Building A House

[lukey1979]

Fellas,

Im gonna be building a house in Surin in the next month, I was chatting with my misses on Msn today and i asked her If she was going to get a building permit as soon as the plans are finished by the architect which should be In the next few days, she looked at me like i had 2 heads and said ''we dont need a permit because we are building in the Jungle...'' We (she) have our own land about 5 km from Sankha but it is certainly not in the jungle. Can anybody enlighten me guys as I dont want to cock this up. I have work commitments abroad and i can only spend 1 month in 3 back in Surin to supervise, I have confidence in the misses but i dont want to bodge up any beauracracy.

[dee123]

....just get your wallet out!

[thedi]

To build a house, you should contact the village headman (Phu yai baan) and ask for a house number.

Then you should go to the OBT (Ongan Borihan suan Tambon) and get the OK. The OBT will check, that you are not building on public land (i.e. a road), which may be much bigger than actually visible.

This is the official way. But in rural areas, it is common to do the contact with the village headman en passant while chatting with him or his wife and get the house number only after building the house, when you need electricity and water. The OK from the OBT is passed up in practice quite often too.

Neither the Phu yai baan nor the OBT will check the plans for the house.

Naturally you should check with your neighbors, that there are no disputes about where your land is.

Regards and good luck

Thedi

[AA1]

As Dee says just get out the wallet - no more need be done!!

One minor tip - When you build wall or fence round the property, be careful that you do no go 1" over the line between the boundary markers. Whenever we put up a fence etc. on any bit of my wife's land, it always seems to attract 1 or more old locals to watch. Wife is going to make sure that she is not going to be 1" inside the boundary and old man/men make sure that it is not 1" outside. Can be quite amusing at times!!! With our house front wall, when up 1 old man complained to the village headman we were over this line. Luckily headman came round and ruled in our favour.

What village are you building in? Our house is in Ban Sawat about 12 km from Sangkha although sadly at present we are based in Bangkok so only use for holidays. Will be moving up there full time in about 18 months.

[phibunmike]

We sought verbal approval from the Phu Yai Ban, who's only question was "how many floors".

No plans are inspected. You need the house number for electricity, but you probably need electricity during construction, so that can be a bit of a catch 22, but it can be overcome.

Cheers,

Mike

[chownah]

In the north where we built there was no house plans, no permits, and the only thing the poo yai baan did was verify that we had a toilet before issuing the address and house book...and the electrical inspection which was a joke more or less.

[thedi]

You need the house number for electricity, but you probably need electricity during construction, so that can be a bit of a catch 22, but it can be overcome.

You can get a temporary electrical connection - but this is quite expensive. If you can get the electricity from a neighbor until your house is finished, it will be cheaper to pay his bill until then - and your neighbor will become a friend in the same time.

Regards

Thedi

[phibunmike]

You need the house number for electricity, but you probably need electricity during construction, so that can be a bit of a catch 22, but it can be overcome.

You can get a temporary electrical connection - but this is quite expensive. If you can get the electricity from a neighbor until your house is finished, it will be cheaper to pay his bill until then - and your neighbor will become a friend in the same time.

Regards

Thedi

Yes, that would have been the easiest solution, but there were no electricity poles within 500m of my house, and no neighbours either. So I had to apply for "princess" electricity, where the meter was put on a pole at a considerable distance from my house. It meant paying a deposit, which would have been recoverable after proper connection if I could find the receipt Perhaps this is the same thing you were referring to.

Cheers,

Mike

[Dave the Dude]

Hi lukey1979

I live about the same distance from Surin as you will, but towards Presat and have completed my house&shop. I remember well the worries I had when building 'from afar.' What made things worse is I used to be in the building/heating trade so it was mighty worrying. What tips I can give you applied to my project and I'm not saying apply to EVERY project

1. Some local good guys call themselves tradesmen and are really farmers. Check/double check who is incharge/working in you 'pride and joy'

2. Dont assume locals understand 'western' style kitchen/bathroom set-ups

3. Us 'westerners' need plenty of electrical points in every living space and not ONE PER ROOM

4.If you are having the usual 'wetroom' stye bathroom ENSURE traps(U- bends) are added to drain-aways (this stops smells)

5.Be clear they understand where you require HOT water and agree the method (heater/elec showers ect)

6.Use the best quality paints/wood preservers that you can afford.

7. Finally and most importantly, ensure the ground has 'settled' long enough to take a property above it, otherwise you will be buying industrial quantities of filler for the cracks throughout you home.

I dont mean to sound all 'doom and gloom' but the above list would have been handy to me a few years ago. BTW, I am very pleased with the finished article and I hope you will be as happy here as I am.

Chock dee to you both

Dave

[lilleper]

hi i just build a house in sangkha last year you dont need a permit we have housebook and everything and never ask for a permit just build its not a problem what town do you wont to build in i have build in a small village called ban sawat

[phibunmike]

Hi lukey1979

I live about the same distance from Surin as you will, but towards Presat and have completed my house&shop. I remember well the worries I had when building 'from afar.' What made things worse is I used to be in the building/heating trade so it was mighty worrying. What tips I can give you applied to my project and I'm not saying apply to EVERY project

1. Some local good guys call themselves tradesmen and are really farmers. Check/double check who is incharge/working in you 'pride and joy'

2. Dont assume locals understand 'western' style kitchen/bathroom set-ups

3. Us 'westerners' need plenty of electrical points in every living space and not ONE PER ROOM

4.If you are having the usual 'wetroom' stye bathroom ENSURE traps(U- bends) are added to drain-aways (this stops smells)

5.Be clear they understand where you require HOT water and agree the method (heater/elec showers ect)

6.Use the best quality paints/wood preservers that you can afford.

7. Finally and most importantly, ensure the ground has 'settled' long enough to take a property above it, otherwise you will be buying industrial quantities of filler for the cracks throughout you home.

I dont mean to sound all 'doom and gloom' but the above list would have been handy to me a few years ago. BTW, I am very pleased with the finished article and I hope you will be as happy here as I am.

Chock dee to you both

Dave

8. Explain that a western style toilet usually goes against the wall, not in the middle of the room like a chair. (It is rather novel, though...)

[Dave the Dude]

8. Explain that a western style toilet usually goes against the wall, not in the middle of the room like a chair. (It is rather novel, though...)

Good one phibunmike and 9. could be :-

9. Explain what a western style toilet IS (and a toilet roll holder,while your at it)

Edited December 1, 2007 by Dave the Dude

[jimmym40]

Okay, everyone so far has said you do not need a floor plan or permit, etc. That's probably true.

One bit of caution though.

I assume you are going to pay cash, no problem. The problem comes in to play if you/wife in the future will want to take a loan out against the house. Or, if you sell the house and the new owners will be taking out a loan - THEN the bank will ask for the building plans and approval from the headmaster or whatever they called them. It happened to my wife/s brother in Lamphun. We built the small house for him from scratch, no plans, etc. When he tried to sell it, the bank wouldn't talk to the buyer because we could not show any building plans.

[tomo22]

Okay, everyone so far has said you do not need a floor plan or permit, etc. That's probably true.

One bit of caution though.

I assume you are going to pay cash, no problem. The problem comes in to play if you/wife in the future will want to take a loan out against the house. Or, if you sell the house and the new owners will be taking out a loan - THEN the bank will ask for the building plans and approval from the headmaster or whatever they called them. It happened to my wife/s brother in Lamphun. We built the small house for him from scratch, no plans, etc. When he tried to sell it, the bank wouldn't talk to the buyer because we could not show any building plans.

If you are building from afar get a proper builder it might cost you more but you will be better of. If I was to build here again which i expect to do in the next couple of years. Do all contracts with a bank guarante and it works great.