River Front Property In Chiang Rai

[Colonel_Mustard]

Last time I was in Chiang Rai I notice that there were no properties outside the city built alongside the river Gok. At first I assumed this was probably due to flooding concerns but the Thai people I was with tell me that the river doesn't flood in that area (around 10 - 20 mins East of CR city).

I would quite fancy a nice riverside property there but wondered why nobody else had bothered. I can only think of 3 possible reasons:

a) the land does flood regardless of what the locals told me

there are building restrictions which prohibit construction of property on the river front

c) the cost of land deters many people from buying on the river

Anyone have any idea if any/all of the above 3 are correct or know why there aren't more properties built on the river front there?

Thanks.

[buddhafly]

a few years back i looked and looked for river land to buy. it is difficult to find.

one piece for sale was not full chanote so i walked away. it also looked like it could erode/flood.

i would imaging any other full chanote, non flood-prone piece would be very expensive.

[Colonel_Mustard]

a few years back i looked and looked for river land to buy. it is difficult to find.

one piece for sale was not full chanote so i walked away. it also looked like it could erode/flood.

i would imaging any other full chanote, non flood-prone piece would be very expensive.

We have found a couple of decent land parcels on the river at reasonable prices. Certainly not cheap and more expensive than non-river front land but not at all as expensive as I expected. I guess we'll have to check out regarding building regs with the Or Bor Tor. I would have thought flooding could be a problem but the locals (not the ones selling it) say it doesn't flood.

[buddhafly]

do you mind saying how much per rai they are asking? and is it very far from town...

and as for flooding, youve always got the house on stilts option!

[Colonel_Mustard]

do you mind saying how much per rai they are asking? and is it very far from town...

and as for flooding, youve always got the house on stilts option!

Sent you a PM.

[Cuban]

>...and as for flooding, youve always got the house on stilts option!

The problem with stilts and flowing flood water is that the soil downstream of your still is washed away leaving a hole into which the stilt falls. I was in Pai after one of their floods some years ago, the damage to foundations of one of the bridges gave a real insight to the power of the water.

If the flood water is slow moving the effects are less damaging, I would guess the problem in that area is that flood water is flowing.

[lukamar]

A lot of the property along the Kok is also gravel base and I have a feeling that is probably not the most stable. The ones I have seen that are reasonable priced are also very low bank type that you would think flooded easily. It's not like buying a rice paddy and filling it as it may get washed away every year. We looked at a large plot around 7-8 Rai but not chanote a long time back and it was less than 200,000/Rai. We had to ask ourselves why as paddy land was more than that at the time. We did see one other property that was very nice but it was only about 150TW with an old Thai house that would have to be bulldozed and it was pricey for what you got but we high bank and had an old dock that looked like it had survived for a long time..

[PadThaiGuy]

Some rivers can be very noisy with boat activity, crazy party boats etc.

[buddhafly]

esta true mr cubano, especially if the current is involved...

-greetings from cienfuegos

[lukamar]

Some rivers can be very noisy with boat activity, crazy party boats etc.

Noise is definitely something to take into consideration if you are buying property anywhere. Some noise is not as obnoxious as other noise to me. Boat traffic would not bother me unless it was 24/7 but I'd go crazy if I lived across the street from a bar.

[MrPaddy]

How about a bar on a boat then ?

How about a disco on a boat then ?

I do believe that you would be bothered by boats in both cases. Go stay in Kanchanaburi on a saturday night and see how you like it.

[lukamar]

Go stay in Kanchanaburi on a saturday night and see how you like it.

Why would I ever consider going to Kanchanaburi, let along by property there?