Building A House

[tazman]

I have a question about building a house, me and the thai wife have a piece of land about 30km from khon kaen in a medium size town. as we re living in England at the moment we ve sent some plans for a 3 bed detached house, 2 story with western kitchen.We ve been quoted 1million bhat. Does this sound a resonable price for a ready to move into house?????? Thanks

[GuestHouse]

It's really a case of how long is a piece of string - Bht 1 Million, but what materials, what quality?

My advice is:

• Don't build a house while you are not in Thailand to be there to keep an eye on things during the build.
  
• Don't build a house in Thailand until you need a house in Thailand to live in
  
• Don't build a house in Nakhon Nowhere (even if that is where your wife comes from) until you are absolutely sure you want to live in Nakhon Nowhere
  
• Don't build a house until you have spent a lot of time reading up on other people's building experience (Here on TV and over on Coolthaihouse)
  
• Don't build a house until you have got a full set of plans, a full material take-off and at least three independent quotations
  

There's an awful lot of traps and tricks to be learned - make sure you do your level best to learn these from other people's experiences before you wind up paying for experience out of your own wallet.

[londonthai]

on some Thai government website there are tens of designs with an estimated price, different matter with a custom made design. Be sure the builders are following the blueprint and not implementing their own ideas and doing shortcuts to the design.

get quotations not from one builder but from several of them and check their credentials.

do the house when you really need it/have plan for it - property in the tropical climat quickly deteriorates, wood rots and can be demaged by termites

[Rimmer]

It's really a case of how long is a piece of string - Bht 1 Million, but what materials, what quality?

My advice is:

• Don't build a house while you are not in Thailand to be there to keep an eye on things during the build.
  
• Don't build a house in Thailand until you need a house in Thailand to live in
  
• Don't build a house in Nakhon Nowhere (even if that is where your wife comes from) until you are absolutely sure you want to live in Nakhon Nowhere
  
• Don't build a house until you have spent a lot of time reading up on other people's building experience (Here on TV and over on Coolthaihouse)
  
• Don't build a house until you have got a full set of plans, a full material take-off and at least three independent quotations
  

There's an awful lot of traps and tricks to be learned - make sure you do your level best to learn these from other people's experiences before you wind up paying for experience out of your own wallet.

This is some of THE best advice I have seen, read,mark,learn and inwardly digest, then follow it to the letter.

[chiangmaibruce]

I absolutely agree with the advice you have been given. If you need to, then rent a place for a while or even stay in a guesthouse. You need to be on site all the time during contruction or I can almost guarantee that you will regret it for the rest of the time you hold the property. I found that we could not even be away for 45 minutes without major mistakes (like window not inserted in wall-type mistakes!!) or deviations from plan occurring.

If you do supervise then you will need to work very hard to remain calm and patient at all times, or the situation could easily blow up with your wife and her family. Not sure what I mean? You will. You will see things that will make you want to shout at someone - Don't! What is par for the course on a western building site is absolutely taboo here. Drive down the road where no-one is around, get out and shout there

Also realise than many (most?) of the tradesmen are not qualified or formally trained at all. So don't fall into the trap of assuming that the 'electrician' really is an electrician, the plumber really is a plumber (as you know them in the UK). Don't assume they will use the same grade steel, the same mix of concrete, don't assume anything or you could be in for a series of unpleasant surprises.

There is also a good book on building a house in thailand by Paiboon Publishing (www.paiboonpublishing.com) by a farang who built a place down south.

Good luck! At the end of the day + handled the right way you should finish up with something good

- CB

[think_too_mut]

I have a question about building a house, me and the thai wife have a piece of land about 30km from khon kaen in a medium size town. as we re living in England at the moment we ve sent some plans for a 3 bed detached house, 2 story with western kitchen.We ve been quoted 1million bhat. Does this sound a resonable price for a ready to move into house?????? Thanks

A 2 storey house, 1 million is not a big price if you get western facilities included( kitchen, toilets).

For a 2 level house, that's about the cost.

I guess nobody is around to help (like free family labour).

[Naam]

I absolutely agree with the advice you have been given. If you need to, then rent a place for a while or even stay in a guesthouse. You need to be on site all the time during construction or I can almost guarantee that you will regret it for the rest of the time you hold the property.

Good luck! At the end of the day + handled the right way you should finish up with something good

being present at the site you might also (after a short time) regret bitterly that you had the idea of building a house in Thailand. taking a sip from your hip flask several times during the day will calm you enough to avoid a nervous breakdown. but the nights, when nobody works at the site, are the worst. you'll not be sleeping but tossing and turning in your bed thinking "what engineering crime will they commit tomorrow when i turn my back?"

[thaigene2]

It's really a case of how long is a piece of string - Bht 1 Million, but what materials, what quality?

My advice is:

• Don't build a house while you are not in Thailand to be there to keep an eye on things during the build.
  
• Don't build a house in Thailand until you need a house in Thailand to live in
  
• Don't build a house in Nakhon Nowhere (even if that is where your wife comes from) until you are absolutely sure you want to live in Nakhon Nowhere
  
• Don't build a house until you have spent a lot of time reading up on other people's building experience (Here on TV and over on Coolthaihouse)
  
• Don't build a house until you have got a full set of plans, a full material take-off and at least three independent quotations
  

There's an awful lot of traps and tricks to be learned - make sure you do your level best to learn these from other people's experiences before you wind up paying for experience out of your own wallet.

This is some of THE best advice I have seen, read,mark,learn and inwardly digest, then follow it to the letter.

Yes it is. And also consider this - it's one thing living with the Mrs in Chuttles-Huffers-fields or wherever - it's quite another living within the confines of her Thai stomping grounds. Do you REALLY want to do that? Sisters, brothers, old lovers, 'friends' all coming to call? From those of us who live in Thailand - this is some free advice for you to carefully consider - even if it results in Arom Sia (bad mood) by your wife because you changed your mind!

[Beardog]

Guesthouse pretty much said it all. If your not there when it's built you will be in for a lot of surprises.

Follow the Guesthouse guide to success & you should do allright !

[lowerlakeside]

It's really a case of how long is a piece of string - Bht 1 Million, but what materials, what quality?

My advice is:

• Don't build a house while you are not in Thailand to be there to keep an eye on things during the build.
  
• Don't build a house in Thailand until you need a house in Thailand to live in
  
• Don't build a house in Nakhon Nowhere (even if that is where your wife comes from) until you are absolutely sure you want to live in Nakhon Nowhere
  
• Don't build a house until you have spent a lot of time reading up on other people's building experience (Here on TV and over on Coolthaihouse)
  
• Don't build a house until you have got a full set of plans, a full material take-off and at least three independent quotations
  

There's an awful lot of traps and tricks to be learned - make sure you do your level best to learn these from other people's experiences before you wind up paying for experience out of your own wallet.

This is some of THE best advice I have seen, read,mark,learn and inwardly digest, then follow it to the letter.

[lowerlakeside]

It's really a case of how long is a piece of string - Bht 1 Million, but what materials, what quality?

My advice is:

• Don't build a house while you are not in Thailand to be there to keep an eye on things during the build.
  
• Don't build a house in Thailand until you need a house in Thailand to live in
  
• Don't build a house in Nakhon Nowhere (even if that is where your wife comes from) until you are absolutely sure you want to live in Nakhon Nowhere
  
• Don't build a house until you have spent a lot of time reading up on other people's building experience (Here on TV and over on Coolthaihouse)
  
• Don't build a house until you have got a full set of plans, a full material take-off and at least three independent quotations
  

There's an awful lot of traps and tricks to be learned - make sure you do your level best to learn these from other people's experiences before you wind up paying for experience out of your own wallet.

This is some of THE best advice I have seen, read,mark,learn and inwardly digest, then follow it to the letter.

Amen to that!...great advise.I built in rural Issan..Chaiyaphum area..and after a VERY short time i realized it was just too quiet and remote at this stage of my life.So now i rent in Samui till im (if ever ) ready for the farm

[hp8000]

And stay as far of the family as you can.

[astral]

Before you invest that money overseas, consider whether you are prepared to

walk away from the money at some time in the future..........

[bander]

I have a question about building a house, me and the thai wife have a piece of land about 30km from khon kaen in a medium size town. as we re living in England at the moment we ve sent some plans for a 3 bed detached house, 2 story with western kitchen.We ve been quoted 1million bhat. Does this sound a resonable price for a ready to move into house?????? Thanks

A 2 storey house, 1 million is not a big price if you get western facilities included( kitchen, toilets).

For a 2 level house, that's about the cost.

I guess nobody is around to help (like free family labour).

Good free advice!!

Thai family (brother,cusin, uncel) always charge you twice, use local people not related to the family.

[tazman]

Before you invest that money overseas, consider whether you are prepared to

walk away from the money at some time in the future..........

Thanks for all the advice, you all prittymuch say the same thing! But no-one really said if it was a good price or not!!!!???? Yes i know things dont work out sometimes, and divorce happens but im having a baby to this lady and surly whatever happens the kid diserves a good house!

[KhunDennis]

It sounds like you have pretty much made up your mind already tazman, and like most of us that have already been through the house building thing , it seems like the right thing to do.

One million B is not much to pay for a house like you describe, I spent a lot more than that on a three bedroom one level house, it looks nice, but was the single most unpleasant experience of my life, and no joke.

An old friend in Bangkok, called me a stupid son of a bitch when I told him I was going to build a house in rural Thailand. After we talked for a while, and he calmed down a bit, he said Well you are in for a lonely life my friend.

Guess what, after a few years here , I am thinking HE WAS RIGHT !!!!!

But hey go for it man, we all have to reinvent the wheel, maybe you will be one of the lucky ones.