Buying Land In Phitsanuloke

[gbt71fa]

I am not sure if this is the right topic area but here it goes: I am returning in about a year from now with my wife, she is Thai, and we are going to buy some land around Phitsanuloke city, where she is from. How many rai's are in an acre or vice versa and how much should it cost in Baht or U.S. dollars? I am thinking of 2-3 acres. I am renting a house there now that holds all our stuff but, later on, I want to build a house-a place to stay at near her family when we visit. I would think the land would be cheaper than say land near Bangkok or Chang Mai. Chang Rai would be nice though...

[gregchambers]

One rai is 1600 sq metres so look up how big an acre is and work from there. Impossible to put a price on land as it varies hugely on location but it will be ridiculously cheap by Western standards - certainly no more than 500k a rai in te best location; a tenth of that in an awkward location (rice land really).

Unfortunately, the only way to buy it cheaply is to let your wife do the bargaining whilst you are hiding somewhere, otherwise factor in five to ten times the actual cost when farang are involved - and I am not kidding! Unfortunately, the area you are moving to is one of the more notorious for ripping off farang!

You will also need to price everything independently by going to a big builders merchants where prices are on display. Small bulders mechants will inflate the price and share the profits with either the builder or wife. Once you have a working cost for the house's building materials, the actual labour costs work out at twenty percent of the building materials by normal Thai building standards. Again, these are not applicable where farang are involved as builders will work together to give highly inflated quotes, taking turns to milk the farang. A house that would cost a local half a million baht could easy cost three or four million if a farang is involved.

A nice quality two storey, three bedroom, three bathroom house with a minimal kicthen with a total living area of 150sqm would cost around the one million baht area to build incl materials and labour.

Many wifes collude with the builders, splitting the profit between themselves and the builder, the free money going to support her local husband. In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that you would be allowed to live in the Thai countryside unless a local husband is being supported!

The whole deal of farang in the Thai countryside about Face and making sure the farang has none! So a lot of hassle when you can buy a rather nice house with a lot less hassle outside places like Chaing Mai, Bang Saen and Cha Amn for the same money (two million baht, in this case half for the land and half for the house) but on a much smaller land plot.

[Sparkles]

I am not sure if this is the right topic area but here it goes: I am returning in about a year from now with my wife, she is Thai, and we are going to buy some land around Phitsanuloke city, where she is from. How many rai's are in an acre or vice versa and how much should it cost in Baht or U.S. dollars? I am thinking of 2-3 acres. I am renting a house there now that holds all our stuff but, later on, I want to build a house-a place to stay at near her family when we visit. I would think the land would be cheaper than say land near Bangkok or Chang Mai. Chang Rai would be nice though...

Suggest you visit the local Banks. In most areas all Banks have a number of foreclosures on House and Land or Land only. These prices are usually well below what you would pay through an Agent or putting yourself at the mercy of a greedy seller.Some Banks list properties on their web sites,mostly in Thai, but a personal visit is far better in my oipinion.

[kdbkk]

I know someone who bought a house in this project near the airport. Check this website wachanyalakeville.com

Most buyers are doctors, business owners and foreigners. Looks very nice.

[billd766]

One rai is 1600 sq metres so look up how big an acre is and work from there. Impossible to put a price on land as it varies hugely on location but it will be ridiculously cheap by Western standards - certainly no more than 500k a rai in te best location; a tenth of that in an awkward location (rice land really).

Unfortunately, the only way to buy it cheaply is to let your wife do the bargaining whilst you are hiding somewhere, otherwise factor in five to ten times the actual cost when farang are involved - and I am not kidding! Unfortunately, the area you are moving to is one of the more notorious for ripping off farang!

You will also need to price everything independently by going to a big builders merchants where prices are on display. Small bulders mechants will inflate the price and share the profits with either the builder or wife. Once you have a working cost for the house's building materials, the actual labour costs work out at twenty percent of the building materials by normal Thai building standards. Again, these are not applicable where farang are involved as builders will work together to give highly inflated quotes, taking turns to milk the farang. A house that would cost a local half a million baht could easy cost three or four million if a farang is involved.

A nice quality two storey, three bedroom, three bathroom house with a minimal kicthen with a total living area of 150sqm would cost around the one million baht area to build incl materials and labour.

Many wifes collude with the builders, splitting the profit between themselves and the builder, the free money going to support her local husband. In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that you would be allowed to live in the Thai countryside unless a local husband is being supported!

The whole deal of farang in the Thai countryside about Face and making sure the farang has none! So a lot of hassle when you can buy a rather nice house with a lot less hassle outside places like Chaing Mai, Bang Saen and Cha Amn for the same money (two million baht, in this case half for the land and half for the house) but on a much smaller land plot.

Unfortunately no-one can tell you the price of land in a years time as many factors depend on where the land is, does it have full title, is it on a surfaced road, is there electricity and water available. Is it farming land and what kind as the price of land is rising some of the time especially as cassava growing for bio fuels is getting popular. If your wife has family in Phiysanulok it may be a good idea for your wife to talk with them and explain what she would like then they can look around for both of you and get a better idea of current prices and future pricing trends.

Well 1 acre is approximately 2 1/2 rai and it IS a good idea to get your wife to buy the land and YES it will be much cheaper than if you show your face. It certainly was for me.

I live about 65 km southwest of Khampaeng Phet and when we bought the the second plot of land (my wife already had the first before I met her it was about 25,000 baht a rai.

My wife then stayed with a friend while we started to build a 3 bedroom 2 storey house and we soon built a 5m x 5m 1 bedroom house on site for her to live in full time and me at the weekends

She took on the responsibility of finding and managing the builder, obtaining all the material andensuring that the building went according to how she wanted. If there was a problem she would talk it over with the builder and they would come to a conclusion.

We paid around 250,000 baht for all the construction work and supplied the materials ourselves and together with the small house, raised concrete floor, eucalyptus walls and roof tiles in an unfashionable colour, 10 rai of land the total bill came to around 1.25m baht.

The land is in a tarmac highway with main water and single phase electricity 6km from the village and in a mooban.

Whilst I appreciate that SOME but not all wives MAY collude with the builders, generally speaking this is not so in my experience and I have been in Thailand some 15 years on and off.

This is where I disagree with Greg Chambers

I know of many farangs who live perfectly happy lives with their Thai wives, children and assorted family out in the countryside and strangely enough nobody can stop you living in the countryside with your wife. Not ALL Thai wives have Thai husbands as well.

My wife certainly doesn't have a Thai husband or children other than our son nor do a lot of other Thai wives. We have known each other since 1993 and I divorced my UK wife in 1998 and married my Thai wife in 2000. Our son was born in 2004.

If you have known your wife for a fair while and trust her then cement the trust by allowing her to do the things that she can do better than you especially when dealing with other Thais. She will appreciate your love and trust in her and believe me it will be returned many times over the years.

I hope that this is of some use to you Unfortunately I live about 150 km away from Phitsanulok.

[gregchambers]

Unfortunately, the whole point of having a local husband as well as a farang husband is that the latter never gets to know about the former, whole villages colluding in the deception - and it does vary across the country, Phistanoluk and Petchabun provinces possibly being the worst. And whilst farang can settle anywhere they choose in the country, the reaction of the locals is entirely dependent on the degree to which the farang is successfully ripped off.

At least you confirmed, more or less, my estimate of labour costs versus construction costs and the need to stay out of the way so as to get Thai prices. My best advice is still to avoid countryside living and settle for a nice house on a smaller plot near to a major city.

Good idea doing a search on the banks for repossessed property though we are at that point in the cycle where the real bargains are drying up.

[gbt71fa]

One rai is 1600 sq metres so look up how big an acre is and work from there. Impossible to put a price on land as it varies hugely on location but it will be ridiculously cheap by Western standards - certainly no more than 500k a rai in te best location; a tenth of that in an awkward location (rice land really).

Unfortunately, the only way to buy it cheaply is to let your wife do the bargaining whilst you are hiding somewhere, otherwise factor in five to ten times the actual cost when farang are involved - and I am not kidding! Unfortunately, the area you are moving to is one of the more notorious for ripping off farang!

You will also need to price everything independently by going to a big builders merchants where prices are on display. Small bulders mechants will inflate the price and share the profits with either the builder or wife. Once you have a working cost for the house's building materials, the actual labour costs work out at twenty percent of the building materials by normal Thai building standards. Again, these are not applicable where farang are involved as builders will work together to give highly inflated quotes, taking turns to milk the farang. A house that would cost a local half a million baht could easy cost three or four million if a farang is involved.

A nice quality two storey, three bedroom, three bathroom house with a minimal kicthen with a total living area of 150sqm would cost around the one million baht area to build incl materials and labour.

Many wifes collude with the builders, splitting the profit between themselves and the builder, the free money going to support her local husband. In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that you would be allowed to live in the Thai countryside unless a local husband is being supported!

The whole deal of farang in the Thai countryside about Face and making sure the farang has none! So a lot of hassle when you can buy a rather nice house with a lot less hassle outside places like Chaing Mai, Bang Saen and Cha Amn for the same money (two million baht, in this case half for the land and half for the house) but on a much smaller land plot.

My wife lives with me now in the U.S. and she doesn't have a thai husband waiting around. I lived in Thailand for about two years and then we came back to the U.S. We will probably use the same house builder that her Aunt used-they did a pretty good job but it was slow-going. I have a buddy who lives in Thailand, Canadien-lawyer who is pretty fluent in Thai if I run into any roadblocks. I am also pretty good at haggeling with local Thais.

[gbt71fa]

I am not sure if this is the right topic area but here it goes: I am returning in about a year from now with my wife, she is Thai, and we are going to buy some land around Phitsanuloke city, where she is from. How many rai's are in an acre or vice versa and how much should it cost in Baht or U.S. dollars? I am thinking of 2-3 acres. I am renting a house there now that holds all our stuff but, later on, I want to build a house-a place to stay at near her family when we visit. I would think the land would be cheaper than say land near Bangkok or Chang Mai. Chang Rai would be nice though...

Suggest you visit the local Banks. In most areas all Banks have a number of foreclosures on House and Land or Land only. These prices are usually well below what you would pay through an Agent or putting yourself at the mercy of a greedy seller.Some Banks list properties on their web sites,mostly in Thai, but a personal visit is far better in my oipinion.

That is a really good suggestion. I didn't even think about that. I do have a bank account there...Siam Bank but I can check out the others. Thanks for the helpful advice.

[gbt71fa]

One rai is 1600 sq metres so look up how big an acre is and work from there. Impossible to put a price on land as it varies hugely on location but it will be ridiculously cheap by Western standards - certainly no more than 500k a rai in te best location; a tenth of that in an awkward location (rice land really).

Unfortunately, the only way to buy it cheaply is to let your wife do the bargaining whilst you are hiding somewhere, otherwise factor in five to ten times the actual cost when farang are involved - and I am not kidding! Unfortunately, the area you are moving to is one of the more notorious for ripping off farang!

You will also need to price everything independently by going to a big builders merchants where prices are on display. Small bulders mechants will inflate the price and share the profits with either the builder or wife. Once you have a working cost for the house's building materials, the actual labour costs work out at twenty percent of the building materials by normal Thai building standards. Again, these are not applicable where farang are involved as builders will work together to give highly inflated quotes, taking turns to milk the farang. A house that would cost a local half a million baht could easy cost three or four million if a farang is involved.

A nice quality two storey, three bedroom, three bathroom house with a minimal kicthen with a total living area of 150sqm would cost around the one million baht area to build incl materials and labour.

Many wifes collude with the builders, splitting the profit between themselves and the builder, the free money going to support her local husband. In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that you would be allowed to live in the Thai countryside unless a local husband is being supported!

The whole deal of farang in the Thai countryside about Face and making sure the farang has none! So a lot of hassle when you can buy a rather nice house with a lot less hassle outside places like Chaing Mai, Bang Saen and Cha Amn for the same money (two million baht, in this case half for the land and half for the house) but on a much smaller land plot.

Unfortunately no-one can tell you the price of land in a years time as many factors depend on where the land is, does it have full title, is it on a surfaced road, is there electricity and water available. Is it farming land and what kind as the price of land is rising some of the time especially as cassava growing for bio fuels is getting popular. If your wife has family in Phiysanulok it may be a good idea for your wife to talk with them and explain what she would like then they can look around for both of you and get a better idea of current prices and future pricing trends.

Well 1 acre is approximately 2 1/2 rai and it IS a good idea to get your wife to buy the land and YES it will be much cheaper than if you show your face. It certainly was for me.

I live about 65 km southwest of Khampaeng Phet and when we bought the the second plot of land (my wife already had the first before I met her it was about 25,000 baht a rai.

My wife then stayed with a friend while we started to build a 3 bedroom 2 storey house and we soon built a 5m x 5m 1 bedroom house on site for her to live in full time and me at the weekends

She took on the responsibility of finding and managing the builder, obtaining all the material andensuring that the building went according to how she wanted. If there was a problem she would talk it over with the builder and they would come to a conclusion.

We paid around 250,000 baht for all the construction work and supplied the materials ourselves and together with the small house, raised concrete floor, eucalyptus walls and roof tiles in an unfashionable colour, 10 rai of land the total bill came to around 1.25m baht.

The land is in a tarmac highway with main water and single phase electricity 6km from the village and in a mooban.

Whilst I appreciate that SOME but not all wives MAY collude with the builders, generally speaking this is not so in my experience and I have been in Thailand some 15 years on and off.

This is where I disagree with Greg Chambers

I know of many farangs who live perfectly happy lives with their Thai wives, children and assorted family out in the countryside and strangely enough nobody can stop you living in the countryside with your wife. Not ALL Thai wives have Thai husbands as well.

My wife certainly doesn't have a Thai husband or children other than our son nor do a lot of other Thai wives. We have known each other since 1993 and I divorced my UK wife in 1998 and married my Thai wife in 2000. Our son was born in 2004.

If you have known your wife for a fair while and trust her then cement the trust by allowing her to do the things that she can do better than you especially when dealing with other Thais. She will appreciate your love and trust in her and believe me it will be returned many times over the years.

I hope that this is of some use to you Unfortunately I live about 150 km away from Phitsanulok.

I have know my wife for more than 2 years and she now lives with me in the U.S. I know her family very well and they have always treated with the upmost courtest even when I have had farang temper tantrums (sometimes you just need a dam_n cheeseburger!) We are returning to Thailand next year and planned on doing this together. Do you suggest that she does the haggeling for the land herself and I not get involved? Overcharge farang, right. Her family has a pretty strong foothold in the community and have stepped in many times when it looked like I met get taken (our car, renting a house, ect). I appreciate the advice from the first gentlemen who answered my post but I trust my wife much more than I did my first farang wife.

[Spee]

I am not sure if this is the right topic area but here it goes: I am returning in about a year from now with my wife, she is Thai, and we are going to buy some land around Phitsanuloke city, where she is from. How many rai's are in an acre or vice versa and how much should it cost in Baht or U.S. dollars? I am thinking of 2-3 acres. I am renting a house there now that holds all our stuff but, later on, I want to build a house-a place to stay at near her family when we visit. I would think the land would be cheaper than say land near Bangkok or Chang Mai. Chang Rai would be nice though...

The other comments are really good. I had some other thoughts to add.

P-lok is a pretty good sized town and really spread out from the east on the main drag where all the big chain stores are, to the south where the airport is or towards Phichit, to the west out to Sukothai, or up towards the north. I haven't been out to the west or up to the north of P-lok yet so I can't comment about those areas.

I can't speak for your case and don't want to generalize, but it seems like a lot of country girls are very family oriented and they want to be very close to or very near by their close relatives. I would talk with her and find that out for sure. Does she want to be within a few minutes walk, a few minutes drive, or perhaps 20-30 minutes drive or more. In my case, my partner wanted to be right near her immediate family, so we built right in the village within about 10 minutes walk of everyone.

We're about 100km southeast of P-lok and I've made the drive up Route 11 many times. There are lots of little nice little towns and property along the way. Personally, I would not want to be along the main drag on the east side of town. It would be like living next to one big shopping center. I'm not sure I'd want to be around the airport either, even though there are only a handful of flights a day. If the south area is where your partner's family is located, then you should be able to find something nice between P-lok and Phichit.

To the southeast are the mountains. If you like the breeze, cooler temperatures and scenery of the mountain areas, and could handle being 45-60 minutes or so from P-lok, then there are some beautiful areas to look at for building and settling.

[gbt71fa]

I am not sure if this is the right topic area but here it goes: I am returning in about a year from now with my wife, she is Thai, and we are going to buy some land around Phitsanuloke city, where she is from. How many rai's are in an acre or vice versa and how much should it cost in Baht or U.S. dollars? I am thinking of 2-3 acres. I am renting a house there now that holds all our stuff but, later on, I want to build a house-a place to stay at near her family when we visit. I would think the land would be cheaper than say land near Bangkok or Chang Mai. Chang Rai would be nice though...

The other comments are really good. I had some other thoughts to add.

P-lok is a pretty good sized town and really spread out from the east on the main drag where all the big chain stores are, to the south where the airport is or towards Phichit, to the west out to Sukothai, or up towards the north. I haven't been out to the west or up to the north of P-lok yet so I can't comment about those areas.

I can't speak for your case and don't want to generalize, but it seems like a lot of country girls are very family oriented and they want to be very close to or very near by their close relatives. I would talk with her and find that out for sure. Does she want to be within a few minutes walk, a few minutes drive, or perhaps 20-30 minutes drive or more. In my case, my partner wanted to be right near her immediate family, so we built right in the village within about 10 minutes walk of everyone.

We're about 100km southeast of P-lok and I've made the drive up Route 11 many times. There are lots of little nice little towns and property along the way. Personally, I would not want to be along the main drag on the east side of town. It would be like living next to one big shopping center. I'm not sure I'd want to be around the airport either, even though there are only a handful of flights a day. If the south area is where your partner's family is located, then you should be able to find something nice between P-lok and Phichit.

To the southeast are the mountains. If you like the breeze, cooler temperatures and scenery of the mountain areas, and could handle being 45-60 minutes or so from P-lok, then there are some beautiful areas to look at for building and settling.

Well, I thought that she wanted to be close to one of her Aunts who basically helped to raise her after here mom died but she said that we should look at many places as possible and get the best deal. Nothing near any water (flooding, bugs). We have a car there so many that is why she doesn't mind being a little ways away. I told her that we could probably find some decent land out that as there is some vast expanses of open land. Again, the house will be a place to store our thai belongings and a place to stay when we visit and, when I finally retire and finally break down, to relax and use as a base to do some traveling. That is a ways off as I am on 37 and my wife is 24. Spent too much time in the Army so that is helping to speed up the process getting older. Suko Thai seems to be a nice area but I would like to explore it more. We will have about $5,000-6,000 to buy land with. If I can find a house through the banks as suggested above then that would be hard to pass up. Thanks for you information, sir.

Edited March 6, 2008 by gbt71fa

[pumpuiman]

Kasikorn bank has a website to search for foreclosed properties. You can find the links on their home page.

There used to be an English version, but it seems to have gone missing.....all Thai now, but lots of amazing deals all around the country.

You can sort by property type, location and price.

Good luck,

Eric

[gbt71fa]

Kasikorn bank has a website to search for foreclosed properties. You can find the links on their home page.

There used to be an English version, but it seems to have gone missing.....all Thai now, but lots of amazing deals all around the country.

You can sort by property type, location and price.

Good luck,

Eric

Thanks for that info. I can't read Thai but my wife, of course, can. She will give it a go.

[gregchambers]

Just to add, make sure it has a proper land title deed - chanote. Also, may be worth just buying as large a bit of land that you can afford and sell half of it when you want to make a house later, to fund the house - if it's not next to any family to look after when you are not there it may be a bit dodgy leaving it empty. Land price inflation can be huge if you get the right location.

[a2396]

What do you mean WE will buy some land? You mean SHE will buy some land, ie she will be the sole owner. I hope you have spent a reasonable amount of time living in the area, to sample the ambience. I would not be a fan of village living myself, but your preference - up to you as they say here. Good luck.

[tim armstrong]

One rai is 1600 sq metres so look up how big an acre is and work from there. Impossible to put a price on land as it varies hugely on location but it will be ridiculously cheap by Western standards - certainly no more than 500k a rai in te best location; a tenth of that in an awkward location (rice land really).

Unfortunately, the only way to buy it cheaply is to let your wife do the bargaining whilst you are hiding somewhere, otherwise factor in five to ten times the actual cost when farang are involved - and I am not kidding! Unfortunately, the area you are moving to is one of the more notorious for ripping off farang!

You will also need to price everything independently by going to a big builders merchants where prices are on display. Small bulders mechants will inflate the price and share the profits with either the builder or wife. Once you have a working cost for the house's building materials, the actual labour costs work out at twenty percent of the building materials by normal Thai building standards. Again, these are not applicable where farang are involved as builders will work together to give highly inflated quotes, taking turns to milk the farang. A house that would cost a local half a million baht could easy cost three or four million if a farang is involved.

A nice quality two storey, three bedroom, three bathroom house with a minimal kicthen with a total living area of 150sqm would cost around the one million baht area to build incl materials and labour.

Many wifes collude with the builders, splitting the profit between themselves and the builder, the free money going to support her local husband. In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that you would be allowed to live in the Thai countryside unless a local husband is being supported!

The whole deal of farang in the Thai countryside about Face and making sure the farang has none! So a lot of hassle when you can buy a rather nice house with a lot less hassle outside places like Chaing Mai, Bang Saen and Cha Amn for the same money (two million baht, in this case half for the land and half for the house) but on a much smaller land plot.

Unfortunately no-one can tell you the price of land in a years time as many factors depend on where the land is, does it have full title, is it on a surfaced road, is there electricity and water available. Is it farming land and what kind as the price of land is rising some of the time especially as cassava growing for bio fuels is getting popular. If your wife has family in Phiysanulok it may be a good idea for your wife to talk with them and explain what she would like then they can look around for both of you and get a better idea of current prices and future pricing trends.

Well 1 acre is approximately 2 1/2 rai and it IS a good idea to get your wife to buy the land and YES it will be much cheaper than if you show your face. It certainly was for me.

I live about 65 km southwest of Khampaeng Phet and when we bought the the second plot of land (my wife already had the first before I met her it was about 25,000 baht a rai.

My wife then stayed with a friend while we started to build a 3 bedroom 2 storey house and we soon built a 5m x 5m 1 bedroom house on site for her to live in full time and me at the weekends

She took on the responsibility of finding and managing the builder, obtaining all the material andensuring that the building went according to how she wanted. If there was a problem she would talk it over with the builder and they would come to a conclusion.

We paid around 250,000 baht for all the construction work and supplied the materials ourselves and together with the small house, raised concrete floor, eucalyptus walls and roof tiles in an unfashionable colour, 10 rai of land the total bill came to around 1.25m baht.

The land is in a tarmac highway with main water and single phase electricity 6km from the village and in a mooban.

Whilst I appreciate that SOME but not all wives MAY collude with the builders, generally speaking this is not so in my experience and I have been in Thailand some 15 years on and off.

This is where I disagree with Greg Chambers

I know of many farangs who live perfectly happy lives with their Thai wives, children and assorted family out in the countryside and strangely enough nobody can stop you living in the countryside with your wife. Not ALL Thai wives have Thai husbands as well.

My wife certainly doesn't have a Thai husband or children other than our son nor do a lot of other Thai wives. We have known each other since 1993 and I divorced my UK wife in 1998 and married my Thai wife in 2000. Our son was born in 2004.

If you have known your wife for a fair while and trust her then cement the trust by allowing her to do the things that she can do better than you especially when dealing with other Thais. She will appreciate your love and trust in her and believe me it will be returned many times over the years.

I hope that this is of some use to you Unfortunately I live about 150 km away from Phitsanulok.

I disagree with Greg too. We live near Nakhon Sawan, my wife doesn't have a Thai Husband, and the builder of our large house didn't rip us off. Land here is some of the most productive in Thailand. It varies from 30,000 per rai away from the road to 120,000 with main road frontage to 1.2 mill.+ for a small block with house by the river. Currently local rice farmers are in trouble having had too many floods and seen the cost of fuel and pesticides increase dramatically, but the land prices continue to increase. You can still find some good plots here but its becoming popular with people buying in from Bangkok, former locals, and farlang. A good quality 3br house and land in a good location will cost about 2.5 - 3million -with everything included. Tim

[haybilly]

One rai is 1600 sq metres so look up how big an acre is and work from there. Impossible to put a price on land as it varies hugely on location but it will be ridiculously cheap by Western standards - certainly no more than 500k a rai in te best location; a tenth of that in an awkward location (rice land really).

Unfortunately, the only way to buy it cheaply is to let your wife do the bargaining whilst you are hiding somewhere, otherwise factor in five to ten times the actual cost when farang are involved - and I am not kidding! Unfortunately, the area you are moving to is one of the more notorious for ripping off farang!

You will also need to price everything independently by going to a big builders merchants where prices are on display. Small bulders mechants will inflate the price and share the profits with either the builder or wife. Once you have a working cost for the house's building materials, the actual labour costs work out at twenty percent of the building materials by normal Thai building standards. Again, these are not applicable where farang are involved as builders will work together to give highly inflated quotes, taking turns to milk the farang. A house that would cost a local half a million baht could easy cost three or four million if a farang is involved.

A nice quality two storey, three bedroom, three bathroom house with a minimal kicthen with a total living area of 150sqm would cost around the one million baht area to build incl materials and labour.

Many wifes collude with the builders, splitting the profit between themselves and the builder, the free money going to support her local husband. In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that you would be allowed to live in the Thai countryside unless a local husband is being supported!

The whole deal of farang in the Thai countryside about Face and making sure the farang has none! So a lot of hassle when you can buy a rather nice house with a lot less hassle outside places like Chaing Mai, Bang Saen and Cha Amn for the same money (two million baht, in this case half for the land and half for the house) but on a much smaller land plot.

Whilst I am sure that there are plenty of 'farang' expats here who feel the same as you do about Thai women--I must say that I find your generalisations regarding their character to be pretty distasteful-- if you are referring to Thai women who are working in bars then I would agree that a percentage do have Thai husbands in the background- in fact it is often these men who are making the women go to work 'with farangs', or the need to support the children from these relationships, but to suggest, as I think you are, that the majority of Thai women married to farangs have a second husband hiding around the corner is, in my opinion, way out of order--I would also like to know just how long you have been in the Pitsanulok area to be in a position to say that 'it is an area notorious for ripping off farang'--in my experience it is often farang, maybe like yourself, who are most likely to rip other farang off.

Edited March 7, 2008 by haybilly

[gregchambers]

Hi Tim,

Think you will find that the purpose of my posts was to help fellow farang (surely the purpose of this board, too) rather than rip them off. Fortunately, I have no need to rip anyone off. Admittedly, my expertise is in Petchabun province but the same stuff has happened to friends in Phitsanulok province as well. In a male dominated society such as Thailand, especially in the countryside, you will find the men will not tolerate a farang in their midst who is not contributing to their whisky/face fund. You can scream and holler all you like but that is the way it is in Thailand. Thai gals go out of their way to hide this reality from farang. This is, of course, a generalisation and there will be a percentage of exceptions to this rule but in single figures (as indeed is the percentage of young b-gals without local men).

Anyway, there are by Western standards fantasic property bargains outside of Bangkok, two million baht will buy you a lovely two-storey house on a reasonable sized plot near to the amenities of a major city without any of the aforementioned hassles of country life, which after my, and many others, experiences of living in the deep countryside I would recommend as the way to go if you must have a house rather than a condo. You can do it for a million baht in many places if you don't mind a cramped plot and a house in need of some TLC, but the wife will probably not be a happy lady. That face thing again.

[gbt71fa]

What do you mean WE will buy some land? You mean SHE will buy some land, ie she will be the sole owner. I hope you have spent a reasonable amount of time living in the area, to sample the ambience. I would not be a fan of village living myself, but your preference - up to you as they say here. Good luck.

The city of Phitsanuloke is not a village-you have to go aways to find a "village"-and I say "WE" because I control the purse strings but she is still my wife and will make the decision with me. Just as if we buy a house here in the U.S. if would be "WE" because we are husband and wife. Geez, lighten up.

[gbt71fa]

I disagree with Greg too. We live near Nakhon Sawan, my wife doesn't have a Thai Husband, and the builder of our large house didn't rip us off. Land here is some of the most productive in Thailand. It varies from 30,000 per rai away from the road to 120,000 with main road frontage to 1.2 mill.+ for a small block with house by the river. Currently local rice farmers are in trouble having had too many floods and seen the cost of fuel and pesticides increase dramatically, but the land prices continue to increase. You can still find some good plots here but its becoming popular with people buying in from Bangkok, former locals, and farlang. A good quality 3br house and land in a good location will cost about 2.5 - 3million -with everything included. Tim

I lived in Nakhon Sawan for awhile actually (about four months) and liked its proximity to both Bangkok and Phitsanuloke. I did some project management for a construction company in the U.S. and so I know a little bit about building and costs...enought I think not to get ripped off by any locals.

[gbt71fa]

Whilst I am sure that there are plenty of 'farang' expats here who feel the same as you do about Thai women--I must say that I find your generalisations regarding their character to be pretty distasteful-- if you are referring to Thai women who are working in bars then I would agree that a percentage do have Thai husbands in the background- in fact it is often these men who are making the women go to work 'with farangs', or the need to support the children from these relationships, but to suggest, as I think you are, that the majority of Thai women married to farangs have a second husband hiding around the corner is, in my opinion, way out of order--I would also like to know just how long you have been in the Pitsanulok area to be in a position to say that 'it is an area notorious for ripping off farang'--in my experience it is often farang, maybe like yourself, who are most likely to rip other farang off.

That first comment peeved me to. I met wife through a friend who worked with me in Iraq, he is married to her sister. At the time she had finished getting her degree in computers (only a 2year college course) and was helping her aunt who had a little job cleaning laundry and rugs, ect in Phitsanuloke. The only trouble I have had in Phitasanuloke is some the way people drive there...which is one of my big problems with Thailand...but beyond that Phitsanuloke is decent enought. None of the theaters show english-speaking movies though....

Edited March 7, 2008 by gbt71fa

[Khonwan]

Greg, I have lived 12 years (out of 14 years in Thailand) in a small very remote village in the west of Nakhon Sawan province. Based on my personal experience and on my acquaintance with many farangs and their wives living throughout Thailand over the years, I have to say, you are talking nonsense. We could argue on evidence, but then again...you have offered none.

Khonwan

[gregchambers]

You are in Thailand... if you actually believe what you see and feel has any basis in reality in the Western sense of word then you should get out of the country as soon as possible.

There is a huge different between living close to major cities and in the countryside, this is basically all I am saying.

The only evidence farang can attain in Thailand is nuance borne of experience in terms of decades.

Get your head around the concept of Thai Time (copyright Al Culler):

Darling: Do u have a Thai husband?

Tilac: No...

Thai lady internal thoughts, stupid question, how can I have a Thai husband IN THIS MOMENT OF TIME when I am here with you.

Hence the perfect lie.

[ajahnlau]

Hi Tim,

Think you will find that the purpose of my posts was to help fellow farang (surely the purpose of this board, too) rather than rip them off. Fortunately, I have no need to rip anyone off. Admittedly, my expertise is in Petchabun province but the same stuff has happened to friends in Phitsanulok province as well. In a male dominated society such as Thailand, especially in the countryside, you will find the men will not tolerate a farang in their midst who is not contributing to their whisky/face fund. You can scream and holler all you like but that is the way it is in Thailand. Thai gals go out of their way to hide this reality from farang. This is, of course, a generalisation and there will be a percentage of exceptions to this rule but in single figures (as indeed is the percentage of young b-gals without local men).

Anyway, there are by Western standards fantasic property bargains outside of Bangkok, two million baht will buy you a lovely two-storey house on a reasonable sized plot near to the amenities of a major city without any of the aforementioned hassles of country life, which after my, and many others, experiences of living in the deep countryside I would recommend as the way to go if you must have a house rather than a condo. You can do it for a million baht in many places if you don't mind a cramped plot and a house in need of some TLC, but the wife will probably not be a happy lady. That face thing again.

You are trying to spread a large amount of BS based on what you think is reality. Guess what,it's not.

[astral]

Perhaps the people here can help?

[billd766]

Hi Tim,

Think you will find that the purpose of my posts was to help fellow farang (surely the purpose of this board, too) rather than rip them off. Fortunately, I have no need to rip anyone off. Admittedly, my expertise is in Petchabun province but the same stuff has happened to friends in Phitsanulok province as well. In a male dominated society such as Thailand, especially in the countryside, you will find the men will not tolerate a farang in their midst who is not contributing to their whisky/face fund. You can scream and holler all you like but that is the way it is in Thailand. Thai gals go out of their way to hide this reality from farang. This is, of course, a generalisation and there will be a percentage of exceptions to this rule but in single figures (as indeed is the percentage of young b-gals without local men).

Anyway, there are by Western standards fantasic property bargains outside of Bangkok, two million baht will buy you a lovely two-storey house on a reasonable sized plot near to the amenities of a major city without any of the aforementioned hassles of country life, which after my, and many others, experiences of living in the deep countryside I would recommend as the way to go if you must have a house rather than a condo. You can do it for a million baht in many places if you don't mind a cramped plot and a house in need of some TLC, but the wife will probably not be a happy lady. That face thing again.

You are in Thailand... if you actually believe what you see and feel has any basis in reality in the Western sense of word then you should get out of the country as soon as possible.

There is a huge different between living close to major cities and in the countryside, this is basically all I am saying.

The only evidence farang can attain in Thailand is nuance borne of experience in terms of decades.

Get your head around the concept of Thai Time (copyright Al Culler):

Darling: Do u have a Thai husband?

Tilac: No...

Thai lady internal thoughts, stupid question, how can I have a Thai husband IN THIS MOMENT OF TIME when I am here with you.

Hence the perfect lie.

Well Greg I have tried to ignore the majority of what you say and the comments about houses I have no problems with but your attitude to Thai women and men in general I personally find extremely offensive.

The Thai men around where I live have always been friendly and some do drink to excess just as (generalisation) many Farangs do in Thailand. Many farangs (generalisation) also have mia nois and spend time in massage parlours and bars. Does that mean that those of us who do not are wrong.

The concept of Al Culler I have no idea. Did he ever live in rural Thailand for many years and was he married to a Thai lady, or is he as many other people listening and talking to farangs sitting in bars bemoaning how Thai women ripped them off. Did he go around farang houses in all parts of Thailand and talk to farangs?

Please desist from running down all Thai women as one of them may be your wife.

It would be better if you stuck to the OP question and save your social comments for a different forum.

[gregchambers]

I am quite knowledgeable about the upcountry property scene, real costs etc but the reaction of the locals to farang buying property upcountry is intricably linked to the price that the farang will pay for both land and house.

Fact, buying building supplies from small local companies the price will be inflated, the profit split between the vendor and builder and/or wife. Do some research in the big stores where prices are on display to get a ballpark figure for the construction costs.

Fact, builders will collude with each other to offer inflated quotes. The degree of the rip-off will depend entirely on how the wife has presented her husband to the local community and whether she has a local husband to fund. Thais pay twenty percent of the material cost for labour, farangs often end up employing far too many people at highly inflated daily rates.

Again, I am talking about upcountry here, different scene buying in the big cities or just outside them, and a much better idea.

Again, if you are buying upcountry you can not disconnect the way the locals view you from the price you will pay for land and house building.

Certainly, some will get close to Thai prices, some will get some free family land thrown in, some will even get relatives working for just food and whisky but the vast majority of farang doing the upcountry thing will get ripped off to some extent, though by Western standards they can persuade themselves that they have got the bargain of the century.

I think the above is as close to reality as I can put it!

[sking_is_leaving]

I am quite knowledgeable about the upcountry property scene, real costs etc but the reaction of the locals to farang buying property upcountry is intricably linked to the price that the farang will pay for both land and house.

Fact, buying building supplies from small local companies the price will be inflated, the profit split between the vendor and builder and/or wife. Do some research in the big stores where prices are on display to get a ballpark figure for the construction costs.

Fact, builders will collude with each other to offer inflated quotes. The degree of the rip-off will depend entirely on how the wife has presented her husband to the local community and whether she has a local husband to fund. Thais pay twenty percent of the material cost for labour, farangs often end up employing far too many people at highly inflated daily rates.

Again, I am talking about upcountry here, different scene buying in the big cities or just outside them, and a much better idea.

Again, if you are buying upcountry you can not disconnect the way the locals view you from the price you will pay for land and house building.

Certainly, some will get close to Thai prices, some will get some free family land thrown in, some will even get relatives working for just food and whisky but the vast majority of farang doing the upcountry thing will get ripped off to some extent, though by Western standards they can persuade themselves that they have got the bargain of the century.

I think the above is as close to reality as I can put it!

Doesn't seem like there's been too much objection to the points you have re-made in this latest post.

It's the earlier points - eg. that the majority of Thai women married to farang also have Thai husbands - that most take issue with. Sounds like you live in a world inhabited by bar girls/prostitutes. The vast majority of Thai women aren't, there's also quite a large middle class here!

[haybilly]

I am quite knowledgeable about the upcountry property scene, real costs etc but the reaction of the locals to farang buying property upcountry is intricably linked to the price that the farang will pay for both land and house.

Fact, buying building supplies from small local companies the price will be inflated, the profit split between the vendor and builder and/or wife. Do some research in the big stores where prices are on display to get a ballpark figure for the construction costs.

Fact, builders will collude with each other to offer inflated quotes. The degree of the rip-off will depend entirely on how the wife has presented her husband to the local community and whether she has a local husband to fund. Thais pay twenty percent of the material cost for labour, farangs often end up employing far too many people at highly inflated daily rates.

Again, I am talking about upcountry here, different scene buying in the big cities or just outside them, and a much better idea.

Again, if you are buying upcountry you can not disconnect the way the locals view you from the price you will pay for land and house building.

Certainly, some will get close to Thai prices, some will get some free family land thrown in, some will even get relatives working for just food and whisky but the vast majority of farang doing the upcountry thing will get ripped off to some extent, though by Western standards they can persuade themselves that they have got the bargain of the century.

I think the above is as close to reality as I can put it!

Doesn't seem like there's been too much objection to the points you have re-made in this latest post.

It's the earlier points - eg. that the majority of Thai women married to farang also have Thai husbands - that most take issue with. Sounds like you live in a world inhabited by bar girls/prostitutes. The vast majority of Thai women aren't, there's also quite a large middle class here!

That's my opinion too, it definitely appears that Greg has had far too much contact with two-faced, two-timing bar girls--what a shame--he should really try to get out more and, in his travels 'up country' to try to meet some real Thais--since myself, and many other posters, seem to have known plenty that don't fit his description; and to suggest that the only viable property for a farang is a condo-well, this one takes the biscuit--is he an estate agent specializing in condos?