responsibilities of the people that build villages

[seajae]

not sure where to put this one so will try here.

We just had the area at the back of our house cleared(very tall grass and several trees, swampy) as we were getting snakes coming into our yard. It poured rain a few hours later and I noticed a heap of water coming out of the ground behind our fence, it appears when they built the village they ran all the drains out between our place and our neighbours as the water was gushing out for quite a few hours after the rain stopped.

With all the grass etc we never realized it was happening but it does explain why the fence at that corner if cracking up and possibly why the path around that end of the house is dropping. Wife spoke to the wife of the man who had the village built and she said your problem which we kind of expected but I would like to get a copy of the plans for the house, the land and where all the drains/water pipes are but have been told there are none.

Does anyone know if there is an office etc where these are supposed to be kept or if the person that organizes the building of a village has to follow any regulations about drainage, water etc. I am interested to find out who is responsible for the drains and where they are/empty out as it is outside our boundary but is causing problems to our house/land.

Wife said the builder is wealthy and an important person in the area but that doesnt remove any responsibility as far as I am concerned and if he has cut corners, not followed regulations etc, I want to be able to do something about it, trouble is I have no idea where to start. In Australia you would go to the council but here there are none.

[CharlieH]

Real estate / land ownership is better forum.

There would be a local Amphur that could advise and direct you probably.

MOVED

[seajae]

thanks Charlie, was sure which forum to put it in

[blackcab]

Did you buy your land/build your house before or after the drain was built?

[seajae]

Did you buy your land/build your house before or after the drain was built?

the whole village was built at the same time, the owner of the land back filled it and built all the houses so the drainage system etc was all done under the one person.

[blackcab]

The houses/village should have had a construction permit, and depending on the age of the village an Environmental Impact Assessment might have been done.

The district office might still have copies of the plans used to get construction permission.

If you manage to get copies and you think what has been built was not what was approved then you will have to take the matter to Court.

This recently happened in Bangkok and those protesting won. It took several years to get the judgement however.

In your case, who would the judgement be against? The builders? The architect? The developer? Does the developer still exist? If so does it have any assets? Would it have any assets ato the end of a Court case?

[seajae]

the person is very wealthy and is also a head person locally, he organized and ran everything that happened here. It was around 10 years ago he did it all and our house was one of the last ones built.Hopefully we can get all the paper work but still unsure where to go.

[WorkingTourist]

the person is very wealthy and is also a head person locally, he organized and ran everything that happened here. It was around 10 years ago he did it all and our house was one of the last ones built.Hopefully we can get all the paper work but still unsure where to go.

I assume there is a clause in your sales contract which specify for how long the developer is liable, this is normally five years for condos.

You can argue “hidden damage”, but it’s a hard sell if the drainage system has been used for 10 years without anyone reporting issues.

[NickJ]

Perhaps a gulley could be dug and or the existing drain pipes could be have extra length added to them.

Be real nice, take photos and talk to the big shot and ask him what he thinks should be done. Wouldnt get angry. Couldnt hurt.

[seajae]

was thinking of trying to dig and extend the pipe if possible, at the moment the water comes straight up out of the ground about 1 foot behind the fence but it looks like a 2" pipe size hole its coming from so will have to dig in to find it but need dry weather to do it. Hopefully in the next week or so I can get at it but would really like to have the drainage plans so I can see where the drain pipe is supposed to be.

[seajae]

just had another heavy down pour and it does not start to run out behind out fence till some time after the rain starts. It looks as though the main drain in that runs past our house to the end of the street is blocked below where out drain links to it and as the water backs up it eventually starts to run back through the drain between us and out neighbours house and out at the fence, This would mean it is the ones responsible for keeping the main drain clear that are responsible for it, they did go though the street a while back with a tanker and lifting all the covers and running water through them but maybe they didnt bother to check if they were actually blocked and not simply going into the house drains.

[blackcab]

The other option is that the main drain can not cope with the volume of water flowing into it and the small pipe you refer to is an overflow.

If this is the case there is no easy solution.

You could always install a stop valve on the end of the pipe, close it and see what happens when it rains next time.

[donx]

You could always install a stop valve on the end of the pipe, close it and see what happens when it rains next time.

If you do this then keep an eye on your toilets and shower drains as you may start seeing water backing up out of them.

[seajae]

thought about doing some kind of valve so water can only flow out and not in or can be shut off but would have to dog up the road outside the front fence to do it. Will keep looking to see what I can actually do or who I can contact about it.

[uksomchai]

In your OP you state that you cleared the back of your house of trees and bushes etc. I don't suppose it occurred to you that this act may have brought about the problems you now have ? Just a thought

You will still get snakes regardless as you are in Thailand where they have many unfortunately for you. Most just accept this and let the snakes get on with doing what snakes do which is generally keep down the rats or other snakes

[seajae]

we had it cleared for 5 metres, when you keep finding cobras around the house its a good way to stop it if possible especially when it is the only place they can come from. It did nothing other than let us see all the water that is normally covered by the growth(only vegetation removed), the problem has been there for years(we realized this once it was cleared) but as we were unable to actually see it we didnt realize what was happening or how bad it was. The neighbours young son was also near bitten by a cobra recently which made us all realize we needed to keep the back of our fenced area clear, tree snakes are fine but cobras are not really wanted around the house.

[Langsuan Man]

What you are dealing with is a result of no zoning or land use laws here in Thailand

Yes, the builder had the correct building permits and the Land Office registered the boundaries and chopped up the individual housing lots but I guarantee that there was no environmental impact study done

There were probably no provisions made for the disposal or dispersal of the water runoff that the village caused since, as an influential and powerful land owner, he knows that the only option is for the neighboring land owners is to sue him, thus he has nothing to worry about since time and corruption are on his side

Bottom line in answer to the question posed by this topic, "responsibilities of the people that build villages" ?

They have no responsibilities since the condominium act does not cover them so basically there is a hodge podge of laws, regulations, and procedures that cover these private villages. Without a detailed law there is not much that can be done to enforce common sense

[seajae]

looks like we are going to see some action on this. Over the weekend with the heavy downpours the covered pit in front of our gate stated to back flood as there is obviously a blockage between it and the pit across the road, thing is it also started to flood that house as well and he is a high up ex official. He want impressed to say the least and today was on his way to pay a visit to the right people to get it sorted, just goes to show the common people have no say in the matter, you need rank to be able to have anything done, thank god we have one living near us.

[Langsuan Man]

The owner of the Moo Ban where I live has a house that he is attempting to sell that had a swimming pool started. He contracted with someone to bring in dirt to fill the unfinished pool. The idiot he hired dumped 5 loads of dirt on the soi to hand fill the pool

Well it rained heavily, as it is normal for October in Thailand , and all that dirt in the street caused the drains to clog so the water backed up and eventually it came into my yard and seeking an outlet found an opening under the perimeter wall. This disturbed the wall foundation and the result was that I had to rebuild the wall at a cost of over 200,000 THB

But since he is a high so in the area I could not get a lawyer to take him and his subcontractor to court to recover my loss. Even the local puyaban who owns the land around the development would not suggest a lawyer who would take the case since he has unsuccessfully tangled with the owner in the past

I had a friend tell me that since Thai lawyers will not work on a contingency it would probably cost me 200 K just to get to the third stage of the Thai Civil court system in a couple of years, with no guarantee that I would see a baht

So here is another real life example of the lack of responsibility of the people that build villages

[blackcab]

The owner of the Moo Ban where I live has a house that he is attempting to sell that had a swimming pool started. He contracted with someone to bring in dirt to fill the unfinished pool. The idiot he hired dumped 5 loads of dirt on the soi to hand fill the pool

Well it rained heavily, as it is normal for October in Thailand , and all that dirt in the street caused the drains to clog so the water backed up and eventually it came into my yard and seeking an outlet found an opening under the perimeter wall. This disturbed the wall foundation and the result was that I had to rebuild the wall at a cost of over 200,000 THB

But since he is a high so in the area I could not get a lawyer to take him and his subcontractor to court to recover my loss. Even the local puyaban who owns the land around the development would not suggest a lawyer who would take the case since he has unsuccessfully tangled with the owner in the past

I had a friend tell me that since Thai lawyers will not work on a contingency it would probably cost me 200 K just to get to the third stage of the Thai Civil court system in a couple of years, with no guarantee that I would see a baht

So here is another real life example of the lack of responsibility of the people that build villages

dirt.png

How many meters of wall did you have to replace?

[seajae]

that is what is happening to our back wall in the same place, also the one joining it but not quite as wide cracks as yours(not far from it) but the house is only 1 metre away from it so it is also having problems. We will get the area stabilized to prevent any further damage but need the drain unblocked first, hopefully will happen this week. You are right, we stood no chance of having anything done by ourselves but now it has also effected a high-so/ex official we should be able to get it sorted

[Langsuan Man]

How many meters of wall did you have to replace?

Approximately 22 Meters

[seajae]

well looks like I may have had a win,our neighbour had his mates in the appropriate office come out to inspect the drain today, appears that the drain is supposed to empty out of the street(opposite direction of the actual fall) not into it, the pit outside out house is the "end pit", ie, no drain leading out of it, just in and as they laid the pipes falling towards our house and not away from it, it naturally does not empty at all and floods our house instead(was still full today). They are going to inform the village builder that he must now correct this and put a new drain from our pit to the end of the street so it does drain and not flood our place/use our house drain, he must also correct any damage to either house. Amazing what someone higher up can achieve although saying that it isnt done yet but I an definitely hopeful.