I just spent half an hour on google trying to find a good flood map for Chiang Mai but failed.  Why am I looking for one?  Because I just looked at a house for rent between the Canal Road and the airport runway, just before the signal and road for Pong Noi.  The house smelled moldy (they said that's normal after being closed up for three weeks) and the tile floor was stained.  The pattern suggests something came from below and seeped up between the tiles.  Anybody here living in that area?  What do you think?  

There  was a map on the irrigation web site a bit old, I am trying to attach the file with little luck will try again.     

 

 

chiang mai flood map.pdf

Possible water seepage through the floor?

 

We went a few years back to look at a house in the same area we were in - larger......Looked at the house & it seemed OK......But I decided to go back & look again by myself.....The first thing I happened to notice was a BIG 3-4 foot monitor lizard walking across the street into the walled in yard of the house......I was about 50ft away but couldn't spot it anywhere......Walked the house & the yard - found one area that had a gap between the earth & slab/foundation......I grabbed a strong flashlight & shined it under the slab = about 1/2 of that house had nothing under the slab as far as my beam could travel (strong flashlight).....I didn't stick my hands or head into the open space to look around, I'd seen enough.....

 

House upstairs - reptile subterranean terrarium below.....That monitor had done me a big favor.....

 

It happened the next door neighbor was outside (USA) so I asked about the house.....He shook his head No....He said no one has lasted over a couple of months there.....He said the last ones left when a snake dropped from the ceiling while the wife was in the shower + he always knew when snakes came into the house because of the screams he'd heard over the years....Plus it was always moldy.....

 

He owned his and told me that during the wet season they basically had to stay in their living room because the rest of the rooms got too moldy to stay in.....They cleaned & used them once the sunny season started.....

 

The people behind them had to knock down & rebuild due to water intrusion problems.....

 

I don't think some builders know how to seal/orient/lay foundations.....I wouldn't rent anywhere where the house is low lying in an area or not above the line of the street by 9-15"......

 

There's just no place for the water to leech away/go.....

 

If you like the place I suggest you poke around more & ask questions if you can....I got lucky & was able to speak with another guy from the states - and, if anything, we're direct......

Chances are his Thai wife might not have been with me - but might have been with my wife, who wasn't with me on my foray....

Pgrahmm -- ha, great story and thank you for confirming that I should give this one a miss.  I thought it odd that an old house like that has four newish air conditioners in it, one in every room except the kitchen.  And now I know the reason why -- the place is unliveable without them.   I currently live in a rather poorly constructed rental house but it's in the foothills of Doi Suthep so at least it's not moldy.  If it wasn't for the construction across the soi, a neighbor on one side who likes to burn every other day, and a neighbor on the other side who is just too close, it'd be perfect.