Please Explain House Addresses

[edd]

Can someone have pity on a poor Falang?

I thought that I had a handle on most Thai cultural things but

I have just run into some Thai logic over our address.

We have had this address for about 9 years and I can rattle it off, in Thai, with the best of them.

Now 2 months ago through all the residents of the Soi begging in Unisom the local council who agreed to concrete our Soi.

Joy of joy! we can now drive down our little soy in the wet season.

But to day there is a sign at the entrance of our soi that says

SOI 4.

Now our address has always been

130/muu/16.

or so I thought

130. --- was our house number (I know it is because I went to pick it when we had our house built)

Muu --- (translation) street

16 -----Street/Soi number.

Now I am told by our local postman that the new street number has nothing to do with the address on a letter.

Now I have come to terms with the fact that house numbers have no relation to the house position in the street,

My house is 130/m/16

My mother in laws house is 9/m/16

My sister in laws house is 20/m/16

And they are next to each other in the soi.

But now this is too much to handle.

I asked the postman how he finds the correct house to deliver his letters to.

He said ‘I know everyone in the village and if I am off duty the replacement post man just looses the letters if he cannot find the house.

It’s a good job they all know where the falang lives.

[phibunmike]

Can someone have pity on a poor Falang?

I thought that I had a handle on most Thai cultural things but 

I have just run into some Thai logic over our address.

We have had this address for about 9 years and I can rattle it off, in Thai, with the best of them.

Now 2 months ago through all the residents of the Soi begging in Unisom   the local council who agreed to concrete our Soi.

Joy of joy!   we can now drive down our little soy in the wet season.

But to day there is a sign at the entrance of our soi that says

SOI 4.

Now our address has always been

130/muu/16.

or so I thought

130. --- was our house number (I know it is because I went to pick it when we had our house built)

Muu --- (translation) street

16 -----Street/Soi number.

Now I am told by our local postman that the new street number has nothing to do with the address on a letter.

Now I have come to terms with the fact that house numbers have no relation to the house position in the street,

My house is 130/m/16

My mother in laws house is 9/m/16

My sister in laws house is 20/m/16

And they are next to each other in the soi.

But now this is too much to handle.

I asked the postman how he finds the correct house to deliver his letters to.

He said ‘I know everyone in the village and if I am off duty the replacement post man just looses the letters if he cannot find the house.

It’s a good job they all know where the falang lives.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sure someone much wiser than me will clear this matter up, but for what it is worth my impression is that the "house number" is the next available number in the village when your house is built. Don't know about the other number though...

[Gazza]

Muu is Muubaan/village.

The 16 will be the number of the village in your area.

ie. in your area there may be 16 or more villages/muu/muubaans, yours is number 16.

Edited October 25, 2005 by Gazza

[edd]

Muu is Muubaan/village.

The 16 will be the number of the village in your area.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah that explains it.

so far the village must have had no street numbers, just a village number, muubaan 16, no wonder the poor postman gets confused i know of many other number 9's and one other no 130.

He never misses with the bills though.

[WhiteShiva]

Muu is Muubaan/village.

The 16 will be the number of the village in your area.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah that explains it.

so far the village must have had no street numbers, just a village number, muubaan 16, no wonder the poor postman gets confused i know of many other number 9's and one other no 130.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, why don't you just add "soi 4" to your address, then........

[lopburi3]

I have never seen an address written in that format but perhaps upcountry it could be the case where all land belonged to the same deed originally. The normal here in the big city would be number (house)/number(land plot) then mooban (number) and name of mooban (or muuban - many ways to spell it). Often just the mooban name is used without the number

The first number is the house itself. The second number is the land plot number as registered for that area at the land office. So you would be in house number 130 located on land plot xx. This leads to all kinds of interesting results - especially when land plots are small and adjacent. Here in Bangkok there is an attempt to change to street/consecutive numbering system but some people do not want to change so most of it has been postponed - although believe some districts are still supposed to comply.

In any case you live on Soi 4 now so you will tell that to visitors to help locate you but until/if they change to consecutive number system Post Office could care less about the Soi number (especially if your village entrance is off a Soi). Your post man is right - you either know where people are or you drive around in circles.

Edited October 26, 2005 by lopburi3