Thai Builder Named Ek - Anyone Used Him?

[Guderian]

I need to get a drain rebuilt. It's located under a pathway so there's going to be a lot of drilling and digging, and then laying cement and retiling, but it's a simple job. A Thai guy called Ek has been recommended to me, and he seems to know what he's doing and the price he's quoted sounds fair. The guy who recommended him hasn't actually used him, but he has seen his work and says that it's good. Ek says that he has been used by people on Thai Visa, but his name isn't easy to search for, being just the two letters.

Has anybody used him, and were you happy with his work? He lives in the Thepprasit Soi 8 area, and seems to do quite a lot of work around there and along Soi 17, what is now called Soi Regional Land. I'd be grateful to hear any experiences.

[topt]

The last comments I saw were in this post http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/593933-looking-for-contractors-again-yeah/page__hl__+khun%20+eck#entry5797328

The search function does work sometimes......

[manxninja]

Not sure about EK.

I used a fella called ET once but he was a little wierd.

[Guderian]

The last comments I saw were in this post http://www.thaivisa....ck#entry5797328

The search function does work sometimes......

Thanks for the effort, but that's a different Ek (or Eck, or whatever). The guy mentioned in that thread is a short Indian-looking man, whereas this Ek is taller than me (I'm 5 ft 8 '', so quite tall by Thai standards), and he's definitely not got any Indian features.

[pattaya_girl]

I used ek for lots of work on my townhouse,, he did a good job, but wanted 50 thousand baht before he would begin, the rest of his wage he requested me to pay him several thousand Baht every few days, so when my house was finished, he had no money due to him as he had had it all........

He works alone, and it took 6 weeks for him to do my house. After he had finished and gone, I had a small leak in my bathroom and a broken floor tile, so i got him around to ask if he could do it for me,,, he requested the thousand baht 2 days before he arranged to do it, then unfortunately he let me down, he said a spider had bitten his hand and he was confined to bed,,, (i could just about hear him through the hammering in the background of wherever he was ringing from lol ) he sent a stranger round to give me my money back, and i rarely see the guy anymore.

Does a fair job, a bit slow and likes money up front.

[Thailaw]

Thanks for the effort, but that's a different Ek (or Eck, or whatever). The guy mentioned in that thread is a short Indian-looking man, whereas this Ek is taller than me (I'm 5 ft 8 '', so quite tall by Thai standards), and he's definitely not got any Indian features.

I think it is the same person or the same person that I used -- about 5'8" or 9", drives (or drove about 1 year ago) an older, red suv type vehicle. I would also not describe him as having Indian features, but I can see how someone else would -- he has a somewhat darker complexion, and, as I recall, he lived in the Theppasit Road area (south of Pattaya Tai). I got his name from someone on TV, so I believe he has done work for several of the TV posters. Many of the earlier posters were pleased with his work. As I said in my earlier posts, I believe that, because he works alone, he spreads his time among his customers. He doesn't turn down work, and some new work may be especially time sensitive (broken pipe, leaking roof, etc.) and he may be paid a premium for it. So, if he gets work like that and is in the middle of your job, you may just sit and wait and not see him for a week or more. If you can live with that (with the work in my kitchen, I could not), he may be fine for you.

As I said, I was very pleased with the work he did. I fired him because he was unreliable. And what everyone else says about Eck fits him to a tee -- he presses to be paid every few days; when I fired him (over the phone because he hadn't show up for a week), I didn't owe him 1 Baht. If you can get him to stay on the work until it is complete, you will be pleased with his work. This may not be an easy task.

Edited February 3, 2013 by Thailaw

[pattaya_girl]

Yes, customers were forever ringing him up while he was working at my house, complaining that he had never shown up, I agree he is unreliable... My job took 6 weeks, I had to move out while it was being done,, and some days he would come and lay a couple of floor tiles then vanish !

[Guderian]

I used ek for lots of work on my townhouse,, he did a good job, but wanted 50 thousand baht before he would begin, the rest of his wage he requested me to pay him several thousand Baht every few days, so when my house was finished, he had no money due to him as he had had it all........

He works alone, and it took 6 weeks for him to do my house. After he had finished and gone, I had a small leak in my bathroom and a broken floor tile, so i got him around to ask if he could do it for me,,, he requested the thousand baht 2 days before he arranged to do it, then unfortunately he let me down, he said a spider had bitten his hand and he was confined to bed,,, (i could just about hear him through the hammering in the background of wherever he was ringing from lol ) he sent a stranger round to give me my money back, and i rarely see the guy anymore.

Does a fair job, a bit slow and likes money up front.

Thanks for the reply, that's very useful.

He's asked for the money to be paid 60% at the start, 20% halfway through, and 20% at the end. That didn't seem unreasonable to me, though obviously like most farangs I would prefer to pay a small deposit and then the balance when the job is completed to my satisfaction. He's not going to be doing much of the work himself as it will mainly involve heavy labour digging and excavating. He came once with a couple of Thai labourers who I assume will do the job as sub-contractors. He's supposed to come along every day and check what they are doing, and supervise the critical parts like making sure the slope of the new drain is right. So maybe the fact that he's usually got several jobs going at once and so is unreliable may not be such a huge issue? I'd still prefer somebody that I could depend on, though.

[Guderian]

Thanks for the effort, but that's a different Ek (or Eck, or whatever). The guy mentioned in that thread is a short Indian-looking man, whereas this Ek is taller than me (I'm 5 ft 8 '', so quite tall by Thai standards), and he's definitely not got any Indian features.

I think it is the same person or the same person that I used -- about 5'8" or 9", drives (or drove about 1 year ago) an older, red suv type vehicle. I would also not describe him as having Indian features, but I can see how someone else would -- he has a somewhat darker complexion, and, as I recall, he lived in the Theppasit Road area (south of Pattaya Tai). I got his name from someone on TV, so I believe he has done work for several of the TV posters. Many of the earlier posters were pleased with his work. As I said in my earlier posts, I believe that, because he works alone, he spreads his time among his customers. He doesn't turn down work, and some new work may be especially time sensitive (broken pipe, leaking roof, etc.) and he may be paid a premium for it. So, if he gets work like that and is in the middle of your job, you may just sit and wait and not see him for a week or more. If you can live with that (with the work in my kitchen, I could not), he may be fine for you.

As I said, I was very pleased with the work he did. I fired him because he was unreliable. And what everyone else says about Eck fits him to a tee -- he presses to be paid every few days; when I fired him (over the phone because he hadn't show up for a week), I didn't owe him 1 Baht. If you can get him to stay on the work until it is complete, you will be pleased with his work. This may not be an easy task.

Thanks for the information.

I'm still not 100% certain that we are talking about the same guy as on the 3 or 4 occasions that he has visited my house he's turned up on a motorbike, never in a car or SUV. That doesn't mean that he doesn't drive one, of course.

As I mentioned in my reply to pattaya_girl above, the job will mainly involve lots of heavy work which I believe he will sub-contract out. I'd hope that the sub-contractors will be more reliable, but I've no way of knowing that. While I'd obviously like to get the job finished in one go, I could live with a week or so of delay. It will only mean that the back and sides of my house are a mess for a bit longer than they will otherwise be, but that's not going to worry me too much. I just want to job finished before the rains start again, let's say by May. Maybe because he will be farming out the bulk of the work he hasn't asked for money to be paid regularly, but on a 60%-20%-20% schedule at the start, midway through, and at the end of the job. So if he does mess me around too much then I will at least have the final 20% still in my pocket.

I must admit that I'm a bit concerned by the replies, but it's not easy finding someone who is interested in doing this sort of work. I found one farang builder who wasn't very keen as he prefers to do big jobs (like building a house from scratch), but he would do it at around double the price being asked by Ek.

Can anyone recommend another builder who'd be interested in doing this sort of medium-sized job (it should take around 2 to 3 weeks according to the estimates I have had)?

[pattaya_girl]

Ek told me to pay him the same way as you said, but when the job was underway, he said he could not carry on,

without the last 20% payment, which meant there was nothing left for him when he finished.

I really do think we are talking about the same guy, he drives a maroon colored oldish vehicle and also sometimes an

old motorcycle. His wife runs a language school.

Good luck with what you decide, I am still on the lookout for good reliable builders, i have a few jobs need doing, so

if you find anyone else, please share

[Payboy]

Not sure about EK.

I used a fella called ET once but he was a little wierd.

I have used him too. Every 10mins he took a break to call home.

[simple1]

OP Just sent you a PM as some of my Thai family have just completed a similar job for me & all good. Also they have references from other Westerners who I introduced for whom they have completed house painting jobs. They are now being contacted by other local expats for work so must be doing a good job. However you would need to have someone who can communicate your requirements in Thai

[Guderian]

Ek told me to pay him the same way as you said, but when the job was underway, he said he could not carry on,

without the last 20% payment, which meant there was nothing left for him when he finished.

I really do think we are talking about the same guy, he drives a maroon colored oldish vehicle and also sometimes an

old motorcycle. His wife runs a language school.

Good luck with what you decide, I am still on the lookout for good reliable builders, i have a few jobs need doing, so

if you find anyone else, please share

It probably is the same guy, he turns up here on an old motorbike. How far into the job did he ask for the last 20%? If he's so busy then he must have plenty of money and so he should be able to afford to fund the remaining work out of his own pocket, until the job is complete and you would then pay him as agreed.

[Thailaw]

Ek told me to pay him the same way as you said, but when the job was underway, he said he could not carry on,

without the last 20% payment, which meant there was nothing left for him when he finished.

I really do think we are talking about the same guy, he drives a maroon colored oldish vehicle and also sometimes an

old motorcycle. His wife runs a language school.

Good luck with what you decide, I am still on the lookout for good reliable builders, i have a few jobs need doing, so

if you find anyone else, please share

I am sure that Pattaya Girl and I are talking about the same man -- no question. I think that the OP is also, but cannot say 100%. The "Khun Eck" that did my work has/had a mobile phone number with 17189 as the last 5 digits. For outside work, where time is not a major issue, I think that Eck is an ok choice. His work is good and his price is better than most. There is also a guy, Khun Mot (0861134094), that does the same kind of jobs, with a crew of 5 helpers, and is much more reliable that Eck, but also a lot more expensive. You can bargain with him, but he is still more than Eck. I would try to get the key points clear and agreed up front, and hold back as much of the payment as you can until the job is done. Eck, in my view, is honest, just not reliable, and cannot manage his work load. This may just be "the Thai way".

[Guderian]

. The "Khun Eck" that did my work has/had a mobile phone number with 17189 as the last 5 digits.

Yes, that's his phone number, thanks for clarifying that, Thailaw. Thanks also for your opinion. He will have some three months to do the job, so a delay of a week or whatever doesn't much matter. It sounds from what pattaya_girl posted that the trick will be to keep the final 20% in my pocket as a bargaining chip to make sure that he finishes the work properly. I wonder how I can do that?

[pattaya_girl]

Ek told me to pay him the same way as you said, but when the job was underway, he said he could not carry on,

without the last 20% payment, which meant there was nothing left for him when he finished.

I really do think we are talking about the same guy, he drives a maroon colored oldish vehicle and also sometimes an

old motorcycle. His wife runs a language school.

Good luck with what you decide, I am still on the lookout for good reliable builders, i have a few jobs need doing, so

if you find anyone else, please share

It probably is the same guy, he turns up here on an old motorbike. How far into the job did he ask for the last 20%? If he's so busy then he must have plenty of money and so he should be able to afford to fund the remaining work out of his own pocket, until the job is complete and you would then pay him as agreed.

My job was 190.000 bt, he got 50 up front, then he asked for approx 25.000 every few days, he had most of his wages only after a couple of weeks, he was on my place for 6 weeks, i was under the impression he would bring a gang of workers, but when i asked him why was he doing it alone, he told me they had all been arrested, so i had to rent a room as it took him 6 weeks to complete.

I think some days he was doing other jobs as not much work got done on the few occasions, i had to tell him that i had to move back, i cannot be renting a room for longer than 6 weeks. I would have considered using him again, but the "spider bit his hand" excuse put me off him after all the money he had out of me previously.

[Guderian]

Ek told me to pay him the same way as you said, but when the job was underway, he said he could not carry on,

without the last 20% payment, which meant there was nothing left for him when he finished.

I really do think we are talking about the same guy, he drives a maroon colored oldish vehicle and also sometimes an

old motorcycle. His wife runs a language school.

Good luck with what you decide, I am still on the lookout for good reliable builders, i have a few jobs need doing, so

if you find anyone else, please share

It probably is the same guy, he turns up here on an old motorbike. How far into the job did he ask for the last 20%? If he's so busy then he must have plenty of money and so he should be able to afford to fund the remaining work out of his own pocket, until the job is complete and you would then pay him as agreed.

My job was 190.000 bt, he got 50 up front, then he asked for approx 25.000 every few days, he had most of his wages only after a couple of weeks, he was on my place for 6 weeks, i was under the impression he would bring a gang of workers, but when i asked him why was he doing it alone, he told me they had all been arrested, so i had to rent a room as it took him 6 weeks to complete.

I think some days he was doing other jobs as not much work got done on the few occasions, i had to tell him that i had to move back, i cannot be renting a room for longer than 6 weeks. I would have considered using him again, but the "spider bit his hand" excuse put me off him after all the money he had out of me previously.

Sorry to hear that you got messed about by him, but you don't sound too unhappy with his work, just with his unreliability. He does seem to spend a lot of time on the phone, but I've no idea if he is talking to family or customers. Renting a room for that length of time adds quite a bit to the cost and a heck of a lot to the frustration, I'm sure.

My friend who originally recommended Ek has been very helpful. We've put together a list of exactly what needs to be done and gone through it with Ek, so I think we're all clear on what the job entails. This list includes the 60%-20%-20% payment schedule. If he demanded the last 20% before the end of the job, I wonder what I would do? As that's probably his profit margin, he shouldn't need it before the job is finished. OTOH, if there was still a lot of concrete and rebar to be put in place, then it would be harder to argue that he doesn't need the money.

[pattaya_girl]

Ek told me to pay him the same way as you said, but when the job was underway, he said he could not carry on,

without the last 20% payment, which meant there was nothing left for him when he finished.

I really do think we are talking about the same guy, he drives a maroon colored oldish vehicle and also sometimes an

old motorcycle. His wife runs a language school.

Good luck with what you decide, I am still on the lookout for good reliable builders, i have a few jobs need doing, so

if you find anyone else, please share

It probably is the same guy, he turns up here on an old motorbike. How far into the job did he ask for the last 20%? If he's so busy then he must have plenty of money and so he should be able to afford to fund the remaining work out of his own pocket, until the job is complete and you would then pay him as agreed.

My job was 190.000 bt, he got 50 up front, then he asked for approx 25.000 every few days, he had most of his wages only after a couple of weeks, he was on my place for 6 weeks, i was under the impression he would bring a gang of workers, but when i asked him why was he doing it alone, he told me they had all been arrested, so i had to rent a room as it took him 6 weeks to complete.

I think some days he was doing other jobs as not much work got done on the few occasions, i had to tell him that i had to move back, i cannot be renting a room for longer than 6 weeks. I would have considered using him again, but the "spider bit his hand" excuse put me off him after all the money he had out of me previously.

Sorry to hear that you got messed about by him, but you don't sound too unhappy with his work, just with his unreliability. He does seem to spend a lot of time on the phone, but I've no idea if he is talking to family or customers. Renting a room for that length of time adds quite a bit to the cost and a heck of a lot to the frustration, I'm sure.

My friend who originally recommended Ek has been very helpful. We've put together a list of exactly what needs to be done and gone through it with Ek, so I think we're all clear on what the job entails. This list includes the 60%-20%-20% payment schedule. If he demanded the last 20% before the end of the job, I wonder what I would do? As that's probably his profit margin, he shouldn't need it before the job is finished. OTOH, if there was still a lot of concrete and rebar to be put in place, then it would be harder to argue that he doesn't need the money.

One more thing to point out before you go ahead, If he has to buy any floor tiles, or materials,,,, he chooses his own, he was not very keen on me choosing anything actually, so if you need to choose anything, sort it out between him beforehand.

After i gave him the first payment, he gave me a signed contract, the contract got kind of forgotten about as the last payment, he said he could not continue without it, he said he needed it to buy materials.

Like I said earlier, his work was fair, i was happy with it, but the few little teething problems later on, he didn't really want to know.......

Good luck.

[pattaya_girl]

PS If he starts giving you the old story that he is broke and has no petrol to get to work, or he under quoted you, just ignore him, that is what i learnt to do over the 6 weeks.

[Guderian]

One more thing to point out before you go ahead, If he has to buy any floor tiles, or materials,,,, he chooses his own, he was not very keen on me choosing anything actually, so if you need to choose anything, sort it out between him beforehand.

After i gave him the first payment, he gave me a signed contract, the contract got kind of forgotten about as the last payment, he said he could not continue without it, he said he needed it to buy materials.

Like I said earlier, his work was fair, i was happy with it, but the few little teething problems later on, he didn't really want to know.......

Good luck.

He made it clear to me that the price included everything except the tiles. I would have to buy those myself, so that seems fair enough. I'm not clear who will do the tiling though, himself or will he sub-contract that? By the sound of things it would be better to let him arrange for someone else to do the tiling. I'll check that with him.

I'll keep in mind what you said about him begging for money, too, if I decide to use him. My friend seems to have known him quite a long time, so maybe there's a issue of him losing face if he tries to screw me?

[pattaya_girl]

I am not so keen on the guy, but i will say that he is honest in the respect that you can leave him at your house and he will not steal anything, just not very reliable.

[Thailaw]

....... My friend who originally recommended Ek has been very helpful. We've put together a list of exactly what needs to be done and gone through it with Ek, so I think we're all clear on what the job entails. This list includes the 60%-20%-20% payment schedule. If he demanded the last 20% before the end of the job, I wonder what I would do? As that's probably his profit margin, he shouldn't need it before the job is finished. OTOH, if there was still a lot of concrete and rebar to be put in place, then it would be harder to argue that he doesn't need the money.

Unless the up-front payment can be justified to pay for materials, 60% is, I think, much too much. I would normally pay up to 40% up-front to cover the cost of about 1/2 of the required materials, and then let progress payments cover the additional material costs and labor. Obviously, it depends on how long the work will take, but if it is more than 3 weeks, I would offer 40 up-front and then 20-20-20 at the end of each one-third's progress. I agreed a price for Eck's work and agreed to pay for all materials when purchased on the basis of receipts. This is how I always have work done, as I don't want contractors going for cheap parts and materials to increase their profit margin. Most of the materials he used came from Hafele, and I was fine with that. After the work started, Eck pressed for payments every few days ("I need B4,000"; "I need B2,000 for gas", etc.) that seemed to be pretty close to the portion of the agreed price for the work done thus far. I never felt that he asked for payment in excess of the work he had done. These guys are small independent contractors, and it is hard (at least for me) to say "no" when he says "I need B.........", and the work has been done that reasonably reflects that effort. In hindsight, I should have refused some of his requests and given him a stronger financial incentive to stay on the job and finish the work. He had no financial risk/loss from walkig away. In fact, he may have had similar experiences with unhappy customers in the past and has adopted this approach to shield himself from any potential loss. I would tell him in absolute clear terms that, regardless of his needs, you are holding [x]% of the total payment until the work is finished to you satisfaction. I might also tell him that there was a B2,500 (or more depending on the size of the project) bonus at your discretion for good work finished on schedule.

[Guderian]

....... My friend who originally recommended Ek has been very helpful. We've put together a list of exactly what needs to be done and gone through it with Ek, so I think we're all clear on what the job entails. This list includes the 60%-20%-20% payment schedule. If he demanded the last 20% before the end of the job, I wonder what I would do? As that's probably his profit margin, he shouldn't need it before the job is finished. OTOH, if there was still a lot of concrete and rebar to be put in place, then it would be harder to argue that he doesn't need the money.

Unless the up-front payment can be justified to pay for materials, 60% is, I think, much too much. I would normally pay up to 40% up-front to cover the cost of about 1/2 of the required materials, and then let progress payments cover the additional material costs and labor. Obviously, it depends on how long the work will take, but if it is more than 3 weeks, I would offer 40 up-front and then 20-20-20 at the end of each one-third's progress. I agreed a price for Eck's work and agreed to pay for all materials when purchased on the basis of receipts. This is how I always have work done, as I don't want contractors going for cheap parts and materials to increase their profit margin. Most of the materials he used came from Hafele, and I was fine with that. After the work started, Eck pressed for payments every few days ("I need B4,000"; "I need B2,000 for gas", etc.) that seemed to be pretty close to the portion of the agreed price for the work done thus far. I never felt that he asked for payment in excess of the work he had done. These guys are small independent contractors, and it is hard (at least for me) to say "no" when he says "I need B.........", and the work has been done that reasonably reflects that effort. In hindsight, I should have refused some of his requests and given him a stronger financial incentive to stay on the job and finish the work. He had no financial risk/loss from walkig away. In fact, he may have had similar experiences with unhappy customers in the past and has adopted this approach to shield himself from any potential loss. I would tell him in absolute clear terms that, regardless of his needs, you are holding [x]% of the total payment until the work is finished to you satisfaction. I might also tell him that there was a B2,500 (or more depending on the size of the project) bonus at your discretion for good work finished on schedule.

He reckons that the job should take about 2 weeks, which is similar to what the farang builder told me. So if I reckon on 3 weeks that should cover it. The bonus is a good idea, I'll have to think about that one. I've got a couple of other medium-sized jobs I'd like to have done over the next year, and so I was hoping that the prospect of getting these may work as an incentive to do a good job on the drain. But if he's constantly busy with more jobs than he can properly manage, then maybe that idea won't work?

I see your pint about paying for the materials, especially if you're having work done inside the house or anything with a decorative finish. In this case, though, apart from the tiles which I will buy the only materials are concrete, steel rebar, and PVC drainpipe, so I'm happy to let him sort that out.