 |
|
|
#1
20-11-2006, 17:25
|
|||
|
|||
|
Building a wall in Thailand
It is often the dream of many BM's to build a house in Thailand and I thought I would get my feet wet by building a wall in Pak Chong! This has been an interesting process and I wondered if it might be useful to share a real experience.
Stage One - Buying the land. Having identified the land, checked out its registration status, negotiated the price and made the decision to buy it, the problem as always in Thailand is ownership. I use a firm of expensive lawyers in Bangkok for commercial transactions and asked them to help me with this. For the small consideration of 300,000 baht they said they would!! I was very lucky in that I knew the owner of the land by proxy and also the planning officer in Nakhon Ratchissima so this all went very smoothly really. The sum of 485,000 baht was paid for the land and transfer tax. The lawyers smiled and papers duly handed over. The land is in the centre of Pak Chong and is roughly 400 sq metres. 
|
| Guest Info |
|
+:+:+ Forum Headquarter +:+:+ |
|
#2
20-11-2006, 17:33
|
|||
|
|||
|
Clearing the Land
The pictures show that the land was in quite a poor state. The two existing walls are not in good condition and there is no wall on the front. But the first job was to clear the land of the existing debris and supplement the soil.
None of thsi would have been possible withoput the assistance of my GF Noi who organised everything. Her grandfather was roped in to help and was then duly fired after he became to enthusiastic and started chopping down a beautiful Mango tree. Luckily he was stopped in time before too much damage had been done. With the assistance of a group of labourers, a tractor and an earth moving lorry the land was cleared and prepared in about four days. Cost. 25,000 baht. Last edited by Mac : 20-11-2006 at 17:36.
|
|
#3
20-11-2006, 18:48
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
300K in legal fee for this transaction  ..... new definitaion to what I would call 'lucky' ... hope you dont use them for you building permit application ... Nice of you to post this Mac - surely that is a typo 10-15k would be the more appropriate legal fees. Good luck with the house.
__________________
Its My Life ..........!
|
|
#4
20-11-2006, 18:53
|
|||
|
|||
|
Neighbours - Same same England
With the land cleared Noi and I discussed at some length what the new wall was going to look like. I was aware thatthe neighbours on the right hand side had windows in the side of thier house and also a front porch and did not want to cause them any inconvenience. I suggested that we should have a low wall on the last panel on the right and in the front so that they would not be blocked in.
On the left hand side the neighbour has large awnings which are opened to protect the windows when the sun shines. These awnings extend over the land and would not be serviceable if we built a high wall. Some consultations took place and the neighbours on the left wanted a high wall (1.8 metres) and said that the awnings would work better as all the light would be blocked. The neighbours on the left wanted a high wall too. I tried to persuade them that this was not in their best interests really, but they were adamant. After our discussions, the very next day, the neigbours on the right put up a washing line and the neigbours on the left extended thier awnings fully! Oh well.. I consulted the planning officer in Nakhon Ratchissima about our plans and he agreed that a wall up to 2 metres was allowed.
|
|
#5
20-11-2006, 19:00
|
|||
|
|||
|
Designing the Wall
Noi and I spent some time thinking about the wall design and what it should be made of. In the end we came up with the idea of a sandstone style wall.
We then consulted various builders and tried to work out if they could do the job. Construction methods in Thailand are different from England! Fortunately we came across a builder who had worked in Saudi and indeed Phuket and seemed to understand the strange falang requests without falling about laughing! I sent them two pictures of what I had in mind.
|
|
#6
20-11-2006, 19:21
|
|||
|
|||
|
Mathematics and Costings
Negotiating prices in Thailand is always interesting. The idea of a "full estimate" seems to be somewhat original. The idea is that "we do the job and you pay us at the end"..
I spent some time with the builder and once again realised that there was little point trying to impose english style clauses into this venture. The language problem was also a small barrier. But I have learnt the thai words for pillar, fence, gate, breeze block, concrete, sand and cement. After a couple of days the scale of the project, and the costs of labour and raw materials was more or less agreed. Unfortunately, at the 11th hour I realised that while he was charging per square metre for the stones, he had over estimated, by about 50 sq metres, the amount required. On the other side, he had under estimated the length of the wall... In fact, when these figures were corrected the price was exactly the same. Thailand! The estimated cost of this wall was: Labour: 126,000 Materials: 125,000 Gate and fence: 38,000 Work then started.
|
|
#7
20-11-2006, 19:26
|
|||
|
|||
|
Thai Construction
Work started quickly. Obviously I am not a builder so my comments about building proper foundations were greeted with a wry smile.
Thai construction is based on concrete and breeze blocks. The idea is that you dig a hole, put a steel cage in it , encase the thing in wood and pour concrete inside. Eh voila - one pillar. The same process applies to the foundations.
|
|
#9
20-11-2006, 19:33
|
||||
|
||||
|
Thanks Mac for posting this, very interesting reading your experience.
|
|
#12
20-11-2006, 19:37
|
||||
|
||||
|
Nice thread Mac looking forward to the house building part!
Legal fees were probably as little dear but you can rest well knowing someone won't be knocking at the door saying this lands is theirs (they can't you have a big wall!) Cheers!
__________________
"Start every day off with a smile and get it over with" W.C. Fields
|
|
#13
20-11-2006, 19:39
|
||||
|
||||
|
Oh,
Have you thought about the broken colored glass style they use on top of the walls here in Thailand. It's in style!
__________________
"Start every day off with a smile and get it over with" W.C. Fields
|
|
#14
20-11-2006, 19:44
|
|||
|
|||
|
Fence and Gate
The fence was then put in on the front of the wall.
All in all this has been a most interesting four weeks. I was able to watch the construction on a web cam thanks to MSN and could intercede as required. The costs have been exactly as specified and no over runs.. (unlike england) and the wall has become the subject of some interest in Pak Chong! It can be done! But without Noi it would not happened at all. Now.. about that house! Mac Last edited by Mac : 20-11-2006 at 20:00.
|
|
#15
20-11-2006, 20:17
|
|||
|
|||
|
Legal Fees are Expensive!
Yes I agree that the legals were a tad expensive. Disproportionate really. But I was concerned about ownership. It is quite usual for Thai people to hock their land in time of need and although you have bought it fair and square you can find a third party, bank, co-op or such like, actually had the charge on it and then you are embroiled in a long subsequent legal battle and end up having to pay them off. Given the odd financial environment in Thailand these searches can take some time.
Secondly, I always think that if I pay a sensible price for a lawyer to do a job and he or she screws it up I know where the liability is. This is why I used an international Thai firm rather than the local legal bod. Also they speak English.. which helps!
|
|
#16
21-11-2006, 12:52
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
Dont think it akes a dman bit of difference here.. I am lead to understand that liens and legal loans made on a land title are registered on the back of the origional document and clones at the land office.. I know I have seen land titles that had outstanding loans recorded in this way so that it was obvious to the purchaser and land office what was outstanding and who was owed what to make it free and clear.
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
|
|
#17
22-11-2006, 06:27
|
||||
|
||||
|
Nice post. Are these kind of labour costs typical for Thailand? Seems high but then I don't really know. What kind of man hours were put in on the wall?
There are some nice pics and info on this site: Thailand - Expat Builders' Guide and Forum
|
|
#18
22-11-2006, 08:54
|
|||
|
|||
|
Building Costs
I think part of my motivation in putting up this post was to give details of a real experience. I have heard a lot about houses being made for 10,000 baht and so on. But this is what actually happened with the wall.
The wall took four weeks to make Mac
|
|
#19
22-11-2006, 16:36
|
||||
|
||||
|
Really interesting Mac, of course you will get alternative opinions and you should have done it this way etc, but we all make mistakes and learn from them when building etc and by posting this thread you are assisting others to perhaps not make the same mistake or a chance to learn from your experience.
__________________
If I havn't done it already, then i'm gunna do it today.
|
|
#20
22-11-2006, 17:09
|
||||
|
||||
|
It's about building a wall!!!!.................But I am doop doop doop doop dooooop lovin' it!!!
Great thread Mac, thanks for sharing. 
__________________
The idea is to die young.........as late as possible. 
|
|
#21
22-11-2006, 22:46
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
lol, your right, its just a bleeding wall, and i was reading it all, checking out the piccys and everything..rofl how sad am i ?....  still, a good read though 
|
|
#22
22-11-2006, 22:55
|
||||
|
||||
|
Hi Mac.Good thread.I have had two house's built here on Phuket.As Dodger point's out you will get alternative opinions and probably make few mistakes as I did on my first build.If it is possible I would strongly recommend you are on site when they build your house, get a few quotes and ask to view their other builds.Watch your prices.You are paying o.t.t at the moment.Just a bit of advice from experiencing 12 months building with Thai's
|
|
#23
23-11-2006, 01:42
|
||
|
