Approx how much to build a house like this in rural Korat

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

From the photo it seems as if you have 18 m2 under roof and enclosed and 18 m2 under roof but open. To be safe I would say it will cost you B 7500 / m2 for the open area = B 135 000 and B 10 000 / m2 for the enclosed area = B 180 000 = total of B 315 000. This exclude any air cons, heaters and any fancy gadgets. It will also depend on from how far you must bring the electricity and water in. I don't know if your land has already been filled or not, but that can be a fair bit of money. How is the flood situation in the area ? If you are flood prone, fill the land and lift the house at least a meter from the ground. Even if not flood prone I will lift the house a meter as this would keep out damp and make termite control easier. Take it from me, if you skimp on building cost now you will pay for it in future.

[AlQaholic]

If you go for cheap roof you can get away with somewhere around 400,000 Baht.

[neutrinou]

Maybe I should precise that out of these 560 000 baht I paid, I gave 145 000 to the workers. The remaining 415 000 bahts I paid was for the materials.

[AlQaholic]

I know of a Thai builder who uses shipping containers are the basic core shell and then finishes them out. If you want his email let me know.

Here is a sample:

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I am not exactly sure of costs, but I think they are likely price competitive due to the structure already being there. For a small 'second' home this might be a good option. I think you can link them together in various configurations to suit your needs/wants.

Disclaimer: I have no interest in this business or product. Just thought it was a great idea.

Completed 20 ft container is quite high. Delivery can be 20 to 40 thousand, so figure about 250,000 on each one. You would need at least two or three. I think building your own steel framed container (if you want to move it later) is cheaper. Knock down metal homes look better.... No matter how simple you go, I cannot see that you can buy or build for less than 500,000. Perhaps a second hand home on property that a Thai owns would be cheapest. Outside of town. Gut it and finish it up new

About 10 years ago I used to buy and sell shipping containers (used) because of projects I was running with shipments coming to Thailand from Europe. the market price then in Thailand was about 25,000-30,000 baht for a 20 foot and 40,000 - 50,000 baht for a 40 foot, depending on conditions. I thought the price wouldn't be much different today considering the market demand for shipping containers would be much lower now than in the past. Anyway I checked on the web, turns out you can get a 20 or 40 foot container for about the same price 50,000 - 60,000 baht. If you buy the containers as local as possible (check with nearby projects or companies that use a lot of containers) I think you can get away with transport cost of about 30,000 baht including loading and unloading.

By the way check out container homes at e-bay, apparently a growing industry in these economically challenged times. You can buy a container home at alibaba for 2800 USD....

[TSF]

From the photo it seems as if you have 18 m2 under roof and enclosed and 18 m2 under roof but open. To be safe I would say it will cost you B 7500 / m2 for the open area = B 135 000 and B 10 000 / m2 for the enclosed area = B 180 000 = total of B 315 000. This exclude any air cons, heaters and any fancy gadgets. It will also depend on from how far you must bring the electricity and water in. I don't know if your land has already been filled or not, but that can be a fair bit of money. How is the flood situation in the area ? If you are flood prone, fill the land and lift the house at least a meter from the ground. Even if not flood prone I will lift the house a meter as this would keep out damp and make termite control easier. Take it from me, if you skimp on building cost now you will pay for it in future.

Many thanks for your reply. Good points about the land & possibilities of flooding. I don't think they have any flood issues there. The land belongs to my Thai wife, she bought it herself long ago and now wants to build a house on it for her future. She has some of the money herself that she has saved up, her mother is giving her a sum and I also will give her a sum. Altogether this will amount to 500,000 THB which is the ballpark figure most posters here have settled on.

Tirak is currently back in Korat visiting family but she'll return in a couple days and I'll discuss the issues you have raised here.

Thanks again, all good points.

[TSF]

If you pay over 300k, you are being ripped off.

Thank you inzman, that's exactly the sort of figure I had in mind and I'd hope to have a house like this built for approx that figure.

I support this, as an accurate "ballpark" figure. Securing the land, and thus procuring peace of mind could be a bit of a challenge though. A suggestion would be to ensure that it is designed in such a way as to be (relatively) easily disassembled and transported elsewhere, just in case. That alone can mitigate a bit of the underlying, often subconscious, anxiety. Best of luck with the project.

Thanks Songlaw, the house will never be transported. The land belongs to my Thai wife, she bought it long ago and now wants to build a small house for her future. It'll be HER place not mine or ours. I'll be helping her with some of the expense but not all of it. To tell the truth I dislike going to her village and only go there 2 or 3 times a year and usually only stay a night or two. If she has stuff to do with her family I usually go into Korat and stay at a hotel, or drive up to Phimai and stay there until she's finished her business. I'm not one of these farang who can live out in the boonies drinking Leo all day...lol

[dirtycash]

quick look . no more than 500-600k . i built a bungalow in isaan 7 years ago for 400k approx and that was with top range c-pac roof tiles, porcalain floor tiles, top of range sink unit and shower wall tiles etc. that was also all building labour work included . the bungalow was 80 sqm.

total price from scratch was approx 400k inc labour, if you pay anymore than 500k for this type of build you are definately being ripped off !!!

* pay for your labour and make a contract from the outset with builders,

* do not pay them more than 20% up front.

* do not buy them beer or whisky every other night .

* make sure your tirak will be responsible and on site every day to oversee building, if you have doubts that she wont then do not build !!

* be there yourself oversee build, make sure all drawings are checked and make sure the builders understand your measurements and styles etc

* go to homepro or homemart etc and buy and pay for all building materials yourself , do not give money to thai builders to buy for you unless on rare occasions where they need to buy more concrete etc in a hurry and make sure they keep you a reciept where you can check how much they ordered etc.

* buy ready concrete ready to pour from the lorry, make sure you get correct amount !! these trucks will try to give you less as they did with me.

* make sure plumber makes all plumbing pipes go downwards into ground where water can be drained away, thai plumbers are renowned for fuking things up !!

cut back on expenses by buying cheaper roof tiles , cheaper water tanks , for septic underground tank just use the concrete pipes and not the expensive plastic types from homepro. many ways you cabn save money on cheaper products.

good luck. but i will guarantee you my lifes savings that you will have many headaches dealing with the build and many fallouts and arguments with your tirak.

[dirtycash]

If you pay over 300k, you are being ripped off.

Thank you inzman, that's exactly the sort of figure I had in mind and I'd hope to have a house like this built for approx that figure.

I support this, as an accurate "ballpark" figure. Securing the land, and thus procuring peace of mind could be a bit of a challenge though. A suggestion would be to ensure that it is designed in such a way as to be (relatively) easily disassembled and transported elsewhere, just in case. That alone can mitigate a bit of the underlying, often subconscious, anxiety. Best of luck with the project.

Thanks Songlaw, the house will never be transported. The land belongs to my Thai wife, she bought it long ago and now wants to build a small house for her future. It'll be HER place not mine or ours. I'll be helping her with some of the expense but not all of it. To tell the truth I dislike going to her village and only go there 2 or 3 times a year and usually only stay a night or two. If she has stuff to do with her family I usually go into Korat and stay at a hotel, or drive up to Phimai and stay there until she's finished her business. I'm not one of these farang who can live out in the boonies drinking Leo all day...lol

just read your reply here which leads me to advise you. if you cannot live here then please please rethink your build on this place. and are you certain you will be with your tirak this time in 3 years time ? my bingalow in isaan is now lying dormant and probably stinking filthy with the x wifes thai family moved in.

PLEASE RETHINK !!

[TSF]

just read your reply here which leads me to advise you. if you cannot live here then please please rethink your build on this place. and are you certain you will be with your tirak this time in 3 years time ? my bingalow in isaan is now lying dormant and probably stinking filthy with the x wifes thai family moved in.

PLEASE RETHINK

dirtycash:

Good points and thanks for your concern. Nothing will be happening quickly. For the moment I'm just fishing around for ideas/prices/tips. We're going to Vietnam for a couple weeks over Songkran, so we won't be deciding anything until May. And if we go ahead with this house I won't be putting up all the money, maybe half at most. But we have lots to talk about before I produce a single baht.

[chiang mai]

Sadly I have to agree, if left to their own devices the place will get trashed, not on purpose but just through force of habit and lack of training to take care of such things. I built the MIL house ten years ago, I refuse to go visit any more for several years now, the place is just an absolute disater and a tip.

[TSF]

Sadly I have to agree, if left to their own devices the place will get trashed, not on purpose but just through force of habit and lack of training to take care of such things. I built the MIL house ten years ago, I refuse to go visit any more for several years now, the place is just an absolute disater and a tip.

Yes, I know what you mean. I saw a house a Brit mate made in Surin some years back, he broke up with his missis and the house is empty, got branches growing through the roof and windows, full of animal crap and dirt.

I do consider all this and will discuss these points further with her, but in the end it's her house and her decision to make.

Also I'll show her that little 300K house - One story house 2 bed room Total area 40 Sq.m Building cost 300,000 Bth. Might be better to keep the cost down to 300K, then I've only got 100K invested in it.

[chiang mai]

"Might be better to keep the cost down to 300K, then I've only got 100K invested in it, IS a Diamond answer.

To get to the Emerald tier you need a version that goes something like, "I wont do anything on this project for at least one year, at least".

Finally, my short note about trashing a house assumed the place was occupied, not vacant, if you are not here it will go into decline, perhaps something to think about.

[sead]

If you pay over 300k, you are being ripped off.

You sure meant 30k thb lol. But i like how op says. In the end its her house so atleast he is aware of that fact .

[Gonsalviz]

How about a house like this. Open kitchen and LR but BR is closed and a big bathroom. 2 part 6 X 3 meters. BR is only 3 X 3 meters with a closet additional. All rooms are basically 3 X 3 meters. The bathroom is smaller because of the closet in the bedroom but still 3 X 2.5 meters. It is on 1.8 meter poles but they can make them any height you want.

I bought it in Maha Sarakham for around 380,000. Had to pour the cement pad but not much. Of course you have to make the entire bathroom.

[sandyf]

Thanks everybody for your replies, lots of valuable information been given here. Unfortunately I can't do much myself, I'm no builder and not good at all with tools and measurements and all that stuff. So we'll need to find a builder + laborers. I have a pickup truck so I could obtain much of the materials myself and save on that.

chiang mai's Q: at this stage I'm mainly concerned about getting the house built as cheap as possible, The fancy stuff can be done later...we can install an ac later, we can tile the bathroom/kitchen later, we can fit cupboards & shelves later. As I said this won't be our principle home, this will be just a little weekend place where we can store stuff and stop a night or two, and of course it'll be a home for tirak when I fall off the perch.

Anyway. So far it seems like a realistic price to have the house in the picture built is 300K - 500K THB.

Can, but need to wire appropriately for it now. (i.e. enough juice coming in and wires of right gauge to handle that load..and leave an extra circuit(s) on the circuit board for the a/c (s) ). If you hire a small-time local contractor - which is what you can get cheaply and also probably all that would be willing to take on a job this small - they will not necessarily have every built a house with enough juice for an a/c. I well remember vehement arguments with the contractor who built the main house where I live (large 2 stories, >200 sq m each floor) with him insisting that it was impossible for any house to need more than 5 amp of electricity. I needed at least 30).

I was confused when my electrician said something similar, and I was an electrical engineer. They talk in a different context, the 5 Amp is to do with the tariff. I have a 60A supply but I am on the 5 Amp tariff. From what I could make out the 5 Amps is an average rather than instantaneous demand.

If I remember right the next one up is the 10 Amp tariff and the price per unit rises quite significantly.

[Transporter]

If you pay over 300k, you are being ripped off.

Thank you inzman, that's exactly the sort of figure I had in mind and I'd hope to have a house like this built for approx that figure.

Maybe 5 years ago yes but not now! You will need about 1 million baht for a reasonable job done on a two storey house like this. 1.5 million if you want water tank, pump, Proper bathroom fittings, kitchen, Safe electrics with an earth and milliamp trip.

For 300,000 Baht you can get a big shed on stilts but I would recommend a hotel instead. Clean and full facilities, Aircon, laundry the lot for 300 Baht a night if you stay monthly. Why build?

[adisont]

http://www.ihome1982.net/category/1433/mobile-home

check it out. Better yet, visit the show room.

[TSF]

http://www.ihome1982.net/category/1433/mobile-home

check it out. Better yet, visit the show room.

Thanks for the link adisont. These sort of small houses are always an option for her, and I'll show this site to her.

If anyone else knows of sites like this for small Thai houses please show me the links.

[dirtycash]

http://www.ihome1982.net/category/1433/mobile-home

check it out. Better yet, visit the show room.

some nice homes here on this site but is the price given for total build ?

seems very very stupid that they make a website and obviously sell to many farang but no english version of the site.

i would rather have something original thai style like Gonsalviz has bought , its nice !!

[dirtycash]

http://www.ihome1982.net/category/1433/mobile-home

check it out. Better yet, visit the show room.

Thanks for the link adisont. These sort of small houses are always an option for her, and I'll show this site to her.

If anyone else knows of sites like this for small Thai houses please show me the links.

TSF you do not need plans, just draw your house you want with measurements and show it to the builder, anyway you like. dont listen to people who tell you need architect drawings blah blah blah, if you want a simple small house just draw it on a scrap of paper like i did .

4 x 10 metres this way.....3 metres this way....roof this way ....all very easy.

PS.. couple more important points !!

1. never ever let her make the kitchen inside of house as in europe style, they will have the place stinking to high heaven. build a small covered kitchen at side of house, alls she needs is a small stove and they eat on the concrete floor anyway .

2. do not build her house too close to her parents and other family, there will be the whole family / village inside with all the children jumping all over your furniture wrecking the place, you cannot shout at them and you cannot lock doors and tell them to leave, this is the thai way and you will have no say in this matter !! if you complain that your place is getting trashed you will be classes as " jai dam ".

[kokesaat]

I'm embarrassed to post this picture....but to emphasize what dirtycash said......for a simple home in the countryside, there's probably no need for formal plans/drawings. Tell the builder what you want, be on the site everyday, and adjust as necessary. It worked for our main home 20 years ago and our guest home 3 years ago.

[Sheryl]

That is how I did it as well, in terms of plans/blueprints. Actually local contractor will likely not know how to read a blueprint anyhow, and with a standard size small house they will know from experience how many support beams etc.

A ground floor house will definitely cost less to build BUT...once you build like that, cannot readily add on later should that be desired. Whereas if you build elevated at least 2 meters, you can leave the ground floor unfinished to start with and later add in rooms downstairs...kitchen, storage room, garage, maybe guest bedroom etc...when and as needed and affordable.

Another money saver would be to make the elevated house one big room + bathroom at first, can divide int two rooms later either by adding wall and doors or using furniture as dividers. The ground floor of my main house is open plan like that and I used floor to ceiling bookcases and kitchen cabinets to create a separate office room and semi-separate kitchen, works well. You can get custom designed DIY bookshelves and cabinets at Ikea. All that sort of thing can be done later a little at a time.

[BuriramDevelopers]

300 K sounds about right. that is if there is no wwod panels etc. just plain building materials.

[dirtycash]

look at the below link anyone thinking of a build. all prices etc from start to finish. this is what i got in isaan for my money and for my heartache .... lol

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/324484-my-finished-isaan-bungalow-part-4-with-price/

[steven100]

The house you pictured will cost 400 - 460k ..... this is for a standard rendered block, minimal fittings, zincalume roof, tile floor.

48sq mtrs.approx. on conc slab.

[willyumiii]

Many small houses that look very much like this have beeen built in the Chok Chai area ( not far from the area you mentioned ) in the last few years.

Many are clusteded 6 or 8 to a lot and rented out like appartments.

They look so much alike that I suspect they are some sort of prefab kit.

I suggest you spend a day driving around Chok Chai and you will see quite a few.

If you contact the owners, I am sure they will share all the information you are seeking, including the names of builders in the area and the costs..

[TSF]

The house you pictured will cost 400 - 460k ..... this is for a standard rendered block, minimal fittings, zincalume roof, tile floor.

48sq mtrs.approx. on conc slab.

Right Steven. The consensus from the majority of posters in this thread is it can be built in that price range. And I've had a quote from a builder who'll build as you have suggested here, plus some extras, for around 470K.

[TSF]

Many small houses that look very much like this have beeen built in the Chok Chai area ( not far from the area you mentioned ) in the last few years.

Many are clusteded 6 or 8 to a lot and rented out like appartments.

They look so much alike that I suspect they are some sort of prefab kit.

I suggest you spend a day driving around Chok Chai and you will see quite a few.

If you contact the owners, I am sure they will share all the information you are seeking, including the names of builders in the area and the costs..

Cheers willyumiii. My tirak returned from Korat yesterday and we had a lengthy discussion, plus I showed her the various sites & photos of those small kit homes, and container homes, and ready made homes....and she ain't interested at all. She gonna built a proper house. So all those suggestions are now off the table...lol.

[TSF]

I'm embarrassed to post this picture....but to emphasize what dirtycash said......for a simple home in the countryside, there's probably no need for formal plans/drawings. Tell the builder what you want, be on the site everyday, and adjust as necessary. It worked for our main home 20 years ago and our guest home 3 years ago.

That's a classic...a Thai builder's construction plans. But, I understand, that's how it goes here.

[chiang mai]

The house you pictured will cost 400 - 460k ..... this is for a standard rendered block, minimal fittings, zincalume roof, tile floor.

48sq mtrs.approx. on conc slab.

Post 87 indicates your estimate was off by 10,000 baht, will you please try and be a little more accurate in the future.