Thread: Planning to build a 4 bedroom house in Isaan

Hi Lads... Am emigrating to thai in october after marrying my thai gf in uk... She has a nice bit of land... am planning to build a 4 bed concrete house... Having difficulty finding out material costs.... Is anywhere i can get this type of information from ??? Will be building myself with the help from her brother and guidence and assistance from a local builder....

John

Originally Posted by tensionroller

Hi Lads... Am emigrating to thai in october after marrying my thai gf in uk... She has a nice bit of land... am planning to build a 4 bed concrete house... Having difficulty finding out material costs.... Is anywhere i can get this type of information from ??? Will be building myself with the help from her brother and guidence and assistance from a local builder....

John

Hi John

Check the forums for tips on building and remember you can't own land in Thailand

You can't build yourself without a building permit, certainly if you are only getting advice and assistance from a builder.

you could set up a building company so long as it is 51% thai controlled or take achance, but as i say, read the forums

good luck

lol... not took long to make my first mistake lol.... hmmm.... but can assist a builder i guess.... the house will be built near mahasarakham... in a field 1/4 mile off the road.. nice and quiet... oyes
But am limited to about 1.2 million baht for the build... have done quite a bit of building work in the past, although my b ack isnt that good now,,, just wanting to keep within our budjet...

The wife to be wants her mam to live with us,, ok by me, shes a nice woman, all the more to take care lol... seriously, is a very kind and proud family. The gf is selling her house so she can put money to build too...

To be honest, after having seen how much some of these houses cost, am beginning to hope am not bitin g off more than i can chew regarding getting a decent sized house for the money... just so hard to get difinitive prices of house builds..

I am not aware of any building permit required to build a structure in rural Isaan. This topic has come up before and been hashed and rehashed. If you intend to build within city limits, then you probably will need proper plans to obtain a building permit. If you are out in the country, there are some on this forum that have built without any permit or plans and how you choose to go forward is entirely up to you. Some think that if you do not have a permit, there could be a risk of tearing down the structure, but I have never been given an example of this happening in Isaan.
Take some time and do a search on building a house in Thailand. There is a lot of valuable information on this site and you may get an idea of building material costs. Remember, these costs vary and can not be used as an exact estimate. Take your time and do some good research and preparation before building anything. Your budget will not get you a mansion, but if done right, you could have a livable structure that does not cost all that much.
Good Luck.....

Originally Posted by tensionroller

1.2 million baht for the build...

For budget purposes use 9,000 - 10,000 baht per square meter. So about 120 sq meters is what you should be looking to design.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

I am not aware of any building permit required to build a structure in rural Isaan. This topic has come up before and been hashed and rehashed. If you intend to build within city limits, then you probably will need proper plans to obtain a building permit. If you are out in the country, there are some on this forum that have built without any permit or plans and how you choose to go forward is entirely up to you. Some think that if you do not have a permit, there could be a risk of tearing down the structure, but I have never been given an example of this happening in Isaan.
Take some time and do a search on building a house in Thailand. There is a lot of valuable information on this site and you may get an idea of building material costs. Remember, these costs vary and can not be used as an exact estimate. Take your time and do some good research and preparation before building anything. Your budget will not get you a mansion, but if done right, you could have a livable structure that does not cost all that much.
Good Luck.....

You need a building permit

You would need a work permit if doing work yourself

You need a crash helmet if riding a bike

I agree all these are oft ignored in Thailand. No one on this forum giving you advice to ignore these things will pay your 200 baht for no helmet, or compensate if you fall foul and they pull your house down.

built in a small village in issan, didnt need building permit, or a work permit

no coppers for miles and miles though

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

I am not aware of any building permit required to build a structure in rural Isaan. This topic has come up before and been hashed and rehashed. If you intend to build within city limits, then you probably will need proper plans to obtain a building permit. If you are out in the country, there are some on this forum that have built without any permit or plans and how you choose to go forward is entirely up to you. Some think that if you do not have a permit, there could be a risk of tearing down the structure, but I have never been given an example of this happening in Isaan.
Take some time and do a search on building a house in Thailand. There is a lot of valuable information on this site and you may get an idea of building material costs. Remember, these costs vary and can not be used as an exact estimate. Take your time and do some good research and preparation before building anything. Your budget will not get you a mansion, but if done right, you could have a livable structure that does not cost all that much.
Good Luck.....

Like many things the rules are not enforce in rural Issan, but the laws are there. I have not seen any houses knocked down, but have seen land [Crown] ment for farming re claimed as it was not being used for farming and given to another family. If it is farm land you are allowed to build a hut not a house. Check the title before you start. It only takes one pissed of Thai with a bit of pull to start trouble. Jim

Originally Posted by sunsetter

built in a small village in issan, didnt need building permit, or a work permit

no coppers for miles and miles though

you did need both, but you broke the law successfully

a work permit would be almost impossible to obtain, except as manager

All the above is usefull mate but I'd reinforce the most important point.......


TAKE YOUR TIME..........


She'll be keen to get going and get things done but, you'll save yourself heart ache and money if you go slowly, think things through twice, one your way then once their way, then sleep on it then make a decision.

Good luck mate.

Originally Posted by jandajoy

TAKE YOUR TIME..........

I have seen some houses for sale that seem to tell the story "farang moved in, paid all, then things went south and farang went home".
Maybe you could rent a place first. Just to wait and get your bearings ? When looking at classifieds it seems there are plenty of houses for rent.

Plenty of good advise offered so far . I would agree regarding work permit issues , be the project manager and you should be ok . Source and buy the materials yourself , every builder and supplier are well versed in the "two receipt trick" .
The price for basic building materials is pretty standard , your final build cost will very much depend on the standard of fixtures and fittings you go with .
Anyway , good luck with it & look forward to seeing pics once you get started .

Originally Posted by jamescollister

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

I am not aware of any building permit required to build a structure in rural Isaan. This topic has come up before and been hashed and rehashed. If you intend to build within city limits, then you probably will need proper plans to obtain a building permit. If you are out in the country, there are some on this forum that have built without any permit or plans and how you choose to go forward is entirely up to you. Some think that if you do not have a permit, there could be a risk of tearing down the structure, but I have never been given an example of this happening in Isaan.
Good Luck.....

Like many things the rules are not enforce in rural Issan, but the laws are there. I have not seen any houses knocked down, but have seen land [Crown] ment for farming re claimed as it was not being used for farming and given to another family. If it is farm land you are allowed to build a hut not a house. Check the title before you start. It only takes one pissed off Thai with a bit of pull to start trouble. Jim

TENSIONROLLER:
- There are various types of land titles in Thailand. Make absolutely sure that your title is CHANOTE. Go to the following website for an explaination. http://www.siam-legal.com/realestate/thailand-title-deeds.php
.

If your worried about registering the house building from these comments, I would advise that your g/f goes and has a chat with the local mayor for the area and confirm it.
FYI, we never bothered with a permit, am I worried - nope.

Rural Isaan is very different to Udon Thani, Khon Kaen and other cities, Mahasarakham isnt exactly a metropolis.

Nahh not a metropolis but by god its chilled out.... I stayed with her family in a village just 3 miles out of mahasarakham on the changsenit road... wow... I was brought up in the countryside, just 12 houses in beautiful countryside... but her village... her bit of land... mmmmm oyes... Stayed there a month in January... walked from her village about a mile to her land every day and lay down on this platform thingy with a thatch roof on it .... god was in heaven.... thats when i decided to build house there... yes point taken... will ask her when she finnishes work tonight (thai restuarant) about that chanote thingy... havnt read about it yet but will stick it on my ever increasing list lolol...

Her uncle has just built a nice 2 bed concrete house for 800k baht... realy big... my gf wants a concrete house... i havnt made up my mind... dont want a mansion.. just want something comfortable.. il be happy outside once its done lol..

is any pics of your house can look at tothemark?

Originally Posted by tensionroller

Hi Lads... Am emigrating to thai in october after marrying my thai gf in uk... She has a nice bit of land... am planning to build a 4 bed concrete house... Having difficulty finding out material costs.... Is anywhere i can get this type of information from ??? Will be building myself with the help from her brother and guidence and assistance from a local builder....

John

As has been pointed out John, make sure that 'nice piece of land' carries a chanote title. If not, personally I'd advise you to buy a nearby piece of land with full chanote and build on that instead. Land is not expensive on rural Los. Another thing to be alert to is does the land require any backfill, ie raising? If so, you should leave it to settle for at least one full rainy season before starting construction. If it's low lying land- pretty typical around Sarakham- and you don't raise it, you may well be sorry one day. Check what the locals do.

You seem to have a well defined budget, one thing you might consider is getting an 'all in' quote for the job- materials and labor. Not every builder can or will do this for you, but this is the way I went, and I think the peace of mind of knowing what you are in for is well worth it. In my observation, construction done on a 'labor price plus' basis usually seems to go over budget.

If you build in wood, be VERY, VERY aware of termites.

Gf just got back from work.... yes land is chanote..... i remember her showing me the little concrete posts in the corners of her land.... must have been the boundaries..

Any chance of meeting up in the chat room sometime so we can have a good old natter???? am like a sponge needing information lol.... but then i need to write it down cos the info drops back out again lol... age

Originally Posted by tensionroller

is any pics of your house can look at tothemark?

Hi TR,

When I first set out to build I Googled build a house in Thailand theres lots pics on the web and some really good info, i cant email you as i am not allowed to on here. Im a Novice

Hmmm i have same problems with sending emails as i am new member too...

Skype = tensionroller

mail - tensionroller[at]hotmail.com .... John