn't they? Don't know much about that myself but I have heard that mooring rights are difficult to secure, but could be way off base.

I shall be watching this thread with interest.

[jumnien]

Interesting post. Just a few days ago I got obssessed with internet search of houseboat manufacturers. Everything from $35,000 trailerable pontoon boats to full on $500,000 Canadian houseboats for intercoastal waterways. Could you just anchor offshore in relatively protected waters. Or have a great exploration of Thai rivers? So many possibilities. Check out Adventure Craft 28' or Nomad 25 for river exploration!

[jaideeguy]

Yes, t's always been a fantasy of mine to have a floating house and 5 yrs ago, i saw an ad for one on a lake [forget the name] up north of CM and it seems that you can get mooring rights with the govmt that alows you to use it. I went up to the lake and saw a group of floating bungaloos for rent, but the downside was thet in the center of the bungaloos, there was a floating karoke bar. nice way to ruin a night's sleep and contrary to getting away from it all. There were other floating fishing huts with nets attached for fish farming. maybe one could purchase the rights to set up a small scale fishing operation and build a comfortable bungaloo.

That's still a fantasy and if anyone knows of a quiet lake with rights to rent/lease, I'd be interested.

A comfortable and sturdy house could be built on those pvc drums,.

With tsunamis, storms and floods, i'd be reluctant to do something like this on the coast or a river.

[1Rai.com]

We have a listing on our site, from Siam Ikat Co., Ltd.:

http://www.1rai.com/Thailand-Real-Property...hang_15838.aspx

The listing states that there is "no title deed for the house as it is built in the sea - as are all properties in Bangbao village, but the house does have the 'Tabian Baan' government address book".

In other words, there is no land title, as there is no land. The house, however does have a Tabian Baan. I think it would probably be best to contact the agent of the property as to how the legalities are in this case. As far as I know, there are also many floating villas in Sea Gypsy village in Koh Lanta.

What are the (im)-possibilities ?

What about legal laws ?

What about....well, so many questions; but, couldn't it be a great loophole to buy/build/construct a floating villa in the various river- and coastal water-parts of Thailand ?

Interested to hear your opinions !

[LaoPo]

We have a listing on our site, from Siam Ikat Co., Ltd.:

http://www.1rai.com/Thailand-Real-Property...hang_15838.aspx

The listing states that there is "no title deed for the house as it is built in the sea - as are all properties in Bangbao village, but the house does have the 'Tabian Baan' government address book".

In other words, there is no land title, as there is no land. The house, however does have a Tabian Baan. I think it would probably be best to contact the agent of the property as to how the legalities are in this case. As far as I know, there are also many floating villas in Sea Gypsy village in Koh Lanta.

What are the (im)-possibilities ?

What about legal laws ?

What about....well, so many questions; but, couldn't it be a great loophole to buy/build/construct a floating villa in the various river- and coastal water-parts of Thailand ?

Interested to hear your opinions !

Thanks!

Interesting, since we're also moving now into houses built in the sea...on poles; which is of course a bit different than a floating house.

But all news is more than welcome.

LaoPo

[hellohello]

Not floating Villa's on Lanta, but pole houses, done up Villa style. Like Ko Chang. Many restaurants and shops as well in both Saladan and Lanta Old Town.

The public land is registered (and managed) by the Government's Costal Commission. Annual fees of about 200 baht a year, for permission/rent. Tambian baan's and all services (phone, power, water) are offered. The building should be made of wood; fines are issued for use of too much cement.

After the Tsunami, Koh Lanta's Old Town received secure tenure in partnership with the district.

"Koh Lanta became the first test-case for an unconventional kind of participatory, post-disaster coastal planning process. CODI, along with a special planning team and with support from the UN, facilitated a process in which all the local groups (fishing communities, civic groups, district officials, local businessmen and NGOs) sat together, talked about what they would like to do and developed a collective master plan for the island. Unlike other villages on the Andaman Sea, the land rights are more secure since the disaster."

[Gary A]

Just thinking about it sounds great, BUT, I'd say that it would be a can of worms. What to do with the sewage and where to get your power, not to mention fresh water if you are going to float it in salt water. There are a lot of floating barge homes in the Florida keys and they have a "honey" boat that comes around and pumps out the sewage tanks as well as a fresh water tanker to fill the fresh water tanks. It would take a BUNCH of solar panels to make enough electricity for a household. I'm sure it would cost more to live like that than in a conventional home.

[Larsbo]

A friend of mine have the same ide, He need more office space for his staf,

who works with webdesign and computers.

He are looking for any ideas about design, how to build it and the law about it.

[DanBlack]

There are 100s of people living on moored boats. Whats the difference

[moe666]

Moored boats get underway on occassion to pump sewage and to clean hull. Any thing built on water or over water is a blackhole were your money goes.

Lots of maintence and upkeep more than a regular house. You could buy a rice barage and fix it up.

[chiangmaibruce]

Off on another tangent now, but still in a similar vein ... the scope for high quality demountable homes. As you all know, farang can legally own a home built upon the land of another. The problem is, of course, if your lease ends or you have a falling out with the owner (your wife?) then you lose your place. But what if you could jack it up and put it on a trailer - or tow it on skids - in one or more pieces? New partner, new plot of land, new extended family, new buffalo ... a fresh new start And other than haulage costs, scarcely a satang lost. In fact why wait for a relationship breakdown ? ... too smokey in Chiang Mai? ... take the sucker down the coast for a while

I am not talking about something that looks like a construction site shed or portable class room ... some of the designs I have seen (in Australia) are not too bad at all at least for relatively short stays. I imagine many expats are only in residence for a few months at a time anyway. Further, some traditional northern Thai homes were also built to be dismantled, so there is a local model to copy.

[johnson36]

Off on another tangent now, but still in a similar vein ... the scope for high quality demountable homes. As you all know, farang can legally own a home built upon the land of another. The problem is, of course, if your lease ends or you have a falling out with the owner (your wife?) then you lose your place. But what if you could jack it up and put it on a trailer - or tow it on skids - in one or more pieces? New partner, new plot of land, new extended family, new buffalo ... a fresh new start And other than haulage costs, scarcely a satang lost. In fact why wait for a relationship breakdown ? ... too smokey in Chiang Mai? ... take the sucker down the coast for a while

I am not talking about something that looks like a construction site shed or portable class room ... some of the designs I have seen (in Australia) are not too bad at all at least for relatively short stays. I imagine many expats are only in residence for a few months at a time anyway. Further, some traditional northern Thai homes were also built to be dismantled, so there is a local model to copy.

No Problem

Edited August 14, 2009 by johnson36

[thaiwanderer]

Talk of loopholes etc. may be premature as water can be land, so to speak.

“Land” means the general land, including mountains, brooks, swamps, canals, ponds, riverside villages, waterway, lakes, islands, and shore land. (land code section 1)

Water not so covered would be dealt with by far more difficult laws i imagine.