A friend of mine is having an extension built to his house and part of the work consists of a bedroom on the front which will incorporate an en suite toilet that will also be at the front of the house

A neighbour of his has told him that Thai's see this is bad luck and he will not be able to sell his home on to a Thai due to this superstition.

Any one (or your partners) heard of this or is it bull****

Both....?

Well I've heard of something similar.

My friend was building a house with the bedrooms upstairs with the entrance doors opening up to the stairway. He was told that was bad luck as the spirts could enter and go straight up the stairs to the bedrooms. The architect told him, it would be difficult to resale to Thais, so the entrance door was moved so that it didn't open up directly to the stairway.

apparently its true

thais, japs and koreans believe that the things that you do in the bathroom that involve waste materials, dirty water etc should be kept well away from the front of the house

And the front door should not be in line with the back door as all your money will flow out of the house.

It's true.

And it's understandable.

How would the OP feel upon entering a house, and hear someone grunting a metre or 2 away.

And the front door should not be in line with the back door as all your money will flow out of the house.

I've heard that one before, but our house, which was built by Thai people for Thai people, has exactly that arrangement.

I've also heard that beds shouldn't face east (not sure exactly how a bed can actually 'face' in one direction or another) but my brother-in-law and my nephew (+ wife and baby) all have beds in that direction, as does their front door.

Anyway, can't you just say that the house faces the other way round? Call the front the back, job done

Believe it or not, all 66+ million Thai people don't think alike. Some may believe certain superstitions and others consider them unimportant.

Some people in the west believe breaking a mirror or walking under a ladder or staying the 13th floor of a building is unlucky, but it would be ridiculous to say that no farang would buy a condo on the 13th floor of a building. This notion that if one or a few Thai people ( or any other people)say or do something it must be true for all Thais ( or all Germans or all Americans) is not an especially intelligent way to think about people.

Any Thai buy a second hand house when they can buy a brand new one for only 30000 cash ? Never heard...

It's all just local superstition innit ?

Until I went to SE Asia I had never been in a multi storey building that had a designated 13th floor ,

Different folks

Different strokes !

Well I've heard of something similar.

My friend was building a house with the bedrooms upstairs with the entrance doors opening up to the stairway. He was told that was bad luck as the spirts could enter and go straight up the stairs to the bedrooms. The architect told him, it would be difficult to resale to Thais, so the entrance door was moved so that it didn't open up directly to the stairway.

Ja nah, those spirits, when they are not messing around with Thai Airways, they are always up for a prank at the house...strange they are using doors and stairways though...

Interesting stuff on here, I'll move to General Forum see what they have to input

Have same in my home, no worries, its all nonsense in my opinion but upto the individual. No one has ever commented about the bedroom at the front though.

Had a nightmare with my mrs as she wouldnt have the bed pointing where the sun goes down! Something about death, they all seem to have one quirk or another, all part of Thailands rich tapestry.

We have many if not all the homes in our area have scarecrow type figures wearing red shirts to keep spirits from stealing the men apparently. Ask me, for many it would be no great loss!

Believing all this nonsense. Bad luck that is.

google "feng shui"

It's not uncommon for people in any culture to have beliefs about physical orientation - think feng shui or the oft-mentioned 13th floor aversion in the West.

Whether there is any substance to the belief does not matter much. You are in Thailand, so it is best to ensure that your property conforms to local expectations. I had to rewire a bedroom in Chaiyaphum because the bed, oriented to properly fit the room size, pointed the "wrong" way, according to local elders. We had to move the bed 90 degrees to satisfy them, and now everyone is happy.

Go ahead and do what is being recommended, Having chosen to live in Thailand, it's a small thing to be in accord with local customs.

Having a bedroom at the front of the house is a bad idea - traffic noise. People entreing the house can hear you on the toilet good idea? There are valid ressons behind Feng Shui.

The Bundy residence in "Married With Children" had the toilet next to the front door.

Each episode featured daddy Al Bundy flushing the toilet loudly and emerging with a constipated face to huge applause. Crappy feng shui (literally) didn't seem to harm the Bundys.

Superstition brings bad luck

And the front door must not be in-line/face with the front gate. I had all that to deal with.

My wife had some beliefs of how a bed should be oriented, and some others that pop-up to a given situation from time to time,

*I may not totally agree with them but I chose to live in Thailand, Thailand did not choose to live with me.

*This is our house and getting along with your wife entails having to compromise, As it is her house also!

*I consider my wife to be my equal and as such, I do not interfere in what she has chosen to believe!

I view my Marriage according to this "

"Never let the situation, mean more than the relationship"

Live and let live,She has always given some of my weird ways the same consideration, as I love and married her for the person she is, and I would not attempt to change that,. Her opinion means more to me than any one else's in my life.

When I chose my wife it was for the right reasons, and it gets better with every passing minute.

Cheers

Well I've heard of something similar.

My friend was building a house with the bedrooms upstairs with the entrance doors opening up to the stairway. He was told that was bad luck as the spirts could enter and go straight up the stairs to the bedrooms. The architect told him, it would be difficult to resale to Thais, so the entrance door was moved so that it didn't open up directly to the stairway.

So they must believe in ghosts, but also believe that ghosts have no sense of direction. Or maybe the ghosts are too lazy to float the extra bit . On second thought, if these are Thai ghosts it makes sense

It is all a load of crap (IMHO).

It was really amusing to see the builders of my house and all the neighbours condemn me n mine for building the kitchen in the front of the house with just a counter top separating the kitchen from the living room.

Nobody had seen anything like it. The kitchen MUST be at the rear of the house, that is how it has always been.

House is built and everyone now in awe at what a great idea it was. The kitchen is now the heart and soul of the house.

And the front door should not be in line with the back door as all your money will flow out of the house.

I've heard that one before, but our house, which was built by Thai people for Thai people, has exactly that arrangement.

I've also heard that beds shouldn't face east (not sure exactly how a bed can actually 'face' in one direction or another) but my brother-in-law and my nephew (+ wife and baby) all have beds in that direction, as does their front door.

Anyway, can't you just say that the house faces the other way round? Call the front the back, job done

Hadn't heard about the bathrooms but ours are all away from the front.

And I heard it is the head of the bed that can't face west ...

The bed pointing the "right" way is a big deal...my mother in law is always on about how I am sleeping in the wrong direction. I just laugh and smile and say I don't mind. We moved it for her once, but then my wife wanted the bed moved back so she moved it. She doesn't seem too concerned about that stuff....but the older folks definitely take it seriously.

I am also supposed to give the plants some of my beer when I crack one open at home, apparently. ^^

Some Chinese issues:

Houses should face South.

Not fourth floors, but 13th floors are OK

No mulberry trees in the front yard

No sharp corners of other buildings pointed at your house

No see through houses - you should not be able to see the back door from the front door

If the bedroom has a outside door, the foot of the bed cannot point at it.

You can't fight them, you just have to go with the flow. But they will jump up and bite you when you least expect it.

Have same in my home, no worries, its all nonsense in my opinion but upto the individual. No one has ever commented about the bedroom at the front though.

Had a nightmare with my mrs as she wouldnt have the bed pointing where the sun goes down! Something about death, they all seem to have one quirk or another, all part of Thailands rich tapestry.

We have many if not all the homes in our area have scarecrow type figures wearing red shirts to keep spirits from stealing the men apparently. Ask me, for many it would be no great loss!

Beds should face North/South not East/West and if your headboard (on the East/West axis) is facing East then that is certainly bad luck. In the house that I rent the headboard is the type fixed to the wall and the wall is on the East side of the house. Our bed now runs North/South with this strange headboard hanging all alone on the East wall.

yes heard similar BS many times.

worst is if you have a owl nest somewhere close to the house.....specially bad luck for the owl as many would kill it to prevent bad luck.

I wanted to make sure I considered my wifes Asian beliefs when we started designing our house. One day while we were walking around our land discussing the layout of the house etc., I asked her where she wanted the "spirit house". She started laughing and said, "I don't believe in all that old superstitious stuff.....better we plant a mango tree."

And the front door should not be in line with the back door as all your money will flow out of the house.

I've heard that one before, but our house, which was built by Thai people for Thai people, has exactly that arrangement.

I've also heard that beds shouldn't face east (not sure exactly how a bed can actually 'face' in one direction or another) but my brother-in-law and my nephew (+ wife and baby) all have beds in that direction, as does their front door.

Anyway, can't you just say that the house faces the other way round? Call the front the back, job done

Hadn't heard about the bathrooms but ours are all away from the front.

And I heard it is the head of the bed that can't face west ...

Head of the bed....ok, I'm calculating it in my head now......and we're fine phew, that was close!

What about the doors? Ours faces East, those on the opposite side of the road......are they in trouble?