I plan to build (in a village near Chiang Mai) a two-room chalet of 13.5 square meters floor area, raised 1.2 meters above ground level, with 'standard' concrete frame, brick wall and CPAC roof construction. I have been quoted an all-in price of 173,000 baht. Does this seem reasonable? Any advice much appreciated.

That's nearly 13000 baht a square meter, look for 10,000 baht a meter maximum.

13.5 square meters? Sounds more like a closet.

I had a builders quote recently for 280 square metres, Bht 12,000 for realy high quality.

There is no doubt if your hire a Thai builder from a village, you will get it done cheaper.

But has he built quality houses for farangs before, have you seen any of them & spoken to those guys?

For 10,000 bht sqm, your going to get very cheap quality, to get any thing decent your looking at 13,000 bht sqm ++. But that wont be top quality either.

Although what your building does sounds like something very simple

I use to work in the construction industry in Pattaya until quite recently, so i am very well aware of building costs, & quality around here.

I can't speak for prices in Chang Mai though.

There is no doubt if your hire a Thai builder from a village, you will get it done cheaper.

But has he built quality houses for farangs before, have you seen any of them & spoken to those guys?

For 10,000 bht sqm, your going to get very cheap quality, to get any thing decent your looking at 13,000 bht sqm ++. But that wont be top quality either.

Although what your building does sounds like something very simple

I use to work in the construction industry in Pattaya until quite recently, so i am very well aware of building costs, & quality around here.

I can't speak for prices in Chang Mai though.

For house only I am paying 10,000B sq mtr not including kitchen and hot water if required grade "A" finish as many electrical points that I want and earthed the builder as done everything that I have required and changed things that I have not been happy with I pay on work completed the only real problem I have is that he is slow I see 2 farang houses that he built before I decided to use him

There is no doubt if your hire a Thai builder from a village, you will get it done cheaper.

But has he built quality houses for farangs before, have you seen any of them & spoken to those guys?

For 10,000 bht sqm, your going to get very cheap quality, to get any thing decent your looking at 13,000 bht sqm ++. But that wont be top quality either.

Although what your building does sounds like something very simple

I use to work in the construction industry in Pattaya until quite recently, so i am very well aware of building costs, & quality around here.

I can't speak for prices in Chang Mai though.

For house only I am paying 10,000B sq mtr not including kitchen and hot water if required grade "A" finish as many electrical points that I want and earthed the builder as done everything that I have required and changed things that I have not been happy with I pay on work completed the only real problem I have is that he is slow I see 2 farang houses that he built before I decided to use him

At our village in Mae Taeng, a basic two storey house with a footprint of about 80 square meters is under construction by a local builder. I am told the all in price is about 7000Baht/square meter.

"I plan to build (in a village near Chiang Mai) a two-room chalet of 13.5 square meters floor area"

is this "chalet" for your dog or your cat?

13.5 square meters? Sounds more like a closet.

Still larger than those 9 sqm student dorms in the UK....

Thanks to Rimmer, Artisi, dickie58, offset and mike44.

I've now had two more quotations. A builder in the village quotes at 8,800 per sq.m. with (small) brick walls, and a builder from the city at 10,300 per sq. m. using Q-con blocks. I think we'll be going with one of these.

A builder in the village quotes at 8,800 per sq.m. with (small) brick walls, and a builder from the city at 10,300 per sq. m. using Q-con blocks. I think we'll be going with one of these.

Q-con will likely give better insulation (important if you're having aircon) but there are known issues with water penetration from wet-rooms (like your shower).

I'd use q-con for rooms where you'll be installing aircon and red bricks elsewhere.

Also might be an idea to have internal walls as stud-walls (plasterboard on a timber or metal framework) quick to install and relatively easily changed in future. Ensure your timber is treated against termites or your walls may stop being walls

All wet areas (showers) should be fully waterproofed using a flexible membrane system which will exclude all water from your walls and floor. Not the cheapest proceedure but will pay for itself in the long run.

"13.5 square meters? Sounds more like a closet."

Don't forget, that 13.5sqm for TWO rooms. Perhaps he and his guests will be sleeping standing up.

"13.5 square meters? Sounds more like a closet."

Don't forget, that 13.5sqm for TWO rooms. Perhaps he and his guests will be sleeping standing up.

I agree, even the smallest of the homes (number 1) on my website http://www.crossy.co.uk/Thai_House_Plans/index.html has a total floor area 5.4 x 5.6m and that's just one room with a loo / shower with an outside kitchen and verandah.

Locally builders are charging between 3 and 4k bht per sq m for labour, you supply the materials.

8k per sq m should get you reasonable Thai standard.

10k up will get you good or better quality.

We built our own house to a very high standard for 10k bht per sq m but that was with the help of uncle, our builder, and being very careful with sourcing the materials.