To Moo Baan Or Not To Moo Baan - That Is The Question.

[Jinny]

What are the pros and cons of buying/building in or outside a moo-baan?

Before I plunge some cash into land in Chiang mai, I wanted to know people's experiences with buying land and building a house inside or outside a moo-baan. Besides the obvious infrastructure benefits of being inside a moo-baan (depending on the moo baan itself), why on earth would you not buy land outside which could be much cheaper?

Thanks for any replies.

[venturalaw]

What are the pros and cons of buying/building in or outside a moo-baan?

Before I plunge some cash into land in Chiang mai, I wanted to know people's experiences with buying land and building a house inside or outside a moo-baan. Besides the obvious infrastructure benefits of being inside a moo-baan (depending on the moo baan itself), why on earth would you not buy land outside which could be much cheaper?

Thanks for any replies.

For me it was the security of a moo-baan - having guards available - although I have heard that places with guards have experienced thefts perpetrated by relatives/friends of the guards. However, I was gone for 4 months and nothing was touched. Another issue for me is the loud trucks that go by blasting advertisements or whatever through the speakers on top - never experience that inside a moo-baan. Lastly, no traffic within the moo-baan so we can go jogging, bicycling, etc. We know the neighbors and have community gatherings on occasion - this all works for me.

[noise]

What are the pros and cons of buying/building in or outside a moo-baan?

Before I plunge some cash into land in Chiang mai, I wanted to know people's experiences with buying land and building a house inside or outside a moo-baan. Besides the obvious infrastructure benefits of being inside a moo-baan (depending on the moo baan itself), why on earth would you not buy land outside which could be much cheaper?

Thanks for any replies.

For me it was the security of a moo-baan - having guards available - although I have heard that places with guards have experienced thefts perpetrated by relatives/friends of the guards. However, I was gone for 4 months and nothing was touched. Another issue for me is the loud trucks that go by blasting advertisements or whatever through the speakers on top - never experience that inside a moo-baan. Lastly, no traffic within the moo-baan so we can go jogging, bicycling, etc. We know the neighbors and have community gatherings on occasion - this all works for me.

Similarly, in our gated moo baan, kids old enough to be out by themselves can safely bicycle all over all day and evenings to each other's house and play. Neighbors walk as a whole family group down the middle of the streets in the evenings and stop and talk with people. And many people leave their gates open to see and talk to you if you are the one walking by. You can't do that in other environments.

[PeaceBlondie]

We rented in a very nice moobaan for 2.5 years. Half the lots were empty; many fine, large homes were vacant but largely unlooted. Lots of high security fences. Not much community activity, just a few walkers and bicyclists. The only neighbor I got to know was brutally murdered, after which the killers drove out in his car, past the guard at the entrance. The moobaan association collected 500 baht monthly from those who paid it, and maintained the place well enough. The pool at the entrance had been drained years ago, and the restaurant opened sporadically and then closed for a year or more. Loud-speakers from the moobaan next door drifted over the fence. Open fields across the fence were filled with new houses.

Now we built a new home on the edge of a village that is over 100 years old. It is too soon to compare it with the old moobaan, but I never knew the guards and do not miss them. Your mileage will vary; not all moobaans are the same..

[elektrified]

What are the pros and cons of buying/building in or outside a moo-baan?

Before I plunge some cash into land in Chiang mai, I wanted to know people's experiences with buying land and building a house inside or outside a moo-baan. Besides the obvious infrastructure benefits of being inside a moo-baan (depending on the moo baan itself), why on earth would you not buy land outside which could be much cheaper?

Thanks for any replies.

Foreigners can not purchase land in Thailand; simple as that. But I'm sure that you already know that.

[anonymouse]

What are the pros and cons of buying/building in or outside a moo-baan?

Before I plunge some cash into land in Chiang mai, I wanted to know people's experiences with buying land and building a house inside or outside a moo-baan. Besides the obvious infrastructure benefits of being inside a moo-baan (depending on the moo baan itself), why on earth would you not buy land outside which could be much cheaper?

Thanks for any replies.

For me it was the security of a moo-baan - having guards available - although I have heard that places with guards have experienced thefts perpetrated by relatives/friends of the guards. However, I was gone for 4 months and nothing was touched. Another issue for me is the loud trucks that go by blasting advertisements or whatever through the speakers on top - never experience that inside a moo-baan. Lastly, no traffic within the moo-baan so we can go jogging, bicycling, etc. We know the neighbors and have community gatherings on occasion - this all works for me.

Similarly, in our gated moo baan, kids old enough to be out by themselves can safely bicycle all over all day and evenings to each other's house and play. Neighbors walk as a whole family group down the middle of the streets in the evenings and stop and talk with people. And many people leave their gates open to see and talk to you if you are the one walking by. You can't do that in other environments.

Ditto for me, it's a much safer enviornment to bring up children.

I've tried the village style living and the Moo Baan living and the later works for me. Then again it's got to depend on the village or Moo Baan, where I live it's only a small complex of 100 or so houses, of which about 20 are empty.

In the village there was no provision for removing rubbish, so most of the stuff was burnt resulting in evenings where the village was full of acrid black smoke from villagers burning plastic.

We also have a swimming pool on the complex, when the Schools are open I have it pretty much to myself which is a bonus and in the Holidays it's somewhere for the kids to occupy themselves.

One of the only real minus's is sometimes they allow the water to run low and once every couple of months I'll get a bath full of black or rusty coloured water but this can be remedied by getting your own water tank

Edited April 2, 2009 by anonymouse