35 Degrees

[Rooo]

Any one heard about a meeting today that speculates[/u] that hhouse build over 35 degrees , if finished it's OK but can't sell,if not finished , STOP construction? Sounds like a lt of bull sh....t to me.

Edited July 26, 2006 by Rooo

[Rooo]

By the way that was said at a meeting of ROTARY,who is this idiot spreading these idiotic notions?

TRT , Democrats.? What is a person supposed to do? Bring your money here in good faith,abide by all laws then............

[sbk]

Husband saw it in the Thai paper said he thinks they said if the hill has more than a 35 degree angle it is national park. He said it wasn't really clear either, he didn't really understand what they were trying to say, but the basic idea seemed to be anything more than a 35 degree angle was national park.

He saw it in the paper a few days ago, afraid he can't remember which one. Sorry!

[John 1]

The 35 deg slope, means you can't build a house on land with a slope of more than 35deg, There are some houses in chaweng on a slope more than this, but when you apply for a building permit they don't check, it's the same you should not build closer than 7 meters to the beach and 2 meters from a side boundary. Look around and see how many place violate the rules.

[Rooo]

Can I ask one question,do they seem to make the rules as they go?

[johnb]

Can I ask one question,do they seem to make the rules as they go?

Rooo

Yes TIT

Johnb

[Charma]

Can I ask one question,do they seem to make the rules as they go?

I think the rules are there, but not always followed or enforced. Until that is, some politician decides to make a fuss (possibly to distract attention from something else)!

[sbk]

The 35 deg slope, means you can't build a house on land with a slope of more than 35deg, There are some houses in chaweng on a slope more than this, but when you apply for a building permit they don't check, it's the same you should not build closer than 7 meters to the beach and 2 meters from a side boundary. Look around and see how many place violate the rules.

7m is a new one. It was not in effect when we built our place 17 years ago. And yes, believe it or not, they did come and check! However, we have since had massive beach erosion (thanks to lack of environmental impact studies) after the building of the new harbor in Ban Tai and are much closer to the sea at some times, than even 1m

[johnb]

The 35 deg slope, means you can't build a house on land with a slope of more than 35deg, There are some houses in chaweng on a slope more than this, but when you apply for a building permit they don't check, it's the same you should not build closer than 7 meters to the beach and 2 meters from a side boundary. Look around and see how many place violate the rules.

7m is a new one. It was not in effect when we built our place 17 years ago. And yes, believe it or not, they did come and check! However, we have since had massive beach erosion (thanks to lack of environmental impact studies) after the building of the new harbor in Ban Tai and are much closer to the sea at some times, than even 1m

Sbk

Wow!! - sorry to be nosey - but 1m from the sea - how are you going to prevent more erosion, if thats possible?

Johnb

[sbk]

The 35 deg slope, means you can't build a house on land with a slope of more than 35deg, There are some houses in chaweng on a slope more than this, but when you apply for a building permit they don't check, it's the same you should not build closer than 7 meters to the beach and 2 meters from a side boundary. Look around and see how many place violate the rules.

7m is a new one. It was not in effect when we built our place 17 years ago. And yes, believe it or not, they did come and check! However, we have since had massive beach erosion (thanks to lack of environmental impact studies) after the building of the new harbor in Ban Tai and are much closer to the sea at some times, than even 1m

Sbk

Wow!! - sorry to be nosey - but 1m from the sea - how are you going to prevent more erosion, if thats possible?

Johnb

Beats the heck out of me

We have to apply to the Land dept in order to get permission to restore lost land, believe it or not. And we wouldn't have had the erosion if they had done an environmental impact study before dredging for a harbor and then blocking off the natural flow of the water with coral barriers

[Charma]

Beats the heck out of me

We have to apply to the Land dept in order to get permission to restore lost land, believe it or not. And we wouldn't have had the erosion if they had done an environmental impact study before dredging for a harbor and then blocking off the natural flow of the water with coral barriers

Do you think you will still be around when the sea levels start to rise?

[loiner100]

By the way that was said at a meeting of ROTARY,who is this idiot spreading these idiotic notions?

TRT , Democrats.? What is a person supposed to do? Bring your money here in good faith,abide by all laws then............

From what I heard the 'idiot' is Khun Decha, Chief District Officer of Koh Samui.

Maybe it's about time that laws that were passed over nine years ago were upheld.

He has my support.

[Rooo]

By the way that was said at a meeting of ROTARY,who is this idiot spreading these idiotic notions?

TRT , Democrats.? What is a person supposed to do? Bring your money here in good faith,abide by all laws then............

From what I heard the 'idiot' is Khun Decha, Chief District Officer of Koh Samui.

Maybe it's about time that laws that were passed over nine years ago were upheld.

He has my support.

Why is it then that all building work carried out and approved?Why is the application of the law not taken place?What about all the building going on now ( Farang & Thai properties) ?

If you have a law you make it clear, you don't just let it slide & apply it when you feel like it.

When you set precedents it's very hard to be taken seriously.From my understanding it's all to do with stopping building on mountain side.So if you have a block of land 50 metres above the ring road on a 35Degree angle you can't build?Or do you just do what they did on the new MACRO site & simply cart the hill away?

Edited July 26, 2006 by Rooo

[John 1]

The rules are on the books, but don't forget this is Thailand, when you put a plan in for a house say 2 floors and then when you build it you make it 3 floors, no one checks they don't have building inspectors like in European country's where they inspect at each stage.

Sbk, as for building 7 meters from the beach I think you will find this has been in for over 17 years, don't ask me were to find it but for sure some one will know.

As for erosion yes the boat harbour would have caused some of your problem but I'm sure the local take beach sand to build with and to spread around the house.

[Rooo]

John 1,funny you mention inspections.I have had inspectors out looking at my house ( I have no problems),but they also checked several properties around the place,some with very serious flaws.

All I was trying to point out, is that over the years, there has been GROSS negligence from the relevant departments.Then you have the problems you have now & it snowballs.

Then you have different people again ,pointing out several defficencies in the building code or lack of adherence.

If as Loiner has pointed out,it is the chief district officer of Samui,well his department has a lot to answer for.By just singeling out that rule in a speech to rotary,to serve what end?

They have all the scope to communicate to the expat community through the media.

But guess what,all these interviews with the powers to beare all talk.I guess politicians will be politicians the world over.They like to see their names in print & justify their exixtence.

The right hand don't know what the left is doing & they are all trying to cover their behinds.

How many innocent people have been hurt through the relevant departments not adhering to their policies & letting the wrong doings becoming the norm?

At the end of the day ,yes it is our responsabilty to make sure we all adhere to relevant laws,even if they are not applied.

Edited July 27, 2006 by Rooo

[sbk]

The rules are on the books, but don't forget this is Thailand, when you put a plan in for a house say 2 floors and then when you build it you make it 3 floors, no one checks they don't have building inspectors like in European country's where they inspect at each stage.

Sbk, as for building 7 meters from the beach I think you will find this has been in for over 17 years, don't ask me were to find it but for sure some one will know.

As for erosion yes the boat harbour would have caused some of your problem but I'm sure the local take beach sand to build with and to spread around the house.

Its true, locals have taken some sand but not in the volume we have lost. The problem with the new harbor is that it has changed the way the water flows along the coast. We also have algae problems (and I mean a carpet of algae washing up on the beach) in particularly hot years which we never had before.

As for the 7 meters rule, well, we could have been 7m away when we built, I am not that good at distances

[Jose]

The algae could also be the result of increasing untreated sewerage discharged into the sea, either directly through illegal pipes or from septic tank overflows. Notwithstanding the disrupting effect of the Bantai pier, Coral reef ecosystems such as those found in Bantai/Bankai are very susceptible to pollution damage.

And as from the locals taking sand from the beach, below is an example of (personally witnessed) environmental vandalism:

August 2005.

Workers at First Bay (Bantai, KPG) dig twelve large holes on "their" beach, and use the illegally acquired sand for their bungalow paths (for that "beachy" feeling). Not content with the environmental damage that they've caused, the beach holes are then filled with non-compostable rubbish such as broken cement bricks, plastic and metal.

Granted, they did try to burn some of their beach rubbish, but unfortunately only succeeded in turning the beach sand from pristine white to black.

Kind of gives "Eco-tourism" a new meaning...

jose '-)

[sbk]

So true, jose, but I think he was referring to large scale removal of sand, which, as you have seen the state of our beach, would be required to have the kind of erosion we've seen in the past 5 years.

As for the sewage thing, I think it probably does happen on a small scale but it would be enough to cause algae (esp in high heat with little rain) because the water is no longer circulating.