I am building a home and will need to drill a well.  I have heard that there are companies in Pattaya that use a ground penetrating radar to locate the best drilling locations. 

Would anyone know the name of a company that has such equipment.  Also what would be a ballpark estimate to drill a well 

Not sure if GPR is an imperative for a good water well location as the depths are limited depending on what makes up the near-surface. Hopefully a current Pattaya resident will have some guidance on a drilling company.

Basically drilling a well is done like this...

 

You drill a hole down until the drill bit gets wet.  That's it.  Anyone that tells you any different is just after your money. ????

A reputable drilling Company normal have local knowledge and access to water table depths etc.

I've asked a few well drillers to give me an estimate about 7 years ago. They all came with 2 metal rods to look for best location. No radar or any other electronics...

They all had the same 2 charging methods:

1. You pay per meter at your chosen point (with or without their recommendation) and if they get to the deepest point they can but no water found - it's on you.

2. A set amount of money and they drill as much and as many points as needed until water is found.

I went with the 2nd method.

The 1 that took the job found water at 70 meters but continued to about 100 meters to a second and bigger water pocket.

 

There's an official government website that have geological maps showing locations, depth and estimated flow of underground water. I found it about a year after I got my well, though...

The best GPR that I have seen here in Thailand has been 2 pieces of Brass Brazing rod and a guy walking up and down on the land plot  unttil he is satisfied there is water under the rods 

The usual charge is a fee for a depth determined by th e Drller, and then a fee of X amount ( usually 1k per meter ) there after

No water - no fee

The gu that drilled for me used the above methods and after 300 M gave up

FWIW, speak to some local people close to your site, and if they have drilled water source how much the cost and who Etc

7 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

I've asked a few well drillers to give me an estimate about 7 years ago. They all came with 2 metal rods to look for best location. No radar or any other electronics...

They all had the same 2 charging methods:

1. You pay per meter at your chosen point (with or without their recommendation) and if they get to the deepest point they can but no water found - it's on you.

 

We had about the same experience, definitely the mumbo-jumbo method of finding water. We struck water at about 60 metres (East Pattaya) - about 10 years ago, it is still working. But using the water for anything else but the garden was a day-dream....

I can confirm that the water divining method works.

Drilling company came to my place, used the copper rods and said 'here'. They gave me a price and I said that I would call them.

Next day I took two pieces of metal, bent the ends and tried it. It worked. I found two spots.

One, the rods moved slightly. They said ' not much water or a long way down'.

The second place the rods moved a lot. It was was there that they had suggested.

Thinking that this was crazy (mumbo jumbo), I tried it on a couple of plots belonging to neighbours. I found the spot for the well both times - this was before we asked the drilling company.

4 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

I can confirm that the water diving method works.

Drilling company came to my place, used the copper rods and said 'here'. They gave me a price and I said that I would call them.

Next day I took two pieces of metal, bent the ends and tried it. It worked. I found two spots.

One, the rods moved slightly. They said ' not much water or a long way down'.

The second place the rods moved a lot. It was was there that they had suggested.

Thinking that this was crazy (mumbo jumbo), I tried it on a couple of plots belonging to neighbours. I found the spot for the well both times - this was before we asked the drilling company.

The 1st driller that came gave me his rods to play with. Never got anywhere with it...

13 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

The 1st driller that came gave me his rods to play with. Never got anywhere with it...

Apparently, 'the force' is not with everyone then. ????

16 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

The 1st driller that came gave me his rods to play with. Never got anywhere with it...

Oooh, kinky!

16 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

I can confirm that the water divining method works.

Drilling company came to my place, used the copper rods and said 'here'. They gave me a price and I said that I would call them.

Next day I took two pieces of metal, bent the ends and tried it. It worked. I found two spots.

Well yeah, maybe you also believe Santa Claus flies through the sky at the end of December. By the way, aren't you the one that posted not so long ago that your well dried up 10 years ago?

 

And if it is working so well, how you explain this?

 

21 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

The gu that drilled for me used the above methods and after 300 M gave up

 

44 minutes ago, BenStark said:

Well yeah, maybe you also believe Santa Claus flies through the sky at the end of December. By the way, aren't you the one that posted not so long ago that your well dried up 10 years ago?

 

And if it is working so well, how you explain this?

 

 

Santa who?

All of the wells in Samui are drying up for the very simple reason that the government put in drainage.

The land used to flood and slowly seep into the aquifers.

Now the rain water runs into the sea thanks to the super dooper drains.

The result is that Samui is now in a serious drought situation. That is why they had to put in pipes to pipe water from the mainland.

Any more questions?

21 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

I can confirm that the water divining method works.

Drilling company came to my place, used the copper rods and said 'here'. They gave me a price and I said that I would call them.

Next day I took two pieces of metal, bent the ends and tried it. It worked. I found two spots.

One, the rods moved slightly. They said ' not much water or a long way down'.

The second place the rods moved a lot. It was was there that they had suggested.

Thinking that this was crazy (mumbo jumbo), I tried it on a couple of plots belonging to neighbours. I found the spot for the well both times - this was before we asked the drilling company.

 

When we drilled our well we used this method, the rods worked for me, they did not work for my wife.

It was a long time back but think he used two brazing rods bent into an L shape for the handle, you hold both rods in front of you and level with the ground, then walk around, when the rods cross or come together that is where the water is, its an uncanny feeling when it happens.

 

My neighbor just a few weeks back wanted to put down an extra but very deep well and was able to find someone in Pattaya who came along with ground penetrating radar and scanned the ground, he showed me the pictures on his phone that the guy gave to him, the water showed up as blue in the colored picture on the phone and also gave the depth.

Unfortunately he is on a touring holiday in the US at this time so I cant easily ask him for the contact number.

6 hours ago, BenStark said:

Well yeah, maybe you also believe Santa Claus flies through the sky at the end of December. By the way, aren't you the one that posted not so long ago that your well dried up 10 years ago?

 

And if it is working so well, how you explain this?

 

 

No ! I am not the guy that posted his well dried up 10 Years ago

You obviously know very little about Well drilling in Thailand

The usual practice is that if water is not found, you dont pay, and a water find is considered to be a significant amount of Water

My well produces about 2 units per Day, and has done so now for 6 Years - considered an insignificant amount, which seems to enter the bore at about a depth of 160 M

I draw from a depth of 120 M

As for Santa !!!!

 

32 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

No ! I am not the guy that posted his well dried up 10 Years ago

You obviously know very little about Well drilling in Thailand

The usual practice is that if water is not found, you dont pay, and a water find is considered to be a significant amount of Water

My well produces about 2 units per Day, and has done so now for 6 Years - considered an insignificant amount, which seems to enter the bore at about a depth of 160 M

I draw from a depth of 120 M

As for Santa !!!!

 

Maybe try to read my post again, then you may know who's well dried up. And I'm well enough informed about well drilling, and can read posts.

 

You posted that the trick with the brazen rods didn't work and the guy gave up after 300 meters, now you post that you have a well working well.

 

By the way, my well is less than half your depth, and works fine for the past 12 years, providing water to the house and a daily irrigation system for an 800 sqm meter lawn

On 8/12/2023 at 4:22 PM, BenStark said:

You posted that the trick with the brazen rods didn't work and the guy gave up after 300 meters, now you post that you have a well working well.

The guy walked around the property with 2 pieces of Brass Rod ( trying to water Devine ) and eventually said " water here - sure at a certain place

he then proceeded to drill, but only obtained a small amount of water ( not considered enough to qualify as a reliable find )

There has to be a certain amount of water for it to be considered as a find ( dont know the exact flow rate ) but thats how it works