land for building house. Geological survey?

[Awk]

Hi. We've been looking around the last few months for either a house, or land to build house on, and have now found what looks like a nice plot of land.

I wonder if any members can recommend some competent people/businesses who can help us evaluate how well the land is suited for building a house?

[slapout]

first stop is to pick up a flood plane map from the local ampur for the area, then look at zoning (ampur has access to this also) for the area of intrest. water, electric avaliablity, airport, schools hospital, temple near by etc.

good luck

[Awk]

first stop is to pick up a flood plane map from the local ampur for the area, then look at zoning (ampur has access to this also) for the area of intrest. water, electric avaliablity, airport, schools hospital, temple near by etc.

good luck

Thank you for the tips. Hopefully I will in the not to distant future be asking for tips on a good building crew. :-)

[jij]

you might find this a helpful site: www.coolthaihouse.com

[Dante99]

One very smart Thai friend said you have to sleep at the land plot for a week or so to find out how night noise is. Best if you can spread the 7 nights out over a month. Sleep in your car or a tent. He even did this when buying in a gated community.

[BB1955]

When ur ready to build in box me . If your near Hang dong I can put you in touch with a good builder that will not fleece u and does quality work. We finished our house 2 years ago bery pleased.

[golubchik]

When ur ready to build in box me . If your near Hang dong I can put you in touch with a good builder that will not fleece u and does quality work. We finished our house 2 years ago bery pleased.

I'm in the same boat, but still looking for land, so probably about a year away from building. I hope to get 1.5-2 rai and build two Thai-style houses next to each other but modified with roof overhang for large porch/veranda areas, plus western kitchen and nice bathrooms and some functional windows with built in screens. From what I've read and from my experience getting my condo reno'd, I am expecting a bit of a nightmare experience during construction so want to control that as much as possible.

[monkeycountry]

first stop is to pick up a flood plane map from the local ampur for the area, then look at zoning (ampur has access to this also) for the area of intrest. water, electric avaliablity, airport, schools hospital, temple near by etc.

good luck

Don't need a map for flood part in many cases. Simply look aropund and see if your house is higher or lower than the general area (won't work if the whole area is completely flat of course. Then check the neighbouring houses. If they have been flooded in recent years some of them will still have traces of a flood line on the walls, if that line is higher than the ground level of your house, then stay away. If none of the above works, then yes, get a map.

Edited January 16, 2015 by monkeycountry

[monkeycountry]

One very smart Thai friend said you have to sleep at the land plot for a week or so to find out how night noise is. Best if you can spread the 7 nights out over a month. Sleep in your car or a tent. He even did this when buying in a gated community.

Good idea, except you cannot predict future noise, as some guy found out the other day when he wrote here on TV that his new neighbour had opened a cock fighting arena in the garden

[LNKDES1]

For me, the very first thing I would look at is the type of title on the land. Obviously the land will be put in your wife's/g/f's name. Personally, I wouldn't even consider buying any land if the title were not Chanote or Nor Sor Sam. Due diligence pays for itself.

[KhnomKhnom]

I see by your message that you like trouble, frustration, and nightly headaches. Reading between your lines, I sense a worry wart personality that has strong control freak flare- ups.

You will never be able to prepare for everything even tho you will need to ..... in the case of open land... example, do you read and speak
Thai? Do you have a very cooperative Thai wife to front your needs to other Thai? Does she know good building practices so not fooled?

Thai, in general, do not sweat the stuff you are doing. Thai build their house near where they already know the lay of the land and services there, the neighbors and their habits, and the land office personnel, already well lubed.

My advice... make a drawing of what you want and then wait until either your Thai wife gets it done... or someone she puts in charge of getting it done. Then YOU move in, brag on how great it is...regardless... and learn to live with it all quickly and RELAX.

This is why guys like me can run a happy photo of a marriage to a Thai woman; that is not me but my spirit. We foreigners must learn to put most matters into HER hands.

[Dante99]

One very smart Thai friend said you have to sleep at the land plot for a week or so to find out how night noise is. Best if you can spread the 7 nights out over a month. Sleep in your car or a tent. He even did this when buying in a gated community.

Good idea, except you cannot predict future noise, as some guy found out the other day when he wrote here on TV that his new neighbour had opened a cock fighting arena in the garden

Correct, you can not predict future noise or future anything so what is the point?

Do nothing about due diligence?

Do not buy, rent only so you can run?

Live in fear of the future because it is a big scary unknown?

What?

[wowfactor10]

Land and house?

Under the current old fashioned criminal Thai law foreigners in Thailand can certainly pay for any land however you will never own or control that land...

So in case you like to donate your investment over to your wife go for it.I sure have many nice land plots out there..

If that is not your plan then better start looking for condos freehold and can in the name of the person who puts the money on the table !

[wowfactor10]

I see by your message that you like trouble, frustration, and nightly headaches. Reading between your lines, I sense a worry wart personality that has strong control freak flare- ups.

You will never be able to prepare for everything even tho you will need to ..... in the case of open land... example, do you read and speak

Thai? Do you have a very cooperative Thai wife to front your needs to other Thai? Does she know good building practices so not fooled?

Thai, in general, do not sweat the stuff you are doing. Thai build their house near where they already know the lay of the land and services there, the neighbors and their habits, and the land office personnel, already well lubed.

My advice... make a drawing of what you want and then wait until either your Thai wife gets it done... or someone she puts in charge of getting it done. Then YOU move in, brag on how great it is...regardless... and learn to live with it all quickly and RELAX.

This is why guys like me can run a happy photo of a marriage to a Thai woman; that is not me but my spirit. We foreigners must learn to put most matters into HER hands.

Sure dude...Whatever you say... Its good that you feel happy to continue putting all your matters in her hands.. (Am curious to see what that attitude will bring for you in couple of years)..For the moment your only matter to be occupied with is the financing. (lucky you)

[bitcoinbob]

find a house you like or as similar to what you want contact the owner ask about the builder if positive use that builder. you want to find a build who has the skill set you want to build your house. very hard even with plans and models for the builders here to build outside of there skill set. electricity and plumbling are the 2 things to check in the house you like most-see how the builder did there in the house you like, likely a thai <deleted> job , and roofing all places where you have to watch carefully. good luck i built here 12 years ago still standing , one major flood 5 tremors. would never do it again. built 10 houses in the u.s. for the hassle this one house was. good luck --- rent

[Awk]

Land and house?

Under the current old fashioned criminal Thai law foreigners in Thailand can certainly pay for any land however you will never own or control that land...

So in case you like to donate your investment over to your wife go for it.I sure have many nice land plots out there..

If that is not your plan then better start looking for condos freehold and can in the name of the person who puts the money on the table !

Actually I am planing to put the land in the dogs name.

To all most some of the other members: many thanks. One respectable member messaged me in private that he hopes to find the contact info for somebody who can examine the soil properly, having previously having had that done himself. In case he does not manage to find that info, contact info from other members would sure be appreciated, if anyone has it.

Thanks.

[wowfactor10]

I not sure if that is possible it probably will depend on what breed your dog is

Enjoy your donation anyway

[Awk]

To all most some of the other members: many thanks. One respectable member messaged me in private that he hopes to find the contact info for somebody who can examine the soil properly, having previously having had that done himself. In case he does not manage to find that info, contact info from other members would sure be appreciated, if anyone has it.

Thanks.

Fortunately the info from the previously mentioned highly respected member still worked, though the company had changed name.

Price was a bit more than I hoped, quoted at 15,000B per drilling, and with at least two drillings at different places recommended. So that's something I will put of for last, when everything else, which can be checked much cheaper, has been found to be in proper order. That being mainly connecting to the power grid, water, access to land, and land papers of course. The latter appears to be mostly in order, but one small section at the end of one side, which I at first thought was not part of the plot, is supposedly part of the plot, but with "no paper".

I am assured by the Thais involved none of this will be any problem, not even the paper-less land, but being a worry wart personality that has strong control freak flare- ups (thanks for that free diagnosis. Was worth every penny), Mrs. Awk will have to check this for herself with the relevant departments, hopefully getting a written quote too if that is possible. While the land area without paper is not a deal-breaker if not included, I cannot imagine paying any money for that land either. Hopefully it will be possible to get papers for that section also without too much cost.

A worry is also flooding, and the dirt road that provides access to the land. I might have to exchange the Bentley for a 4wd pickup, as strongly recommended by the neighbour who could not imagine us accessing the land during the rain season with our current mode of transportation.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

[Beetlejuice]

Land and house?

Under the current old fashioned criminal Thai law foreigners in Thailand can certainly pay for any land however you will never own or control that land...

So in case you like to donate your investment over to your wife go for it.I sure have many nice land plots out there..

If that is not your plan then better start looking for condos freehold and can in the name of the person who puts the money on the table !

Actually I am planing to put the land in the dogs name.

To all most some of the other members: many thanks. One respectable member messaged me in private that he hopes to find the contact info for somebody who can examine the soil properly, having previously having had that done himself. In case he does not manage to find that info, contact info from other members would sure be appreciated, if anyone has it.

Thanks.

Illegal in Thailand. Do your research.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I think you only really need to do something of a geological survey when building in iffy spots, such as in mountains and near rivers and streams. Most typically when you buy around 2 rai it'll be farm land (and then rice, most likely), which is intended to be flooded when growing rice. So again most typically that means raising the land with some landfill, not necessarily all 2 rais of it but mostly the area where you actually intend to build.

That landfill then needs to settle in and compact (a year or so), then you can build.

All the other points made above regarding flooding, electricity, noise etc. are also very valid. I would add weather/sunshine to that: it's good to position the house so the right areas are shaded in the afternoon heat, and with airflow in mind in the prevailing wind direction in the rainy season.

Edited January 18, 2015 by WinnieTheKhwai

[evenstevens]

. That being mainly connecting to the power grid, water, access to land, and land papers of course. The latter appears to be mostly in order, but one small section at the end of one side, which I at first thought was not part of the plot, is supposedly part of the plot, but with "no paper".

I am assured by the Thais involved none of this will be any problem, not even the paper-less land, but being a worry wart personality that has strong control freak flare- ups (thanks for that free diagnosis. Was worth every penny), Mrs. Awk will have to check this for herself with the relevant departments, hopefully getting a written quote too if that is possible. While the land area without paper is not a deal-breaker if not included, I cannot imagine paying any money for that land either. Hopefully it will be possible to get papers for that section also without too much cost.

without seeing any pics,and at this point of time a couple posts which really has nt supplied sufficient info for any good advice to be given in confidence

but reading in between lines, and from first hand experience , spotted a couple of red flags

land papers that u have been given,can be checked out at your local lands dept,and at the same time it is imperative to find out the full guts of the little section of the land,at this dept

its fine to listen to the thais involved, but this part of your deal ,may have have dired influences down the track,make it a number one priorty that this red flag is taken care of

and access problems is another red flag, just saying i get a 4 w/d to cover this achilles heel .I.M.O . is not good enuff

perhaps u can use this as a bartering chip, to get a lower price on your deal,and the savings can be tossed into addressing the access problems

be very interested on what the land papers are??, as they would be on top of my list, before any negotions were to be continued

its a brilliant chelsea good morning to all

Edited January 18, 2015 by evenstevens

[Awk]

Thanks for the interest. The main plot of the land has a proper paper (Chanote/Nor Sor 4), and is in a fairly even rectangular shape. The land without paper is a small plot extending on one side, which I think is of little consequence, except that I am not interested in paying anything extra for it, and as far as I am concerned, is not part of the deal.

Aside from that I think we have to be extra careful here, as the land has apparently been for sale for many years already, yet it looks like quite a good deal to me, so I am not sure why nobody has snapped it up before. When we visited again yesterday, we also saw a Thai couple looking at it.

The land is a bit out in the wilderness, and as-is I can understand that not everybody may want to stay there. One of the neighbours paid a very hefty sum in order to get electricity and water (a well was the only option at that time, but he thinks that particular aspect may have improved recently). Also not yet sure who owns the dirt-road used to access this plot, and the 2-3 surrounding plots. Mrs. Awk says "nobody" owns it, but I can't imagine that is correct. Hopefully we will get some more answers next week as she starts visiting the various governmental offices, and the dirt road will turn out to be government owned.

With the land not being the regular moo ban plot surrounded by countless other houses, where one can at least assume that everything important is in order, and it already having been for sale for a while with no buyer, I think it will also be important to, once Mrs. Awk to the best of her abilities, has determined everything seems to be in order, including that connecting to electricity and city water is not cost prohibitive, have a decent lawyer review everything again.

I have not previously had a good reason to contact a lawyer, but many here seem to recommend a particular lawyer at 29 Tanin, so will try her first, unless others have some other recommendations.

[Beetlejuice]

Thanks for the interest. The main plot of the land has a proper paper (Chanote/Nor Sor 4), and is in a fairly even rectangular shape. The land without paper is a small plot extending on one side, which I think is of little consequence, except that I am not interested in paying anything extra for it, and as far as I am concerned, is not part of the deal.

Aside from that I think we have to be extra careful here, as the land has apparently been for sale for many years already, yet it looks like quite a good deal to me, so I am not sure why nobody has snapped it up before. When we visited again yesterday, we also saw a Thai couple looking at it.

The land is a bit out in the wilderness, and as-is I can understand that not everybody may want to stay there. One of the neighbours paid a very hefty sum in order to get electricity and water (a well was the only option at that time, but he thinks that particular aspect may have improved recently). Also not yet sure who owns the dirt-road used to access this plot, and the 2-3 surrounding plots. Mrs. Awk says "nobody" owns it, but I can't imagine that is correct. Hopefully we will get some more answers next week as she starts visiting the various governmental offices, and the dirt road will turn out to be government owned.

With the land not being the regular moo ban plot surrounded by countless other houses, where one can at least assume that everything important is in order, and it already having been for sale for a while with no buyer, I think it will also be important to, once Mrs. Awk to the best of her abilities, has determined everything seems to be in order, including that connecting to electricity and city water is not cost prohibitive, have a decent lawyer review everything again.

I have not previously had a good reason to contact a lawyer, but many here seem to recommend a particular lawyer at 29 Tanin, so will try her first, unless others have some other recommendations.

Are you aware of these facts?

A farang may own the following types of properties:

1) a condominium.

2) a house as a structure, having no interest on the land on which it sits

3) one rai (or less) of land, provided at least 40 million baht is brought into the country, and permission is obtained from the Minister of the Interior.

4) If purchase of the land is bought under a registered company that meets all the imposed requirements of the foreigner business and company acts.

[evenstevens]

Thanks for the interest. The main plot of the land has a proper paper (Chanote/Nor Sor 4), and is in a fairly even rectangular shape. The land without paper is a small plot extending on one side, which I think is of little consequence, except that I am not interested in paying anything extra for it, and as far as I am concerned, is not part of the deal.

your peice of dirt being channote title deed,is the royal flush amongst land titles ,and u are only owning and paying for, what is stated on the deed,not a bit more

the plot of land without title,could possibly be a govt easement,which is common out in the boonies

let mrs awk, do her homework at the lands dept ETC ETC ,where all your questions can be certainly be answered accuratley,without seeking a lawyer who will only confirm what mrs awk has found out

not to mentioned added costs, pay careful diligeince to the access of your intended property,any red flags in this dept, dont walkaway..RUN..

its a gunners good morning to all

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The land is a bit out in the wilderness, and as-is I can understand that not everybody may want to stay there. One of the neighbours paid a very hefty sum in order to get electricity and water (a well was the only option at that time, but he thinks that particular aspect may have improved recently). Also not yet sure who owns the dirt-road used to access this plot, and the 2-3 surrounding plots. Mrs. Awk says "nobody" owns it, but I can't imagine that is correct. Hopefully we will get some more answers next week as she starts visiting the various governmental offices, and the dirt road will turn out to be government owned.

• Don't be overly concerned in itself that other people didn't buy it. You have very different requirements to local buyers, who will judge it for example on the availability of water for agriculture, and not -for example- how pretty it is and that it has nice views.
• Electricity availability is important, but this is just a matter of establishing the distance to the nearest connection. Based on that you get a fee that you pay for getting connected. How much your neighbours paid is not relevant, it's relevant how far it is from your land to the neighbours.
• Getting water is a puzzling statement: land in the boonies (or even villages in the boonies) will not have a municipal water supply. In almost all cases this means getting a well, pump, storage tank (on a tower preferably), etc. Ground water access is where the geological survey could come in, though if your land is situated similarly to your neighbours then it will likely be the same in how deep you go to get water.
• Not knowing who owns the road to access the plot however is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR red flag. Please stop doing anything else until you figure this out. First of all figure out if it is a public road or not. Even if it's not then the owner of that land can still guarantee your access (in an official document). Personally though I would want my land to be accessible on a public road, and then ideally with lots of meters facing the road. Public roads also tend to get paved eventually, but if someone else owns that road then they're not required to do anything with it and you don't want to do a 4x4 Camel Trophy trial every time you go to Big C.

With the land not being the regular moo ban plot surrounded by countless other houses, where one can at least assume that everything important is in order, and it already having been for sale for a while with no buyer, I think it will also be important to, once Mrs. Awk to the best of her abilities, has determined everything seems to be in order, including that connecting to electricity and city water is not cost prohibitive, have a decent lawyer review everything again.

I have not previously had a good reason to contact a lawyer, but many here seem to recommend a particular lawyer at 29 Tanin, so will try her first, unless others have some other recommendations.

I would only use a lawyer if you have a legal matter to settle. Looking at your water or electricity supply really isn't a lawyer's job. Possibly obtaining guaranteed road access to your land from a person owning the road/land in front of it would be, though this is also a common transaction.

Either way a lawyer is no substitute for first-hand knowledge when it comes to these matters.

Go figure out if your land has public road access. It matters a lot more than arranging electricity, digging a well or doing geological or legal surveys. I'm guessing actually that it doesn't, or else the chanote document would mention it. And this could actually be the reason others didn't buy it; also for agriculture you want to be able to get your produce out.

Edited January 19, 2015 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Awk]

Are you aware of these facts?

A farang may own the following types of properties:

1) a condominium.

2) a house as a structure, having no interest on the land on which it sits

3) one rai (or less) of land, provided at least 40 million baht is brought into the country, and permission is obtained from the Minister of the Interior.

4) If purchase of the land is bought under a registered company that meets all the imposed requirements of the foreigner business and company acts.

Yes, thank you. Though I am unsure about whether 3) has ever been granted, in the entire lifetime of that law.

[Awk]

The land is a bit out in the wilderness, and as-is I can understand that not everybody may want to stay there. One of the neighbours paid a very hefty sum in order to get electricity and water (a well was the only option at that time, but he thinks that particular aspect may have improved recently). Also not yet sure who owns the dirt-road used to access this plot, and the 2-3 surrounding plots. Mrs. Awk says "nobody" owns it, but I can't imagine that is correct. Hopefully we will get some more answers next week as she starts visiting the various governmental offices, and the dirt road will turn out to be government owned.

• Don't be overly concerned in itself that other people didn't buy it. You have very different requirements to local buyers, who will judge it for example on the availability of water for agriculture, and not -for example- how pretty it is and that it has nice views.
• Electricity availability is important, but this is just a matter of establishing the distance to the nearest connection. Based on that you get a fee that you pay for getting connected. How much your neighbours paid is not relevant, it's relevant how far it is from your land to the neighbours.
• Getting water is a puzzling statement: land in the boonies (or even villages in the boonies) will not have a municipal water supply. In almost all cases this means getting a well, pump, storage tank (on a tower preferably), etc. Ground water access is where the geological survey could come in, though if your land is situated similarly to your neighbours then it will likely be the same in how deep you go to get water.
• Not knowing who owns the road to access the plot however is a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR red flag. Please stop doing anything else until you figure this out. First of all figure out if it is a public road or not. Even if it's not then the owner of that land can still guarantee your access (in an official document). Personally though I would want my land to be accessible on a public road, and then ideally with lots of meters facing the road. Public roads also tend to get paved eventually, but if someone else owns that road then they're not required to do anything with it and you don't want to do a 4x4 Camel Trophy trial every time you go to Big C.

With the land not being the regular moo ban plot surrounded by countless other houses, where one can at least assume that everything important is in order, and it already having been for sale for a while with no buyer, I think it will also be important to, once Mrs. Awk to the best of her abilities, has determined everything seems to be in order, including that connecting to electricity and city water is not cost prohibitive, have a decent lawyer review everything again.

I have not previously had a good reason to contact a lawyer, but many here seem to recommend a particular lawyer at 29 Tanin, so will try her first, unless others have some other recommendations.

I would only use a lawyer if you have a legal matter to settle. Looking at your water or electricity supply really isn't a lawyer's job. Possibly obtaining guaranteed road access to your land from a person owning the road/land in front of it would be, though this is also a common transaction.

Either way a lawyer is no substitute for first-hand knowledge when it comes to these matters.

Go figure out if your land has public road access. It matters a lot more than arranging electricity, digging a well or doing geological or legal surveys. I'm guessing actually that it doesn't, or else the chanote document would mention it. And this could actually be the reason others didn't buy it; also for agriculture you want to be able to get your produce out.

The dirt road that provides access to the land is unfortunately owned by two other owners. Our real estate agent, who I have grown to slightly trust, or at least, not actively distrust any longer, as I would most of his ilk, has had a talk with these owners today. They have said they won't have any problem going with us to the land office, should the day come when we will really buy the land, and officially give us the necessary right of way permission. Them both being relatives of the owner of the land we are looking at, and thus also having his best interests in mind I would hope, this is perhaps true and no problems will unexpectedly materialise on the final day.

It is however an unpleasant and non-trivial complication in my worry wart mind, of course. Nonetheless it seemed to become quickly resolved, at least apparently so, when we said there was no point for us in checking other things before an answer to this problem could be found. As we are told the story, these people have owned this land, divided into several plots, for many, many, generations, and are part of the same family. If so, I can understand that this has never been thought of as a problem before and they think of the dirt-track as a common road for them all.

An immensely better solution, first suggested by our agent, would be if we could purchase the last end of land from one of the two other owners whos plots provide the dirt road used to access the land we are looking at. This would provide much better and more direct access to "our" land, yet constitute a fairly small part of the other plot, and that part being at the very end of the other plot I think. Unfortunately the other owners are not currently interested in selling their land, and if they sell that small plot at the end to us, they might need to get a right of access permission from us instead, to access their own land (not sure, will have to go back and check the land again to see). Not that we will mind providing that access of course, but I can understand that not being in their best interest unless we paid a lot extra for that small plot. Will see how this idea goes.

The problem about electricity is that the closest neighbour paid 1M for it a handfull years back. This was probably mainly because he had to install and purchase his own transformer, for some reason. As I understand it, this should only be necessary if he for some reason was fed high voltage from the power company, rather than the regular low 230 voltage the rest of us are getting in to our house, though I'm not an EE so not sure how this works. Why this was necessary I do not yet know, but it is of course something it is necessary to find out, too see if it will apply to us also.

Unfortunately, this neighbour paid roughly the same amount, 1M, for the water. He naturally indicated the expense would depend much on what quality of water we wanted. I guess the quality of his water is quite good, pumped up from 90 meters and passing through four filters. He thought it may now be possible to connect to city water, as of half a year ago or so, but was not sure, so want to check that also of course.

An additional 2M in costs would change the desirability of this land very much, so I would obviously like to be certain the costs for us will be more reasonable than the costs our possible future neighbour incurred some 5-6 years ago. That, or we may have to live in a large tent on that land for many years to come, while I continue slaving and earning money on various off-shore contracts.

There unfortunately seems to be a fair amount of things to check and verify here, which is one of the reasons we were looking for an already built house initially. The land is however also unusually nice and and well priced, much better than anything else we have seen these last 3-4 months since we started looking. The closest thing we saw before this was a single-floor 3BR house on almost 200 TW, next to a river, located roughly between Central Festival and Promenada. Unfortunately, we would like at least two more bedrooms, otherwise we might have tried for that house. If anybody else might be interested in that house, I can perhaps put you in touch with our agent. Price was about 3.5M.

As a right of access permission now appears to at least be likely, we will continue checking the other things. And since the geological survey I would like to have done, at least on one part of the land (presumably roughly in the middle of where the house will stand), is not exactly free either, right to access can hopefully be formalised before paying for the survey, perhaps as the last step before paying for the land. Unless there is a non-symbolic cost involved in this, I do not see any reason why this can not be formalised as soon as possible, as even if we do not buy the land, other prospective buyers would presumably request it.

Many thanks to you and the other members who have provided insightful comments and suggestions so far. It is much appreciated.

With kind regards, a very novice land-buyer.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

All good points.

One thing though '2M would change the desirability of the land'.. Does that mean that the selling price is sort of up there?

Because from everything you wrote and a little between the lines, it sounds to me like the land shouldn't be more than 250K per rai as a maximum. (And quite possibly less, if you're buying more than a rai or two).

I ask because you said 'change the desirability' instead of "completely rule it out, obviously".

Edited January 20, 2015 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Dante99]

1M baht for electricity plus 1M Baht for water, does this mean 2 Million or 200,000?

You can probably drill a deep well, put in a submersible pump and filters if needed and get a lot of good water for 100,000 to 200,000 depending on depth of the well.

For the access, you can get a legal document prepared that says if you purchase you will get free unlimited access (right to use the road) signed by the road owners before you make a deal. Then the deal should be a legal document that says the purchase will be done at the land office at the same time that your road access rights are registered at the land office. Same time.

[bitcoinbob]

1 million for water and 1 million for electricity for the area you are talking about is all wrong. i ran elecity in doi saket off the grid 10 kilometers cost 25000 baht. i have run elecitry in pai buying second hand electrical cememt polls and rented an off the clock electrical worker with truck for 35000 including second hand cement polls 5 of them . large ones if you pay 1 million you are getting rip off....do not do it there is some much stuff avaiable in the area in chiang mai you are talking about just be patience and look.