How Many Farang Here Live In A 'farang House'

[neverdie]

Nice Joint Tagaa, but holy hel_l, it must take ages to mow the lawn , whilst it looks great and is a nice home which would cost you multiples of the asking price back home....I prefer my thai style garden where all sorts of goodies spring up from the ground and can be eaten ....looks like a forest and a <deleted> fight, but works for me. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR SALE!

[JAS21]

One of the great myths in the land of Thais is that all farang are wealthy and lead different and far more glamorous lives than the locals. This also extends to our choice of abode.

If you are like me, you will be driving along a country lane with the Mrs beside you (YOUR Mrs, I trust). Suddenly she will exclaim "Look, a farang house". You nod appreciatively whilst making admiring noises. Another 200 metres and "also farang house" etc. These are the big suckers with tall fences, manicured lawns, BMW and Volvo in driveway. Not a piece of rubbish, scabby dog, or chook in sight. Get the picture?

Now I have to confess that we don't live in a farang house, we live in a ramshackle little wooden cottage. I feel weak, like a traitor to the cause. Given my own personal circumstances though, even if I had the Baht here burning a hole in my pocket, that sort of investment in Thai property just does not make sense.

Well there are umpteen thousands of farang living here, but I don't notice quite that many 'farang houses', so I reckon there must be a few others out there who aren't pulling their weight (?)

I thought that with the benefit of powerful evidence from a renowned Thaivisa survey, I might just be able to mount a convincing case to any Thai that will listen that many (if not most) farang forego the joys of living in farang houses.

Yes, I know the dividing line between 'farang house' and 'normal house' can be hazy but give it your best guess and let's see what the figures tell us, ok?

Your votes and your thoughts please ladies and gentlemen

Our village is mainly Thai, less that 5% non-Thais. All houses by the same builder although they vary a bit. We removed the inside kitchen to make the main room bigger, anyway it was never ever used. The building supervision was non-exhistant eg the washing m/c drain is the only drain going through the fat trap, so the pipes blocked!! My wife and I cleared them ourselves..I am now building my own fat trap..a concrete one..it will cost me about 300baht..I have also built the 'auto' garden watering system..I love pottering. So I guess the house is harsip/harsip as the caddy says.

Edited March 8, 2009 by John45

[Gary A]

I can't say our (her) house is "really NICE" but it is a two bedroom single level built on a slab. It has a sit down toilet, hot water shower, screens on the windows and air conditioning in the bedroom. It also has an eight by eight meter garage/workshop. The workshop has its own sit down toilet. The buildings sit on two and a half rai surrounded with a two meter high block wall.

[wackysleet]

I live in a farang house, manicured lawn, large trees, aircons, US style kitchen & baths, big bedroom with master bath & walkin closet including a laundry room with a dryer. And all the tile matches, all through the house, inside & out. Amazing what a little forethought will accomplish.

No Mercedes, BMW or Volvo, just a D-max in the carport. Oh, I forgot to mention it is on the Mekong River. It would be nothing special (except for being on the river) in the US, but here I the locals think it's a mansion even though there are much larger & fancier homes, owned by Thais, in Muk.

The house is in a village and every time someone dies or gets married, there is a constant gawking parade of their relatives around our house for about 3 days. Thai's don't seem to mind starring for hours on end. I don't get it, but it doesn't hurt anything.

Sorry for the shameless self promotion, but it's for sale. You can see the add in the classified section. Here's the link or search homes for sale & click Mukdahan

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/real-estat...-rai-18347.html

A really cool looking house, by that I mean open looking and what to me looks like a westerners house, lots of light, most Thai houses that I've been in are in my opinion depressingly dark with all that dark coloured wood and the burglar bars and the dark glass, but hey each to their own, but your house looks great.

[Tagaa]

And as I thoughtfully provided the vehicle for your shameless self-promotion, I'll have my people contact your people to discuss suitable commission arrangements.

PM me with the name of your prospective buyer, and if they buy the home I'll take care of you sure sure!!!

Nice Joint Tagaa, but holy hel_l, it must take ages to mow the lawn , whilst it looks great and is a nice home which would cost you multiples of the asking price back home....I prefer my thai style garden where all sorts of goodies spring up from the ground and can be eaten

Yes, it takes about 3/4 of a day to cut the whole thing, but I don't do it. Our friends in the village cut it for us, no charge. They keep the sweet, moist clippings to feed to their cows. Yum Yuum! It is a win win proposition for all involved.

As for the Thai style garden, wait about 5 years and look again. What you can't see is 10 coconut palms, just planted, loads of bougainvillea, just planted, pineabble and a host of orchids all over the place. I am still looking for other unique palm & plants to add to the landscape. Once the rains begin I will also put in about 20 bannana trees to add to the tropical flavor & also provide some sweet munchie food. Each addition will also reduce the amount of grass to cut. Bad for the cows, but oh well.

The picture below is Wat, the Pu Yai Ban's wife, cutting grass for the first time in her life. She thinks it is very fun. I thought so to when I was 9, but I got over it.

Just for clarity, these photos were taken before the side walls were constructed.

Edited March 9, 2009 by Tagaa

[thaihome]

From the Op’s post, it appears he is mostly talking about upcountry houses that you see driving the country hiways. What I have noticed is generally the “farang” houses tend to be just nice upgrades to the normal Thai upcountry houses. This is the classic example of this that someone else posted.

The really nice, estate type houses I have seen upcountry in the area where my wife’s family lives, are all owned by Thais.

TH

[clausewitz]

Lived here for a year prior to moving the family to Chiangmai, was satisfied and happy...... aside from the roosters at all hours of the night.

After 9 years and a growing family, we are just completing a new house back in Issan, a "Falang" house. Don't know if I will be happy, only time will tell but so far the wife & kids are happy and I guess that is what counts. Will still live in Chiangmai but now the family has a place when we return to Issan while the kids are on vacation.

Yes, building my own pond so the wife can fish, next is the Khlong for security purposes (If a thief can swim with a TV on his back, he can have it, no problem!).

nice looking house......

I concur, awesome. How much would it be worth, sans land?

Edited March 9, 2009 by clausewitz

[ilyushin]

A regular house like normal Thais live in - Owned

I have a neighbor Farang that thinks he lives in a Farang house. The dividing line runs between his ears.

Illegally owned or in your wife's name?

Or are you one of these clowns that believes he legally owns the house while leasing the land?

The house is in my wife's name for your records. It seems to be very legal as I financed it through Siam Commercial Bank and when paid off was transferred into her name.

I am only a clown around my house, not a clown who belives he legally owns the house while leasing the land.

By marriage law the house is just as mch mine as my wife.

'Oberkommando' you must be the dividing line.

[hank69]

hi, my friend and i have had a small wood house made for under 60,000 baht 1 year ago. we live thai when here but would love to come staywith you tagaa, we know the area you live and will be there soon in our tractor for an adventure. please pm if we can stay.

hank.

[Diablo Bob]

Lived here for a year prior to moving the family to Chiangmai, was satisfied and happy...... aside from the roosters at all hours of the night.

After 9 years and a growing family, we are just completing a new house back in Issan, a "Falang" house. Don't know if I will be happy, only time will tell but so far the wife & kids are happy and I guess that is what counts. Will still live in Chiangmai but now the family has a place when we return to Issan while the kids are on vacation.

Yes, building my own pond so the wife can fish, next is the Khlong for security purposes (If a thief can swim with a TV on his back, he can have it, no problem!).

nice looking house......

I concur, awesome. How much would it be worth, sans land?

Cost:

Land was 450,000 Baht (Rip-off)

House was 2,400,000 Baht (Great deal)

When finished I anticipate around 4,000,000 will have been spent

Worth:

0 Baht (Unless a buyer comes from that village, will accept a USED house, I doubt that it could ever be sold)

[jackr]

I live in a farang house, manicured lawn, large trees, aircons, US style kitchen & baths, big bedroom with master bath & walkin closet including a laundry room with a dryer. And all the tile matches, all through the house, inside & out. Amazing what a little forethought will accomplish.

No Mercedes, BMW or Volvo, just a D-max in the carport. Oh, I forgot to mention it is on the Mekong River. It would be nothing special (except for being on the river) in the US, but here I the locals think it's a mansion even though there are much larger & fancier homes, owned by Thais, in Muk.

The house is in a village and every time someone dies or gets married, there is a constant gawking parade of their relatives around our house for about 3 days. Thai's don't seem to mind starring for hours on end. I don't get it, but it doesn't hurt anything.

Sorry for the shameless self promotion, but it's for sale. You can see the add in the classified section. Here's the link or search homes for sale & click Mukdahan

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/real-estat...-rai-18347.html

Very nice, Tagga, and good luck with the sale.

---

Lived in a Thai house once, not for me. I prefer light, space, views, farang amenities and a nice garden, but each to their own

Edited March 9, 2009 by jackr

[henryalleman]

I rent a fully furnished 2bed/bathroom 100 % western style apartment. Because its low maintenance and I don't like a garden. There is an outdoor swimming pool at the 4th floor and on the 6th floor a tennis court. I lived all my adult life in an appartment in a town, see no reason to move to a house especially when you get older.

[scottyd]

Some very nice houses in this thread. Should really get my finger out and start earning good money so I can get one.

[lioness]

Some pretty flash looking houses here, I didn't build a house I built a home, Australian farmhouse style, wrap around verandas to keep the sun off the walls and provide a large outdoor living area, all timber inside and out including the ceilings ( recycled the timber from an old home that was being demolished, I guess the locals would say barn farang but only because they know I live here, they can't see the home as it is nestled amid mature palms and mass plantings for shade and coolness.

It does have all the comforts of home however, wasted money putting air conditioners in as the ceiling fans work just fine as the home doen't get hot at all.

There is one Farang in the neighbourhood who is a lady of 90 who has been here for 40+ years and she lives in a very modest Thai home.

[ballpoint]

Since we're in showing off mode, I'll tell you about our place, which I designed myself. On the outside, what you can see of it through the trees, it's a traditional Thai style with polished teak upstairs, which was salvaged from an older place, like in the post above, and marble down. The main part of the house has 3 bedrooms, a study, a large living area, a dining room, 2 western style bathrooms, a western style kitchen and a semi outdoor Thai kitchen for the smelly stuff. About a fifth of the upstairs is open verandah. There's also undercover parking for two cars and my collection of motorbikes. The smaller, semi detached, part has an extra 2 bedrooms, a living area, and a bathroom. We get a lot of visitors coming for weekends and various holidays. The out buildings include a 3 berth tractor shed with full workshop, a cow shed, various rice and latex stores and a small rice mill. The block of land already belonged to my wife, and the main part of the house was built around 15 years back, costing less than a million at the time. The rest has been added since.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I think the issue may be here in the definitions.. For the life of me I can't think of any particular type of house that I would classify as being a 'Farang' house. If you get that comment when driving down the rural countryside then it probably refers to a very MODEST 3/4 bedroom 2 floor house of the exact same type that companies like Land & Houses build by the metric fuc_kton all over suburbs of major towns in Thailand, and which are by and large sold to Thais, obviously.

So the only distinguishing feature that would make it a 'Farang house' would be that it's a standard modern Thai home but built way out in the boonies. In addition to at least one Farang living there of course. Is that about correct?

In that case, I do not live in a 'Farang house' by virtue of it not being located in Outer Nakhon Nowhere. Other than that the house next to me is exactly the same and Thai people live there. Other houses in the same development are even bigger, some owned by Thais, some by half-foreign families.

It looks nice,but i wouldnt feel like i lived in Thialand,too clinical and suburbia,and i left my huge house to be here in Thailand

LOL. The man lives in a village in the Issan, how much more Thai can you get? The local motorbike dealer or CP agro broker lives in a far bigger house. I don't think you have to live in a mouldy wooden shack on stilts with iffy plumbing and even iffyer electricity in order to get a genuine Thai experience!

Edited March 10, 2009 by WinnieTheKhwai

[DavidOxon]

Not sure if this is a Thai or Farang house!

Designed and built by Thais, taken from a book

on modern Thai houses.

We've just almost finished building it

with the garden next if there's any money left!

David

PS Most of the bigger houses here are Thai,and the smaller one too

[pumpuiman]

My "Farang house"

Cost about what I'd pay for a nice car in the U.S.

Got the land as a wedding present.....and no sin sod.....

[InSiSongkram]

I posted some info earlier in this thread here is a photo of the house when almost complete, does anyone have a good design for an outer wall built with security in mind but easy on the eye? I had in mind low concrete wall with higher iron railings that are harder to scale.

Thanks.

Diablo Bob this comment you made is so true and why the houses built up here should never be looked at as an investment more of a retirement home/holiday home and to keep the wife happy....

Worth:

0 Baht (Unless a buyer comes from that village, will accept a USED house, I doubt that it could ever be sold)