Building A Hut, Shack, Bungalow Cheaply

[sezze]

Yes , possible and a lot cheaper but it wouldn't stand 1 rainy season . Not everybody is going for the overinflated farang price building projects , with swimming pools , 7 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms etc . A normal house with normal building materials ( marble and granite , if not imported are also very cheap ) is not expensive in Thailand . Even a swimming pool is not very expensive if you stay away from the places who are really for the farangs . You can do and build a lot for 100.000 baht.

sure you can!

Euhm , this is less then 10k , if you change the clay blocks to normal building blocks .

The house is indeed very possible for less then 100k and i did live with my GF and her parents in a place like that ( it was closer to 70k i think ) . Was it any luxury , no by far not . Was it dry , yes . There were offcourse no tiles , just concrete floor of about 5 cm thick , with vinyl on top . Toilet was a squat type , and water is with a bucket . No kitchen but just a clay BBQ to cook on .

What is a house , or better called a home . Somewhere where you can sleep , eat , sit safe and go toilet , according to me ( and probably also the dictionary ) . Would i live in it for long time , no , because i have more money to spend , otherwise no problemo . I do not change it 1 minute to go for hotels . Having luxury is fun , but not necessary .

BTW , Thais do like the luxury also , with hot running water , baths , normal toilets , but since they do not have a big amount of choice did do go cheaper and so can you if needed . .

Edited January 13, 2011 by sezze

[harrry]

Yes , possible and a lot cheaper but it wouldn't stand 1 rainy season . Not everybody is going for the overinflated farang price building projects , with swimming pools , 7 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms etc . A normal house with normal building materials ( marble and granite , if not imported are also very cheap ) is not expensive in Thailand . Even a swimming pool is not very expensive if you stay away from the places who are really for the farangs . You can do and build a lot for 100.000 baht.

sure you can!

But where would the trilingual gardener live?

[harrry]

Yes , possible and a lot cheaper but it wouldn't stand 1 rainy season . Not everybody is going for the overinflated farang price building projects , with swimming pools , 7 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms etc . A normal house with normal building materials ( marble and granite , if not imported are also very cheap ) is not expensive in Thailand . Even a swimming pool is not very expensive if you stay away from the places who are really for the farangs . You can do and build a lot for 100.000 baht.

sure you can!

[exterminator]

I remember a thread some time ago in which a member told the story of how he built a bungalow in Isaan. He included pictures as well, and if I'm not totally incorrect he had the total cost in there as well. I remember I was very impressed with the bungalow at the stated cost (2-300k??).

Can someone remember who the member was, or remember the thread? I cant find it.

DMAX - I think in another forum, not Thaivisa. Bloody good deal

[kropotkin]

Yes , possible and a lot cheaper but it wouldn't stand 1 rainy season . Not everybody is going for the overinflated farang price building projects , with swimming pools , 7 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms etc . A normal house with normal building materials ( marble and granite , if not imported are also very cheap ) is not expensive in Thailand . Even a swimming pool is not very expensive if you stay away from the places who are really for the farangs . You can do and build a lot for 100.000 baht.

sure you can!

Euhm , this is less then 10k , if you change the clay blocks to normal building blocks .

The house is indeed very possible for less then 100k and i did live with my GF and her parents in a place like that ( it was closer to 70k i think ) . Was it any luxury , no by far not . Was it dry , yes . There were offcourse no tiles , just concrete floor of about 5 cm thick , with vinyl on top . Toilet was a squat type , and water is with a bucket . No kitchen but just a clay BBQ to cook on .

What is a house , or better called a home . Somewhere where you can sleep , eat , sit safe and go toilet , according to me ( and probably also the dictionary ) . Would i live in it for long time , no , because i have more money to spend , otherwise no problemo . I do not change it 1 minute to go for hotels . Having luxury is fun , but not necessary .

BTW , Thais do like the luxury also , with hot running water , baths , normal toilets , but since they do not have a big amount of choice did do go cheaper and so can you if needed . .

I love luxury.

But what is luxury?

To me, in my younger days, luxury was sleeping in a tent in a national park in Norway (and nearly freezing to death)

Or looking at the stars in Rarotonga or Maupiti (while getting bitten by the local jung)

Or picking raspberries or apples or peaches in the cold and heat of Central Otago (and eating half the harvest)

Sorry, i am getting carried away off topic.

And now?

Luxury is our 4 X 12 m house in a rambutan garden in the jungle, total cost including well, electric hook up, water tower, european kitchen and bathroom, tiles, etc: 600.000 baht.

Actually, the house could have been built for half that price, and i would have been happy with it, but i had to compromise with my wife......

And all the building money went to the local economy, no double pricing, made a lot of friends too.

[sezze]

Agreed 100% . Luxury is what you want . The original question was if it is possible to build something for less then 100k . If you are not in any luxury interested , or your luxury standards are very low ( Western view ) then certainly it is very possible . I could certainly live in it , and so can anybody else here if they need/want to . People ( Westerners ) in Thailand in general look at the prices of real estate agents , which are grossly overinflated ( just like everywhere , but in Thailand more since they cater for 99% Westerners ) , instead of looking how houses are build and what products are needed . They see a finished product and think how much it would cost in their overinflated country to build something looking similar . If you go to real Thai villages , you see different settings and you will see that houses there are a lot simpler , yet are still good places to live , due to enviroment / setting / people / etc etc .

[CallumW]

We have just finished building a one bedroom bungalow, 8m x 8m.

1 single room of 8m x 4m with a 2m square corner missing that is a western toilet/shower room. A pretty large room plenty of room for a king sized bed, sofa and TV plus my desk.

1 kitchen/dining room - 4m x 4m galley style with enough room for a 6 seater dining table. Western fittings with double sink.

1 balcony 4m x4m.

Total cost around 200k Baht.

I have two tips for people who are looking to build a cheap abode in Thailand.

1. Cheap roofing, forget about looks, some of the coated metal roofing (not sure what it is called) is inexpensive and low maintenance. A bit noisy when it rains heavy but you get used to it.

2. Drop the fancy corners, curves and other cosmetics. Thai builders like building in squares, with support posts in easy places. Our small bungalow has 9 of these, and the positioning of these drove the overall floor layout.

I'll post some pictures when I work out how too!

Next year once rainy season has settled the landfill we will build a three bedroom place following the same principals, estimated cost around 400k Baht.

[kropotkin]

We have just finished building a one bedroom bungalow, 8m x 8m.

1 single room of 8m x 4m with a 2m square corner missing that is a western toilet/shower room. A pretty large room plenty of room for a king sized bed, sofa and TV plus my desk.

1 kitchen/dining room - 4m x 4m galley style with enough room for a 6 seater dining table. Western fittings with double sink.

1 balcony 4m x4m.

Total cost around 200k Baht.

I have two tips for people who are looking to build a cheap abode in Thailand.

1. Cheap roofing, forget about looks, some of the coated metal roofing (not sure what it is called) is inexpensive and low maintenance. A bit noisy when it rains heavy but you get used to it.

2. Drop the fancy corners, curves and other cosmetics. Thai builders like building in squares, with support posts in easy places. Our small bungalow has 9 of these, and the positioning of these drove the overall floor layout.

I'll post some pictures when I work out how too!

Next year once rainy season has settled the landfill we will build a three bedroom place following the same principals, estimated cost around 400k Baht.

I am looking forward to comparing the pics of our bungalows.

And also trying to work out how to post pics.

Especially after just being told i am a troll.... (i posted in the wrong forum....) .....oops......

[seedy]

Thanks to all who posted. Some good Ideas !!

[Greenside]

Our pump house/toolshed ended up costing about 45,000 baht of which we could have saved about 5000 if we'd been more experienced and a bit more with cheaper roof material. The roof is 5 x 5m and the inside is 3 x 3. We were quoted 60k - 80k as a complete job.

[sezze]

Perfect example of a nice small but cheap building , well within the specs given .:jap:. Indeed , pic cheaper roof material , and add a bit for elec , and toilet/shower and your house is finished for lower then 100k . The overhangs off the roof do not bring extra costs for the structure underneed . So a 5 by 5 roof and a 4.5 by 4.5 structure would still cost roughly the same .

Told you you can have very nice small buildings for less then 100k .

[Greenside]

The size of the roof is a major factor in the cost. Calculate the area the roof covers as the size of the house (all the builders do) and then you'll be saving a bit on the materials to make the inside habitable. As it happens, I wish I'd made the interior a bit larger and had a 70cm overhang as it would have cost the same and looked a bit nicer. I'm going to put gutters on before the rainy season anyway.

Edited January 31, 2011 by Greenside

[Lite Beer]

We had this built about two and a half years ago. Using local workers it cost about 110,000 Baht. There is a thread Here unfortunately without most of the pictures.

[doglover]

I am surprised the cost was that high LiteBeer. Of course the wooden roof system was more expensive than steal. No intention whatsover to "one up" anyone, but this is my experience.....

4 years ago I built a small home using the same grade of roofing, also building the gabled roof system from purchased wood (a good deal was given on the wood). The building had 5 rooms and was also a rectangle but measured 10M X 8M with walls from concrete blocks. Also had a carport off the one side 8M X 3M with the same roof tiles yet a simple sloped roof with no peak built off of the house only needing 3 additional pre-formed columns. Seven average sized brown sliding aluminum framed windows and solid wooden doors. Had 7M of silver aluminum framed floor to ceiling fixed glass along the front for a mini-mart.Tiled flooring throughout with tiled bathroom and t-bar ceiling. Also had a fence around the property of roughly 20M X 15M X 1.5Mtall built from simple 2M long pre-formed concrete posts and concrete blocks. House and fence painted with cheap 4-Seasons paint (will fade immensly after only 1 year). Simple metal gate for carport painted silver. Eaves closed up with thin sheets of gypsum for exterior use and the joints hidden with wood lathe strips (typical village construction). All materials purchased by my wife and myself for roughly 370,000 baht and paid 28,000 baht for labour (you get what you pay for, workmanship was attrocious). I should mention the house was an oven! And the daily headaches with cheap unskilled labour are not something I would want again. Have pictures on my old computer. If requested I will post a few.

But I know for certain that I could build a descent little bungalow for less than 100,000 baht. And using an intelligent design and some well placed trees it would not have to be an oven.

*4 years ago had I chosen steel for the roof system it would have been even cheaper and if God had gifted me with a welder with a clue how to build, it would have turned out better workmanship wise.

[Lite Beer]

Not disagreeing with you. The chap who was after ideas in the Topic I linked to above ended up building this and reckoned he paid 225,000 Baht.

[doglover]

Wow!!! Must have picked the golden toilet upgrade option!

[CallumW]

Hi folks, I think I finally managed to work out how to upload a picture!

OK here is our 8m x 8m bungalow, we built this to live in while we build the main house and then it will be used as self contained guest accommodation later.

It's not finished in this picture but the Mrs was living in it anyway! I will take some newer ones when I get a chance.

Total cost including western shower room and kitchen was a little over 200k.

[canuckamuck]

Bl**dy H*ll.....the exchange rates must be really hitting now....no more houses for farang teeraks....a hut or shack in Isaan will have to do

Yeah, sounds that way the farangs do not want to go home.

Living in shacks and a room with no ambitions.

They will be living in caves next.

Dreamer... Caves aren't so easy to find any more.

[samuibob]

Yes it is possible , 50 to 100k .

A ,use a basic rectangular layout , do not use an architect unless you have to from government . lets say a 6 by 6 meter building . Build on floor level or slightly raised but keep the bottomplate on the ground . and put about 7 to 10 cm of concrete on it . You need 9 concrete pilars , 6inch ones are less then 1000 baht for 4 m long ( lets say 800 baht) Dig them in at 3 m from eachother and put about 10cm concrete in the bottom. Fill the pit with sand and then raise your landlevel 1 stone ( 20cm ) . After that the concrete .

B use standard roofplates ( zink plates ) They are dirtcheap . More expensive are coated steel sheets and fibrecement . I prefer iron as roofconstruction . Keep the angle of the roof as low as possible ( less steel /fibrecement needed ) .

C fill in your concrete floorplate as needed . with cinderblocks ( between 2.5 and 4 b each 20/40cm )

D Toilets + basin + shower together with hot water ... if you look around should be less then 7000 baht .

OK let's count allraedy

9 concrete pillars 7200 baht

concrete , 5000 baht

stones lets say livingroom / 1 bedroom / 1 bathroom . / about 3 m high 1500stones =6000 baht

roof construction . The expensive part . roughly 15k is possible ( can be even cheaper is you take the cheapest possible or even 2th hand ) .

Elek , simple elek will set you back max 5000 baht .

windows and doors . Simple construction , so nothing fancy . 4 doors at 700 bath each and lets say 3 windows at 1000 baht each ... roughly 6000 bath .

Tiles ... if needed 100 baht sqm ( it will bring up the price , but will also improve the look . ) and another 10 k on small things like cement , pipingwork etc .

7200+5000+6000+15000+5000+6000+10000 = 54000 without labour . I did never take the cheapest of cheapest . Tiles are your own choice , but you can do a lot for 15k ( the complete house ) . If you want render the walls will set you back another couple of 1000 .

For roughly 100k you have a very nice bungalow . Basic basic for around 50k . If you really want to go basic Isaan style it can go even lower but i cannot imagine any farang do not want to spend 20k more to have a decent bungalow .

I'm building myself and so far this cost me around 160k . Any spec of the building so far is higher then needed and this is a lot bigger then the 6 by 6 mentioned .

Just what I need to park my car, how much would a garage door cost?

Your post is great~ Very iformative, detailed and the best I've seen thus far. Can you tell me the size/sqm, and how much you paid for your roof/materials in the pic shown on your post ? Thanks.

[Gary A]

Some of you are dreamers. Building supplies are NOT cheap. Four months ago we built a little weekend getaway place beside a pond on our nearest farm. One of the most expensive items was wood for the rafters. I would have used steel but there is no electricity there for a welder. My generator is not big enough to supply a welder. I love the sound of rain on a metal roof so we used aluminium coated steel roofing.

The labor was quoted at 12,000 baht and that included the outhouse. We bought all the material ourselves. The enclosed area is only 3 by 3.6 meters, the cooking area is a half wall of blocks and is also covered. The front porch is raised about a half meter and is also covered with steel roofing. Both the front porch and cooking area are about the same size as the enclosed room. The enclosed area and front porch have ceramic tile floors. The two windows have shutters but no glass. The front door is good carved wood and was expensive. The enclosed room and front porch have ceilings. The inside and outside walls are stucco.

The total price for just material was more than 100,000 baht. There is no plumbing or wiring. The outhouse is a three ring septic and a manual bucket flush farang toilet. My Thai wife is VERY frugal and we certainly did NOT overpay for anything.

The days of the 100,000 baht house have passed long ago.

[Naam]

Not disagreeing with you. The chap who was after ideas in the Topic I linked to above ended up building this and reckoned he paid 225,000 Baht.

including the cost for those exquisite ceramic tiles covering the steps?

[CallumW]

I just went through the receipts for the materials I purchased for the bungalow I posted a picture of, here are the ones for just construction, not the electrics and false ceiling, I can't find those at the moment, so here goes:

Steel for roof frame: 29,000

Sheeting for roof: 18,000

Shera for edging and gables (is gables the right word?) 3,000

Glass blocks: 6,000

1500 concrete blocks: 4,500

1 truck of sand: 2,000

1 truck of stone/gravel: 2,000

5 concrete rings for waste: 550

9 x 4 metre reinforced concrete posts: 6,300

70 sqm floor tiles: 12,000

Bathroom tiles: 4,000

Grout: 600

110 bags of cement: 13,200 (very thick slab and rendering is also thick)

6 aluminium windows with fly screen: 15,000

2 x doors and frames: 1,800

Toilet sink and shower: 3,000

Double sink unit and fittings 2,900

That comes to 122,950 the labour was about 20k, lost track of that a bit due to the beers)

Then there was the wiring, the false ceiling and the painting on top, plus I had the kitchen rebuilt as I was not happy with the first layout. About 210k all in.

Hope this helps.

Edited February 12, 2011 by CallumW

[Mamasun]

I just went through the receipts for the materials I purchased for the bungalow I posted a picture of, here are the ones for just construction, not the electrics and false ceiling, I can't find those at the moment, so here goes:

Steel for roof frame: 29,000

Sheeting for roof: 18,000

Shera for edging and gables (is gables the right word?) 3,000

Glass blocks: 6,000

1500 concrete blocks: 4,500

1 truck of sand: 2,000

1 truck of stone/gravel: 2,000

5 concrete rings for waste: 550

9 x 4 metre reinforced concrete posts: 6,300

70 sqm floor tiles: 12,000

Bathroom tiles: 4,000

Grout: 600

110 bags of cement: 13,200 (very thick slab and rendering is also thick)

6 aluminium windows with fly screen: 15,000

2 x doors and frames: 1,800

Toilet sink and shower: 3,000

Double sink unit and fittings 2,900

That comes to 122,950 the labour was about 20k, lost track of that a bit due to the beers)

Then there was the wiring, the false ceiling and the painting on top, plus I had the kitchen rebuilt as I was not happy with the first layout. About 210k all in.

Hope this helps.

You have no rebar for foundation ?

[CallumW]

I just went through the receipts for the materials I purchased for the bungalow I posted a picture of, here are the ones for just construction, not the electrics and false ceiling, I can't find those at the moment, so here goes:

Steel for roof frame: 29,000

Sheeting for roof: 18,000

Shera for edging and gables (is gables the right word?) 3,000

Glass blocks: 6,000

1500 concrete blocks: 4,500

1 truck of sand: 2,000

1 truck of stone/gravel: 2,000

5 concrete rings for waste: 550

9 x 4 metre reinforced concrete posts: 6,300

70 sqm floor tiles: 12,000

Bathroom tiles: 4,000

Grout: 600

110 bags of cement: 13,200 (very thick slab and rendering is also thick)

6 aluminium windows with fly screen: 15,000

2 x doors and frames: 1,800

Toilet sink and shower: 3,000

Double sink unit and fittings 2,900

That comes to 122,950 the labour was about 20k, lost track of that a bit due to the beers)

Then there was the wiring, the false ceiling and the painting on top, plus I had the kitchen rebuilt as I was not happy with the first layout. About 210k all in.

Hope this helps.

You have no rebar for foundation ?

The floor is 4 separate 4x4 sections and they constructed a sort of rebar from split bamboo tied together to form the grid. Saved a small fortune! Strong enough to stand on and bounce up and down before they added the concrete on top.

[sezze]

Yes it is possible , 50 to 100k .

A ,use a basic rectangular layout , do not use an architect unless you have to from government . lets say a 6 by 6 meter building . Build on floor level or slightly raised but keep the bottomplate on the ground . and put about 7 to 10 cm of concrete on it . You need 9 concrete pilars , 6inch ones are less then 1000 baht for 4 m long ( lets say 800 baht) Dig them in at 3 m from eachother and put about 10cm concrete in the bottom. Fill the pit with sand and then raise your landlevel 1 stone ( 20cm ) . After that the concrete .

B use standard roofplates ( zink plates ) They are dirtcheap . More expensive are coated steel sheets and fibrecement . I prefer iron as roofconstruction . Keep the angle of the roof as low as possible ( less steel /fibrecement needed ) .

C fill in your concrete floorplate as needed . with cinderblocks ( between 2.5 and 4 b each 20/40cm )

D Toilets + basin + shower together with hot water ... if you look around should be less then 7000 baht .

OK let's count allraedy

9 concrete pillars 7200 baht

concrete , 5000 baht

stones lets say livingroom / 1 bedroom / 1 bathroom . / about 3 m high 1500stones =6000 baht

roof construction . The expensive part . roughly 15k is possible ( can be even cheaper is you take the cheapest possible or even 2th hand ) .

Elek , simple elek will set you back max 5000 baht .

windows and doors . Simple construction , so nothing fancy . 4 doors at 700 bath each and lets say 3 windows at 1000 baht each ... roughly 6000 bath .

Tiles ... if needed 100 baht sqm ( it will bring up the price , but will also improve the look . ) and another 10 k on small things like cement , pipingwork etc .

7200+5000+6000+15000+5000+6000+10000 = 54000 without labour . I did never take the cheapest of cheapest . Tiles are your own choice , but you can do a lot for 15k ( the complete house ) . If you want render the walls will set you back another couple of 1000 .

For roughly 100k you have a very nice bungalow . Basic basic for around 50k . If you really want to go basic Isaan style it can go even lower but i cannot imagine any farang do not want to spend 20k more to have a decent bungalow .

I'm building myself and so far this cost me around 160k . Any spec of the building so far is higher then needed and this is a lot bigger then the 6 by 6 mentioned .

Just what I need to park my car, how much would a garage door cost?

Your post is great~ Very iformative, detailed and the best I've seen thus far. Can you tell me the size/sqm, and how much you paid for your roof/materials in the pic shown on your post ? Thanks.

Roof is THE expensive part of the house as it needs to be strong and stand the weather conditions . I payed steel , roughly 30k ( i could go for cheaper C type steel but i wanted stronger then needed so picked O type which is quite a bit more expensive . pictures of all the steel can be delivered upon request and there is quite a bit of steel in this roof ) . The steel included 1 bottle of thinner and 1 big bucket of rust protection ( the red stuff ) with a few brushes ) and delivered at home , like all in Thailand within a day . The steel sheets are 0.35 ( i think , could be 0,32 sorry i forgot ) . Price of any color is all the same . It is the thickness of the steel which makes the price . I checked 3 shops , 1 with colorbond which was the most expensive but probably the best quality . 2nd was a famous shop in town with only steel roofs which was in the middle . 3th shop was a general building material shop nearby but the did have the steel sheets and bending machine in the back . They did have a 0.23 mm , 0.35mm and 0.5mm or so . The 0.23 was 110 baht i think , the bigger one was 125baht and the biggest one was 145 if i remember correctly . The 0.35 is the one i took and that one certainly feld a whole lot stronger then the 0.23 for a small price up . The 0.5 according to them is only for factory . As you see in the picture it is quite a steep roof so i needed a lot more sqm then i thought i needed and even then i needed even more in a delivery after ( paying 130 baht per sqm for the extra sqm needed ) . The size of this building is 12m by 7m and i got overhang of 80cm on every side . In the end i needed a roughly 300sqm ( but i got some spares , probably 270sqm was actually needed ) .

250 sqm at 125 baht + 50 sqm at 130 baht was = 31250 + 6500 baht was 37750 baht

Shera wood for between and under the edges was i forgot but a couple of 1000's .

Srews , a lot needed , forgot how many but it was also a couple of 1000 baht .

I payed a local builder 30k for making the complete roof and overviewing the rest of the build ( how to make the pillars of foundation waterlevel etc . ) . The roof was his part 100% and he hired between 2 and 4 people on each day working on it . Took him about 1.5 week if i remember correctly .

The price of the roof complete including all the labour , screws , Shera was just above 100k . Like i said b4 , the building as on the pic is 160k but that is including landfill ( not a lot of price in that ... 350 per truckload and 500 for leveling it , total less then 5000 baht ) .

Stones as somebody else said here , is nothing . You can go a long way with 5000 baht of stones . Concrete , 10cm is used throughout , at between 1400 and 1900 per m3 ( depending on area in Thailand ) , 1m3 is enough for 10sqm .

If you are on a budged ... do not buy at homepro or homemart or other big names . I repeat , do NOT buy at homepro homemart or other big names . They are more expensive for any item on the list then a normal Thai hardware store but they are convenient and have good promotions . If you are just looking at a cheap cheap place ... make the roof simpler but just as strong by moving the shape into a trapezium type ( raising 1 side of the building by 50cm and just make it slope down to the other side , no angles needed and less roof area ) .

By doing that , just the same shape of the house but sloping roof will be instead of the 300sqm reduced to 130 sqm ( overlap of the sheets ) including overhang . Same strength of sheets is 17000 baht . Steel will be a lot cheaper since you do not need as much also take 15000 ( just divided it by 2 , i won't be far off ). Labour since no angles etc , easy easy 15k maxed out but i would do it mysef for this shape .

would be 15k +17k + 15k labour , 47k ... tadaaaa . If you really want to know how cheap you CAN build just contact me . I can give you the adress of official Thai house plans ( 100% free and certified by government !!) and it start at roughly 50000baht BOQ ( probably up a bit more since prices have risen but work is included at the price ) .

[Beardog]

Some of you are dreamers. Building supplies are NOT cheap. Four months ago we built a little weekend getaway place beside a pond on our nearest farm. One of the most expensive items was wood for the rafters. I would have used steel but there is no electricity there for a welder. My generator is not big enough to supply a welder. I love the sound of rain on a metal roof so we used aluminium coated steel roofing.

The labor was quoted at 12,000 baht and that included the outhouse. We bought all the material ourselves. The enclosed area is only 3 by 3.6 meters, the cooking area is a half wall of blocks and is also covered. The front porch is raised about a half meter and is also covered with steel roofing. Both the front porch and cooking area are about the same size as the enclosed room. The enclosed area and front porch have ceramic tile floors. The two windows have shutters but no glass. The front door is good carved wood and was expensive. The enclosed room and front porch have ceilings. The inside and outside walls are stucco.

The total price for just material was more than 100,000 baht. There is no plumbing or wiring. The outhouse is a three ring septic and a manual bucket flush farang toilet. My Thai wife is VERY frugal and we certainly did NOT overpay for anything.

The days of the 100,000 baht house have passed long ago.

I am with you on your assessment our 2.5x2.5 meter pump-house we just built was 10,000 baht & we had the steel & roof already & the plumbing gear & wire & consumer panel. if you are not fortunate to have the remaining bits & pieces, by the time you put plumbing in & electric it is far more expensive than one imagines.The electrical wire consumer box (4 breakers) & pvc were close to 5000 baht. Then their is the quality issue. If you half as to save a baht & go the cheap charlie route you are almost assured of the builder giving you un-ribbed rebar & not forming the the foundation square. 1 year down the way & you have huge cracks in you walls vertical & horizontal & nothing fits properly. The piece of crap we built for 220,000 baht is now 280-290,000 baht for the same materials. You really do get what you pay for. If you use all bargain brand basement downgrades...Even if your builders are aces you are stuck with something you get to live in & hate 4 ever. I would much rather have the bottom of the top over the top of the bottom. You can only polish a turd so far.And when it is done it still is a polished turd.

Edited February 14, 2011 by Beardog